President Ahidjo’s lie to the Fourth Committee of the United Nations

5.3.1.1 The inhabitants of the Southern Cameroons went to the polls on February 11,

1961, on the clear understanding that the basis of the proposed UNION between their

territory and the Cameroun Republic would be a federation of equal partners, the details

of which were to be worked out at a post-plebiscite conference of delegations of equal

strength and in which the United Nations and the United Kingdom as Administering

Authority would be associated.

5.3.1.2 At the 849

Ahmadou Ahidjo, then Prime Minister of French-administered Cameroun, had this to say

in reply to a question posed by representatives of New Zealand, Liberia and Mexico as to

the form unification might take:-

th meeting of the Fourth Committee on 25th February, 1959, El Hadj

“……. I would not like the firmness and clarity of our stand to be interpreted as

a desire for integration on my part which would sound the death knell to the

hopes of our brothers under British Administration.

We do not wish to bring the weight of our population to bear on our British

brothers. We are not annexationists. In other words, if our brothers of the

11

British zone wish to unite with an independent Cameroun, we are ready to

”.

That was a mitigated lie designed to hoodwink the international community, as history

5.3.2 on 31

(XXVI):

st May 1960, the United Nations Trusteeship Council, by Resolution 2013

authorities concerned, to ensure that the people of the Territory are fully

informed, before the plebiscite, of the constitutional arrangements which would

have to be made, at the appropriate time, for the implementation of the decision

at the plebiscite”.

5.3.3 The ‘Joint Declaration’ and the ‘Joint Communiqué signed by Premier John Ngu

Foncha for the British Southern Cameroons and President Ahmadou Ahidjo for

Republique du Cameroun

unification of the British Southern Cameroons and

a Federation of equal partners. It further stated that if the plebiscite went in favour of the

option for joining the Republic of Cameroun, “

representatives from the Republic, the Southern Cameroons and the Administering

Authority, and the United Nations was to determine the period and terms of transfer of

sovereignty to a body representing the future federation”.

5.3.4 The secret documents also reveal that the Attorney-General of the Southern

Cameroons, Mr. B. G. Smith, on 19

John NGU FONCHA, just before the Tripartite Talks which took place in the House of

Assembly in Buea from 15-17 May 1961 (between Foncha assisted by Mr. Solomon

Tandeng Muna, Ahidjo assisted by Mr. Charles Okala, and the British Secretary State for

the Colonies, Mr. Iain Macleod), urged him not to succumb to President Ahidjo’s

shenanigans about the Transfer of Sovereignty to him (Ahidjo) because this was not in

agreement with the terms of the Joint Communiqué nor with the interpretation of the

second plebiscite question, nor with the United Nations Resolution.

5.3.5 Here is the Attorney-General’s Memo to Premier John Ngu Foncha on 19th June

1961:

“The choice offered to the people of the Southern Cameroons was to achieve

independence either by joining the independent Federation of Nigeria or the

independent Republic of Cameroun. The people chose the Republic of

Cameroun.

12

If at midnight the sovereignty of the Southern Cameroons is transmitted to the

moment achieve independence. They lose their identity and become subjects of

the Republic of Cameroun. It may well be that within a matter of minutes,

hours or days the Republic will by an act of state transform itself into a

federation of two states composed of the former Republic of Cameroun and the

former Trust Territory of the Southern Cameroons. The Southern Cameroons

will then have achieved independence not by joining the Republic of Cameroun

but after joining the Republic of Cameroun. In order that the people of the

Southern Cameroons may achieve independence by joining the Republic of

Cameroun it is necessary that the Federation should come into existence at

midnight of 1

independent State of the Southern Cameroons and the Federation of the United

Kamerun Republic. The Federation will be a free association of independent

and equal sovereign states.

In order therefore that the Southern Cameroons should exercise its sovereignty

as an independent state equal in all respects to the Republic it is necessary that

the organization representing the future Federation shall be composed of equal

elements representing the Republic of Cameroun and the State of the Southern

Cameroons. It is not compatible with the dignity of the Southern Cameroons

that that organization should be the President of the Republic acting in

association with the Head of State of the Southern Cameroons. It may be

practicable to transfer sovereignty to the President of the Republic and the

Head of State of the Southern Cameroons jointly but it is submitted that the

better course would be that proposed by the Premier and Ministers of the

Southern Cameroons, namely a body composed of equal numbers of

representatives nominated by the Government of the Republic of Cameroun

and the Government of the Southern Cameroons respectively, which body shall

appoint a temporary President of the Federation.

