CAMEROON’S FATHER OF INDEPENDENCE

The great Cameroonian Independence leader Ruben Um Nyobè would have turned 112 this week. Born in Nyong-et-Kéllé on 10 April 1913, he led the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), an anti-colonial pan-African organisation with socialist leanings. Nyobè and the UPC fought for complete independence, refusing to submit to neo-colonial rule. In 1955, the UPC was banned and, three years later, Nyobè was murdered by the French military for continuing the fight for freedom.

On 13 March 1959, the United Nations General Assembly agreed that France's colonisation of Cameroon should end, leading to Cameroonian independence on 1 January 1960. However, the UPC was still banned in the country and president Ahmadou Ahidjo was picked by France to ensure French interests post-independence. Thus, the UPC continued their struggle under the leadership of Félix-Roland Moumié, until he was killed by a French spy in 1960, and then Ernest Ouandié, until he was killed by the Ahidjo government in 1971.

The legacy of Ruben Um Nyobè has long been buried. It is now coming to light as more Cameroonians and Africans seek out their revolutionary history.

Sources

https://www.counterfire.org/article/cameroon-neo-colonised-before-independence/

https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/82062-cameroon-um-nyobe-hero-symbol-french-colonial-crimes.html

https://face2faceafrica.com/article/felix-moumie

https://www.dibussi.com/2008/01/saturday-januar.html