Chapter Twenty-Two
January 01, 1960
The new country was born on a Friday,
but it happened to be a day recognized elsewhere in the world as a very popular
public holiday. Camerounians, as the inhabitants of the land were now called,
were expected to feel like the new independence meant they were finally free from the control, support, influence, aid or dictates
of France. But
that was not the case. The majority of the people of the land woke up that
morning convinced that they had not won the liberation they had risked their
lives for. The new establishment chose to call the country La Republique du Cameroun, meaning “The Republic of Cameroun” in
English. And it was the first day of January 1960. This new country constituted
three-quarters of the land surface of the German colony that was called Kamerun
back in 1911. Whatever the interpretation of that day of independence, there
was supposed to be nationwide jubilation. However, the majority of former
German Kamerunians and their descendants in the territories that now
constituted La Republique du Cameroun,
and British Cameroons (British Southern Cameroons and British Northern
Cameroons) began the new year with trepidation. The dream of the reunification
of their partitioned land had not been realized and two political realities now
seemed to be forming right in front of their eyes.
In British Cameroons,
especially the southern portion called British Southern Cameroons, the popular
pro-unification political party called Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP)
under the leadership of John Ngu Foncha reigned supreme. But it did so in
alliance with One Kamerun (OK), formed in 1957 by Albert Mukong and the veteran
British-Cameroonian-born UPCist Ndeh Ntumazah. For the autonomous British
Southern Cameroonian government under the moderate prime minister John Ngu of
the KNDP, the call for celebrations was a gesture to the new country that he
was prepared to deal with its government irrespective of the nature of the way
it worked itself to power. However, supporters of OK looked at it as a
reiteration of their commitment to the cause to reunite the two lands and free
them from the control of the colonial powers, and as a commitment to their UPC
allies in their partisan war against the establishment in the new country. In
Victoria, Buea, Kumba, Muyuka, Tombel, Bamenda, Kumbo, Santa, Tiko, and Mamfe,
the sounds of celebration mingled in the air with voices of opposition.
Meanwhile, in the newly
independent country, there was no pageantry. In the north, the people hardly
knew what was going on, while confused voices of celebration and rejection made
the day in the southern half. In Douala, Nkongsamba, Bafoussam, Eseka, Edea,
Kribi, Ebolowa, Bafia, Bafang, Dschang, Mbouda, Foumban, Mbanga, Loum, Manjo,
Obala, Monatele and other UPC strongholds where anti-French and anti-Ahidjo
feelings ran high, the people carried on with their daily activities as if it
was just another day in their lives.
Only in the bars and in social gatherings were curious voices heard,
exchanging views on what it was all about.
In Accra, the capital of
the independent state of Ghana, the UPC leadership in exile met and resolved to
continue the partisan war not only against the French Army that had been
increasing its presence in the land but also against the first Camerounian president
Ahmadou Ahidjo, whom they considered a lackey of the right-wing political
leadership in France. Ruben Um Nyobé’s successor, Dr. Félix Moumié insisted that the UPC redoubled its effort in
British Cameroons and worked with the pro-reunification parties there to drive
home the reunification agenda that now meant reunification with La Republique du Cameroun. The party
leadership made finishing touches to the historic document entitled “POSITION DE L’UPC vis-à-vis de
l’Indépendence DU KAMERUN”. Disappointed though most of them were, Félix
Moumié somehow succeeded indriving home the point that they managed to nudge
France into relaxing its hold on French Cameroun, and that other Africans and
other colonial peoples stood to benefit from the independence drive. He viewed
this future new force of independent African countries as potential allies that
they would be able to count on in their fight against the duplicity of France
led by General Charles De Gaulle. All, the same, the UPC members left the
meeting that day particularly worried about what they dubbed “The Colonial
Pact”, a loop-sided socio-economic-political agreement that France signed with
Ahmadou Ahidjo late that December 1959, giving the European power exclusive
rights over the land. However, no Kamerunian political figure knew the details
or the fine print of that document, even Ahmadou Ahidjo himself, even though he
signed it.
Like the rest of the UPC
strongholds, Banganté also celebrated the granting of independence to French
Cameroon in a subdued manner. However, the teenagers and their younger friends
and siblings thought it was all about freedom and took the opportunity to dance
and play in the streets. Despite the misgivings he was having about the whole
development, Joseph Njike did not stop his children from celebrating the day.
He even bought them drinks and candies to share with their friends, and he even gave his first three
children extra money to spend that day. But as he watched Gavin sing and dance
in the street, he could not shake off his pensive mood that had been lingering
all day. He worried about British Cameroons. He could not figure out what
French President Charles De Gaulle’s military strategy in the land was all
about, and he wondered whether France
could be having a secret game plan for the new country.
Jean-Pierre Ribery
decided to see the reaction of the people on the streets of the capital city of
Yaoundé, a place he considered to be of low-energy when it came to political
activism vis-à-vis other population centers like Douala, Nkongsamba, Edea,
Mbanga, and Bafoussam when it came to the liberation cause espoused by the UPC.
He drove across the capital city from North to South, then from East to West,
before heading to the French bar where he was supposed to meet with Clement.
The American welcomed him like a long-lost brother and then called a waiter
over.
“Lunch and something to
drink for the two of us.”
“I won’t eat, but a drink
will do.”
