It is never easy to write about a fellow Cameroonian doctor. It is even harder when the story involves a surgeon, a professor, and serious concerns about patient safety. But when the matter is already in public records, silence is not the best answer.
The problem started many years ago. In 1999, concerns were raised about his professional performance while he was working in the UK. A GMC performance assessment was done in 2001. The assessment found widespread problems in many areas, including patient assessment, treatment, working within limits of competence, investigations, record keeping, teamwork, and referral. The assessment team said he should not continue as a practising surgeon and should retrain in a non-surgical field. [1]
This was not a small warning. In 2001, the UK tribunal found his performance to be seriously deficient and suspended his registration. His case came back again in 2002, 2003, and 2004. The tribunal said there was no evidence that he had taken the steps recommended to improve his performance. In June 2004, his registration was suspended indefinitely. In 2009, when he asked for the suspension to be lifted, the panel refused because there was still no objective evidence that he had corrected the problems. [1]
The problem started many years ago. In 1999, concerns were raised about his professional performance while he was working in the UK. A GMC performance assessment was done in 2001. The assessment found widespread problems in many areas, including patient assessment, treatment, working within limits of competence, investigations, record keeping, teamwork, and referral. The assessment team said he should not continue as a practising surgeon and should retrain in a non-surgical field. [1]
This was not a small warning. In 2001, the UK tribunal found his performance to be seriously deficient and suspended his registration. His case came back again in 2002, 2003, and 2004. The tribunal said there was no evidence that he had taken the steps recommended to improve his performance. In June 2004, his registration was suspended indefinitely. In 2009, when he asked for the suspension to be lifted, the panel refused because there was still no objective evidence that he had corrected the problems. [1]
After that, Dr Weledji returned to Cameroon. There, he appears to have built a major academic and clinical career. The 2025 UK tribunal record says he was working as a Consultant General Surgeon at the University of Buea, Limbe Hospital, Cameroon, and was also a Professor of Anatomy and Clinical Surgery. [1] Public academic profiles also describe him as a Professor of Surgery at the University of Buea with interests in gastrointestinal surgery, coloproctology, and surgical oncology. [2] [3]
This is where the Cameroon question begins.
If a doctor was under indefinite suspension in the UK because of serious performance concerns, how did he continue to practise surgery in Cameroon? Was the Cameroon Medical Council aware of the UK suspension? Did the University of Buea and Limbe Hospital know the full record? Did anyone ask for proof that the old concerns had been corrected before he was allowed to operate on patients or teach young doctors?
I cannot answer these questions from the public documents available. But these are fair questions. They are not personal attacks. They are questions about patient safety.
In 2023, Dr Weledji asked the GMC to review his indefinite suspension. He said he had been unfairly treated. He also said there were elements of racism and discrimination in how he was treated, and that he had no mentor in the UK. These are serious claims. As Africans, we know that racism and lack of support can affect Black doctors abroad. That part should not be dismissed casually. But even when discrimination is alleged, patient safety must still be tested with clear evidence. [1]
Because more than 20 years had passed, the UK tribunal gave him another chance. It ordered a new performance assessment in 2024. The assessors tested him as a Consultant General Surgeon because he described himself as a professor and consultant surgeon who had worked in Cameroon for more than a decade. [1]
The result was very troubling.
The assessment said he was not fit to practise as a Consultant General Surgeon with an interest in colorectal surgery because his practice would place patients at risk. He was assessed in seven areas. Five were rated unacceptable: assessment of patients’ condition, clinical management, operative and technical skills, relationships with patients, and working with colleagues. Record keeping was rated acceptable, while maintaining professional performance was marked as a cause for concern. [1]
The surgical findings were even more concerning. The assessment team said his open surgical skills were unsafe and his laparoscopic skills were also unsafe. They said there were serious and persistent errors across multiple categories. They also found that his performance put patients at risk. In one part of the assessment, the team raised concerns about unsafe laparoscopic skills, failure to follow safety protocols, rough and inaccurate open dissection, unsafe small bowel anastomosis, and ineffective inguinal hernia repair. [1]
This is not gossip. This is not social media talk. This is from a public tribunal record.
In July 2025, the UK tribunal decided that his fitness to practise remained impaired. The final outcome was erasure from the UK medical register. [1]
Now let us come back home.
Cameroon’s own medical council says no one can practise medicine in Cameroon unless they are registered with the Order. The same public information says doctors trained outside Cameroon need equivalence documents. It also says foreign doctors must provide extra documents, including proof that they have not been removed from the medical register in a country where they practised. [4]
So the public deserves to know: what exact checks were done in this case?
This issue is bigger than Dr Weledji alone. Cameroon has a problem of worshipping titles. Once someone says “UK-trained,” “FRCS,” “professor,” or “diaspora doctor,” many people stop asking hard questions. But a title does not operate on a patient. A title does not stop bleeding in the operating room. A title does not replace safe clinical skill.
Academic work is important. Publications are important. Teaching is important. But they are not the same thing as safe surgery. A person can write many papers and still need retraining in the operating room. The UK tribunal made that exact point when it said his publications did not provide objective evidence of safe current clinical practice. [1]
Cameroon must learn from this case.
First, the Cameroon Medical Council should have a clear public process for checking doctors who return from abroad, especially when they previously worked in countries with strong medical regulators. Second, hospitals and universities should verify not just degrees, but also disciplinary history and current fitness to practise. Third, senior doctors should not be exempt from revalidation just because they have titles. Fourth, patients deserve protection from systems that hide behind silence.
This is not about destroying a man’s name. It is about protecting patients.
If Dr Weledji has evidence that Cameroon assessed him properly and found him safe to practise, that evidence should be made clear. If he has undergone retraining, supervised practice, or formal reassessment in Cameroon, the public should know. But if no serious verification was done, then Cameroon’s medical system failed the people it is supposed to protect.
The lesson is simple: we must respect our doctors, but we must respect patients more.