Sovereignty should only be transferred to an organization representing equally

the Republic of Cameroun and the State of the Southern Cameroons”.

st October. At one and the same moment there will be born the

5.3.6 Unfortunately, Foncha and Muna had already done a deal with Ahidjo by which

Foncha would become Vice-President and Muna the Minister of Defence, for which the

peoples of the former United Nations Trust Territory of the British Southern Cameroons

are today paying a heavy price in their struggle to re-write their history.

5.3.7 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Malcolm Milne, was so exasperated by this state of

affairs that he filed the following despatch to the Colonial office on July 1, 1961.

“…

private deal with Ahidjo, the idea being that the present Government of the

13

the sovereignty will be transferred to it and defence and national security will

In return for bringing the Southern Cameroons on these terms Foncha has been

promised the Vice-Presidency of the Federal Republic and Muna has been

promised a post in the Federal Cabinet.

At one time we thought there might have been a show-down at the Bamenda All-

Party Conference with every one’s cards on the table, but all that has happened is

that Foncha has trotted out his pre-plebiscite constitutional proposals and invited

comments on them. The CPNC and OKP-and indeed the Chiefs also – have

demanded an account of what went on during the last Foncha / Ahidjo talks, but

Foncha, strongly pressed by Muna, has kept mum.

It seems that the other ministers although very unhappy are nevertheless tagging

along. Notably Foncha has told them that if the worse comes to the worst and

Ahidjo’s terms have to be accepted they can still hope to remain in office in the

Southern Cameroons.

It seems that Foncha will now trot off to Bamun armed with the views of all

parties in the Southern Cameroons (and all are unanimous in opposing any

suggestion of the transfer of sovereignty to a body other than a body representing

the future federation: they also are unanimous in demanding that defence must be

a regional responsibility). He will presumably once again test Ahidjo’s attitude. If

the latter is firm, Foncha will, I think, give into him and take refuge in the secret

deals arrangement. I am sure that the wretched little man is moved very largely

by considerations of what is best for himself; the interests of the Southern

Cameroons will come a poor second. However, he will need more than his usual

luck and agility to avoid a moment of truth should he return from Bamun having

accepted Ahidjo’s terms”.

5.3.8 And finally, on October 1, 1961, in its final act of betrayal of the innocent peoples

of the Southern Cameroons, Mr. J.O. .FIELD, the British Commissioner for the Southern

Cameroons, in the presence of a guard of honour mounted by a detachment of Grenadier

Guards and Republican Gendarmes, handed over the sovereignty of the Southern

Cameroons to President Ahmadou Ahidjo of

the bilateral agreements contained in the “TWO ALTERNATIVES”, and left the territory

on board

France as referring to the handover as “

Queen of England). And so ‘expendable’ Southern Cameroons was finally auctioned off

to France like a piece of merchandise nearly two centuries after the abolition of the slave

trade. That was indeed, to paraphrase Fon Gorji Dinka, “

SOPHISTICATED SLAVE TRADE DEAL UNDER UNITED NATIONS COVER

14

5.5 Right from the beginning of the federation in October 1961, President Ahidjo did

government of the West Cameroon State (on October 1, 1961, the former British

Southern Cameroons became the Federated State of West Cameroon while

du Cameroun

of the one-party system, Mr. Ahidjo’s intention was to rely on the massive francophone

vote, estimated at about 4/5 of the electorate of the federation, to swamp any adverse vote

in the West Cameroon State. (By United Nations estimates, the population of the British

Southern Cameroons on October 1, 1961 was 800.000 while that of

Cameroun

decree; a rule characterised by intimidations, harassments and disappearances of

opponents to notorious concentration camps, and extra-judicial executions – a gruesome

catalogue of horrendous Human Rights abuses.

5.6 This measure calls into question the whole validity of the May 1972 referendum (socalled

‘Peaceful Revolution’) since the federal system of government was the basis on

which the electorate of British Southern Cameroons had voted to join

Cameroun

State meant undermining the whole basis of the union which required the separate

consultations of the peoples of both territories in accordance with the federal constitution.

To have imposed a unitary state the way President Ahidjo did constituted a serious breach

of trust, and a fraudulent manipulation of the constitution which is unacceptable in

international Law.

5.7 President Ahmadou Ahidjo then went on to issue the notorious proclamation,

DF72-270 of 2/6/72, by which he unilaterally, unconstitutionally, illegally and

fraudulently abrogated the Union Accords, abolished the Federal Constitution and the

federation, abolished the Government, and the Houses of Assembly and of Chiefs of the

West Cameroon Federated State and imposed on the peoples of the Southern Cameroons

a unitary state which he called the

5.8

N°. 84-001 of 4/2/84 abolishing the United Republic of Cameroon and renaming the

country simply as

Cameroun assumed at independence on January 1, 1960, and was admitted into

membership of the United Nations Organisation, and thereby completed the

annexation of the territory and peoples of the Southern Cameroons and thereby

confiscating the enormous natural resources of the territory for the benefit of his

masters in France and his ruling junta.

