The former Finance Minister was taken to the hospital after spending two days at the Judicial Police.

Things almost turned tragic yesterday for Polycarpe Abah Abah, former Minister of the Economy and Finance at the Yaounde Judicial Police Station following a heart attack after two days of detention for suspected embezzlement of State funds.

The former member of government, who was arrested last Monday by elements of the Special Police Unit, was transported in a police ambulance by midday to the Yaounde Central Hospital for treatment amidst worries from family members. The atmosphere was really tense when Abah Abah's children and other family members who had turned out at the Judicial Police Station, saw their father emerge from the station in a stretcher with someone holding the sachet containing the drip which was being administered on him. Like it happened on Monday when he was taken to the station with other officials, the population came out in their numbers to have a bird's eye view of what was going on. According to one of his lawyers, Barrister Nouga, police investigation will have to be suspended until he gets well.

In the same vein, investigations continued on the former Minister of Public Health, Urbain Olanguena Awono. "The law makes provision for 48 hours of detention, renewable once, at the police station", barrister Antoine Mong, one of the lawyers of Olanguena Awono told Cameroon Tribune in a telephone interview yesterday. The State Counsel, he said, can after the renewal, decide to extend the suspect's stay at the station.

The two former members of government were whisked to the police station with other suspects last Monday within the framework of the "Operation Sparrow Hawk" initiated by government to track down swindlers of State funds. The Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Amadou Ali, announced last weekend at the National Assembly that close to 20 files within the operation are currently being examined by competent authorities in his ministry. Some of the people arrested are: Luc Etogo Mbezele, former Pay Master General at the Yaounde Central Treasury, Dr Feuzeu Maurice, Permanent Secretary at the National AIDS Committee, Dr. Raphaël Okala, coordinator of the National Programme for the Fight Against Malaria and Hubert Wang, coordinator of the National Programme for the fight Against Tuberculosis.