“Come, on, Jean-Pierre,” Clement urged.
“I had a bite while
driving around and I am in no mood to eat now.”
“You told me the food
here tastes great.”
Jean-Pierre acceded, but
he stood his ground, forcing Clement to relent and eat alone. The friends said
very little to each other for more than half an hour. However, Jean-Pierre
asked for his third drink while Clement was emptying his first glass of wine.
“What is going on?”
Clement asked finally.
“The people did not buy
it?”
“Buy what.”
“This independence
charade.”
Clement was thoughtful
for a moment. “I guess that means nothing stops.”
“Business as usual, as
you Americans like to say.”
“Worrisome.”
“Uh-huh! I never told you
that Ahidjo’s Union Camerouniase was
formed by one of our own.”
“The ruling party, you
mean?”
“Uh-huh! The founder of
the Union Camerouniase is a colon in
the Mungo region, in a place called Njombe.”
“Huh!”
“You see, the right-wing
gave the party to Ahidjo to thwart the efforts of the UPC, to get the
commitment of the Fulani-dominated population of North Cameroun to their side,
and more especially, to give the Fulani or Peul people a substantial stake in our
plan of control for Cameroon.”
“And the people don’t buy
this control plan, you said.”
“Uh-huh! One of my
friends in the administration told me of plans to make the Fulani and Beti
peoples our exclusive partners in the political control of French Cameroun.
That was a year ago. His sobriety was fairly compromised at the time, but those
were not words that could come off the top of a drunk’s head if it were not
true, if he had not committed it to memory because of its seriousness. Yes, my
friend; we intend to indirectly control this territory by excluding more than
seventy percent of the population on the grounds of their ethnicity.”
“Can they do that and get
away with it?”
“Uh-huh. That would mean
defeating the UPC completely. That would mean crushing the partisans to the
last man. It is going to be bloody.”
“What is the overriding
purpose?”
“That, I think, I finally
found out. They are trying to prevent a repeat of Guinea. They are trying to
expunge any base of civic-nationalism that a UPC win would create in Cameroun
because they see such a base as a threat to their selfish control of the rest
of Francophone Africa. That is their fear, my friend. And when a man operates
out of fear instead of reasoning, he fails to see opportunities in a
mutually-respectable relationship between the peoples of Cameroun and France.
Such a man can do anything. De Gaulle
has that fear, which he parades around as confidence.”
Clement took a deep
breath. “How does that translate into military actions?”
“It is obvious, my
friend,” Jean-Pierre said, took a slug of his drink, put the half-empty glass
down on the table with a bang and then heaved a sigh.
“What is obvious?”
“War, war, and more war.
My country fooled Ahidjo into signing a pact that allows France to have a base
here and increase the size of its forces in this land multiple times. We have
trapped this land for eternity, and this is going to be a war France cannot
lose.”
“Why?” Clement questioned
in a voice that sounded more like an exclamation.
“My friend; I never
believed them when I first heard it. You see, many of our people here talk of
civilizing the Cameroonian natives, and they are backed by an establishment in
Paris that still has Vichy underlining. These people lack the cultured
personality that true enlighteners should possess. I think a lot of our
civilizing postures are a façade because underneath our drive here in Africa is
the uniquely uncouth French nature made famous by some of our well-known
personalities. I am talking about our basic instincts which drive us to defy
legality and constraints; I am talking about basic instincts that compel us to
enjoy a life of adultery and gourmandism for which we are famous.”
“I guess nothing can be
done.”
“So far, nothing can be
done. Unless the Camerounian veterans of the Second World War get involved in
the fighting, unless the exiled
leadership of the UPC brings the fight back home. If not —”
“If not, then what.”
“The revised plan of
pacification would be implemented. French military forces here would quadruple
and the Bassaland would be annihilated. My job, our job, is to expose their
game plan. To do so, you need to work with other foreign journalists who do not
form a part of the media working with our Western governments. You need to meet
with Charles van der Lanoitte.”
“The Belgian who lives in
Douala?”
“Yes. You wanted to
report on Cameroun. Go down to Douala without delay; but be careful.”
“What about you?”
“I am working on a book,
Clement. It would be detailed.”
Clement took a deep
breath. He knew he had to go. He was sure René Roccard would be there too.
By orchestrating its game plan that
resulted in the birth of a new state called La
Republique du Cameroun instead of reuniting French Cameroun and British
Cameroons before granting them joint independence as demanded by the majority
of the peoples of the territories, France carried out a brilliant coup that
ensured its continuous hegemony over the land. However, it was also in direct
contravention of the stated goal of the League of Nations and its successor the
United Nations Organization. As predicted by many Cameroonian pundits, the
countries of the world reacted to this game plan based on the sides they
considered themselves a part of in the broiling cold war between the Western
alliance led by the United States of America
and the Eastern alliance led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR) otherwise called The Soviet Union. France, its Western Allies, and their client states, who formed the
majority of the countries at the United Nations Organization in 1960, supported
the so-called independence of French Cameroun and the other French colonies
that France granted nominal independence to that year; the so-called
Non-Aligned countries supported the idea of independence because many of them
saw it as a step forward, away from colonialism in all its forms; meanwhile,
the rest of the world, including the eastern-bloc countries and China, viewed
it as a tragic step that could be unturned with time.
No comments:
Post a Comment