15

The final blow to the entire edifice of the so-called union came when Mr. Paul Biya,

5.9

reminiscent of the Apartheid regime in South Africa: from the Ndu massacres in June

1991 following the massively boycotted May 1991 legislative elections; the

imposition of the state of emergency in Bamenda and the state of siege in Fru Ndi’s

compound following Ni John Fru NDi’s victory at the October 1992 Presidential

election; operations “

petroleum company, ELF-AQUITAINE, in the coastal regions of the territory to

harass, brutalise and intimidate the population to buy only made-in-France goods:

they destroyed goods legally imported from neighbouring Nigeria, and even

destroyed vehicles suspected of running on fuel imported from Nigeria. all in an

attempt to frenchify and assimilate the Anglophones, willy- nilly, into Francophonie,

and to teach Anglophones a lesson; to the aftermath of the so-called terrorist uprising

in Bamenda in 1997 with the attendant desecration of sacred shrines in Oku, Bui

division; and the recurrent massacres at the University of Buea.

He has maintained the legacy of a barbaric dictatorship and a chilling record ofDorade” and “

Delta”, masterminded and financed by the French

5.10 Destabilising Irredentist Claims by

5.10.1

Territory) claims what it calls an historic right or sovereignty over ex-British Southern

Kamerun, which, so it is claimed, had created a Kamerun Nation.

5.10.2 In any event, following the Anglo-French partition of 1916 and the renunciation

by Germany in 1919 of its right and title to that Territory, German Kamerun became

extinct. In theory of law, the British Cameroons and French Cameroun were two new

polities that came into being as from 1919. Each was the object of a separate Mandate /

Trusteeship Agreement. The International boundary between the British Cameroons and

French Cameroun is along the Simon-Milner Line traced in 1916 by Britain and France,

delimited in 1919 and confirmed in 1922. There is no treaty boundary between the

former British Northern Cameroons and the former British Southern Cameroons – only

an administrative boundary along the River Donga.

5.10.3 It follows that any claim based on German Kamerun must of necessity be

irredentist. Irredentist claims are destabilising claims and constitute a threat to regional

peace and security. They are therefore anathema in international law and relations (*Dr.

Carlson Anyangwe).

5.10.4 It is also true that parts of German Kamerun were integrated into the French

Equatorial Republics of Chad, Central African Republic, Congo and Gabon. Curiously,

la Republique du Cameroun.La Republique du Cameroun (a former French-administered United Nations Trust

la Republique du Cameroun

German Kamerun.

16

5.10.5 The people of the former UN Trust Territory of the Cameroons under United

total independence of their territory without resorting to violence. The people of the

former British Cameroons shall negotiate economic and political protocols in accordance

with the UN Charter and international law which will enable each country to concentrate

on the improvement of the living standards of its respective peoples so that they can live

like civilised neighbours in respect of each other’s sovereignty and dignity. Selfdetermination

for the people of the former British Cameroons will not change any

territorial boundaries that existed at independence but will have the potential to return the

territory to a state of respect for human rights and masters of their own destiny.

does not claim a similar historic right over these parts of

6. The quest for Self-Determination and Independence of the former Trust Territory

of the Cameroons under United Kingdom Administration (the Northern Cameroons

and the Southern Cameroons together – 86, 214 sq. km) is a very burning issue:

6.1 Southern Cameroons struggle for self-determination was prompted by the blatant and

arrogant breaches of trust by the Francophone partners in the United Nations-imposed

union. French Cameroun became independent on January 1, 1960 and assumed the name

of

United Nations decided that British Cameroons should achieve her own independence

alternatives pushed them into an unholy union with

6.2 The aspiration of the peoples of the Southern Cameroons was to establish a unique

Federation on the continent of Africa, and to evolve a bicultural society in which the

distinct heritage of each of the partners to the union would flourish. During the past 46

years, however, our common experience in the union leaves us in no doubt that, far from

attaining these ends, we have become a people with a problem, an annexed, oppressed,

state-terrorised, dehumanised and exploited people; and treated as a captive people by

successive Francophone-led dictatorships which trampled under foot the union accords

with callous indifference. The Federation was unilaterally, illegally, unconstitutionally,

and fraudulently abolished and French gendarmes and

the territory. And the country was renamed simply as

same name French Cameroun assumed at independence on 1 January 1960. (* The Buea

Declaration).

