Cameroon: Freemasons, Homosexuals and Corrupt Elites in Cameroon – Inside an African Conspiracy Theory

An unusual and fascinating new book has been written by two anthropologists, called Conspiracy Narratives from Postcolonial Africa: Freemasonry, Homosexuality, and Illicit Enrichment. It explores an ongoing conspiracy theory in Cameroon and neighbouring Gabon that corrupt elites spread homosexuality through their connections to secret orders like the Freemasons. They trace the origins of the conspiracy theory to a moral panic in Cameroon in 2005. They then move back in time to understand what it…