Here is the English version of the April 6, 1984 coup proclamation, reportedly written by Issa Adoum, the civilian head of the coup and former CEO of Fonader, who was executed in Mbalmayo on May 2, 1984. The proclamation was read on the national radio station in Yaounde by 2d Lt Yaya Adoum.
Fellow Camerounians,
The National Army has just freed the Cameroun people from Biya and his gang, from their tyranny, their fraud, and their incalculable and unspeakable plundering. Yes, the army has decided to put an end to this man's criminal policies against the national unity of our dear country. In fact, in the fifteen months that the Biya regime has lasted, Cameroon has gone through the darkest period of its history, its unity in jeopardy, its economic prosperity compromised and its national reputation tarnished.
You have all been witnesses to the dreadful act put on by the ousted government that claimed to talk of liberalism, democracy, and national integration whereas its daily conduct undermined these high values in the most scandalous manner. The fundamental human rights and freedoms of the individual, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, were never respected.
The constitution was toyed with at will out of considerations of political calculations. The government and its agents propelled to the top of State machinery behaved as if their only motto was not to serve the nation but to serve themselves. Yes, things went on as if the immediate task was to get pockets filled as quickly as possible lest it would be too late.
And, in fact, that was what it was all about. Finally you can see for yourselves the discredit brought to our country by the recent trials, which were merely a parody of justice. It was therefore high time to cut the Gordian knot. That time is today. Today, thanks to God, my fellow countrymen, the nightmare is over. The army through the impetus given by young officers and non-commissioned officers, ready to make the supreme sacrifice for the nation, stuck together within the "I Dare Movement", intend to give again real meaning to national unity and to restore trust and understanding among citizens.
The Cameroun people and its army have today won a big victory over the forces of evil and history will celebrate this victory with the honour due to it.
Right now, the High Military Council is obliged to take a number of decisions in the interest of national security. The High Military Council requests the Cameroun people to bear with it. First of all, air, land and sea links as well as telecommunications are suspended until further notice. A curfew is imposed on the entire national territory from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Furthermore, the consultation is suspended, the National Assembly dissolved, the government is dismissed; all political parties are suspended; all provincial governors are relieved of their functions, and, finally, at military level, all senior and field officers commanding operational units are discharged from their duties. The immediate subaltern officer with the highest rank and longest serving in the rank takes over command.
Long live the National Armed Forces! Long Live Cameroun!
Source: Anyangwe, Carlson. (2008). Imperialistic Politics in Cameroun, pp 155-156.
For additional details
Read: How an Idyllic Transfer of Power Turned Sour (II): The Ahidjo – Biya Honeymoon Ends in Acrimony and Blood
See also: Unchained Voices: The "Coup Plotters" of April 6, 1984 Speak Out
Somehow, I'm glad the coup did not succeed. Much as I hate how the civilian government has turned out to be, I shudder to think of the of the butchery and bloodbath that may have followed, had the coup succeeded.
I've come to regard the Cameroonian Army as the most ill-disciplined, officially sanctioned assemblage of brutal men with arms. I'm scared of them and feel that their level of violence is only matched by their level of incompetence and unbelievable cruelty. Only 15months into power, and they were already taking their chances against the bantham regime. With the principal putschist named Issa Ayoum, and his announcer name Yaya Adoum, there's no doubt it would've turned out to be another self-serving and brutal regime, perpetuated by nepotism.
Nonetheless, the people and Biya failed to capitalize on this coup attempt, as a sign of dissatisfaction with the Biya government, to address national concerns. The peoples' responsibility was the communual failure to call out an increasingly inept regime; and allowing an apathetic ruler to morph into an absolute lifelong tyrant.
The Cameroonian intelligentsia were way too busy encomiastically singing Dimabola in shameless sycophancy, to notice that the country was slipping down a dangerous slide both politically and economicall. And when they finally woke up, the house was on fire; gutted by the excesses of an inebriated nation which does not care about itself as a collective.
Posted by: samira Edi | April 06, 2009 at 09:37 AM
Hi Samira,
You write: "Somehow, I'm glad the coup did not succeed. Much as I hate how the civilian government has turned out to be, I shudder to think of the of the butchery and bloodbath that may have followed, had the coup succeeded."
But the Buchery and bloodbath did in fact occur, and it targeted practically the entire elite (political, military, etc.) of the Grand North. These facts are now in the public domain since 1990. Please check them out.
Posted by: Ambe Johnson | April 06, 2009 at 10:21 AM