6.3 Since then our interests have been disregarded, and our participation in national life

has been limited to non-essential functions. Our natural resources have been ruthlessly

and wantonly exploited without any benefit accruing to our territory and its peoples. The

development of our territory has been negligible and confined to areas that directly or

indirectly benefit francophones. Through manoeuvres and manipulations, we have been

reduced from partners of equal status in the union to the status of a subjugated people.

17

And this we cannot accept. Our peoples have been subjected to all forms of horrendous

Minorities Sub-Commission, the US Department of State, Amnesty International, the

Commonwealth, and the European Union have all at various times indicted the

dictatorship in la Republique du Cameroun for such wanton abuses.

7. ANGLOPHONES’ SEARCH FOR DIALOGUE AND JUSTICE

SYSTEMATICALLY FRUSTRATED, IGNORED AND DENIED WITH

CONDESCENDING IMPUNITY.

7.1 Memoranda presented to President Paul Biya on the Anglophone Problem:

7.1.1 The peoples of the Southern Cameroons have bent over backwards to make the illfated

union work but their search for dialogue and justice has been systematically

frustrated and ignored. Anglophone renaissance gathered momentum at the time of the

Cameroon National Union (CNU) New Deal Congress in Bamenda in April 1985 with a

flurry of uncoordinated activities among Anglophone groups notably in Douala,

Bamenda, Kumba and Yaoundé. The North-West and South-West Elites resident in the

Littoral province addressed the first of several memoranda to the Head of State and

Chairman of the CNU Congress in Bamenda, signed by 94 Anglophones, about “

humiliating and revolting colonial status that is gradually but systematically being

imposed on Anglophone Cameroon by the Administration

the Two-State Federation Anglophone Cameroon voted for in the United Nationsimposed

plebiscite of 11 February 1961. The memorandum concluded :

“

on mutual trust and respect for each other’s basic freedoms, justice, dignity and

side in a spirit of complementarities NOT of competition. Let us learn from

lessons of history

7.2 ‘The

Carlson Anyangwe, Dr. Clement Ngwasiri, John Fru Ndi and signed by Fon Gorji Dinka

now in exile, for presentation at the CNU Congress by Professor Fonlon. The

presentation was botched. ‘

Federation with proposals for a Con-federal System of government based on four stages:

the Municipal, the Provincial, the State and the Con-federal.

7.3 On June 11, 1985, another Memorandum submitted to President Biya by the Elites of

the North-West province resident in Yaoundé and Parliamentarians attending the 1985/86

Budgetary session was signed by 30 Anglophones highlighting “the Problems of English

– speaking Cameroonians, State Security and National Unity”. They “

18

President and his Government more than ever before to leave no stone unturned in their

justice and democracy, pre-conditions for unity, peace and progress”.

7.4 On August 20, 1985, at a meeting in Kumba from 14

English – speaking Students of the North-West and South-West provinces addressed an

th to 19th August, 1985, the

“Open letter to all English-speaking Parents of Cameroon”

plans to reform the General Certificate of Education (GCE). It concluded,

concerning government’sinter alia:

“Realising that, with government indifference, the smouldering discontent in the

English- speaking region of the country can only end up in war; knowing we are

those who thus will miss the peace and security we love; conscious of the pains

and sorrows that are inseparable appendages of war; we call on our parents to

press for a peaceful and permanent solution before it is too late”.

called on their parents

view of the gravity of the country’s situation”.

They then

7.4.1 They also called for the release of Fon Gorji Dinka and finished up by quoting His

Holiness, Pope John Paul II’s address to President Biya at State House on August 15:

… “Injustice committed by certain regimes concerning human rights or the

legitimate demands of a section of the population which is refused participation

or common responsibilities beget revolt of regrettable violence but which justice

would have foreheld”.

7.5 The irony of it all is that those who were prepared to compromise the Anglo-Saxon

system of education in 1985 for purely egoistic interests are today lording it over Anglo-

Saxon institutions of higher learning in the territory which were wrenched from the

regime through our collective will and sacrifice of compatriots who defied intimidations,

blackmail and water canons..

7.6 In February 1991, a Committee of Anglophones resident in the Littoral Province,

chaired by Dr. Arnold Boh Yongbang, defied the injunctions of the Secretary of State for

Internal Security and addressed another

Chiefs, Political Party leaders, Religious Leaders and the People of the former West

Cameroon

up a united front in the event of a National Conference. The theme was:

becomes great not by the victories of its factions over each other but by its

reconciliation”.