Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

Memory Lane (January 1954): Southern Cameroons Breaks off from the Eastern Region of Nigeria

The New York Times, Friday January 22, 1954 - Nigeria Talks Set Role of Cameroons

Lagos Nigeria, Jan 21 - The Nigerian constitutional conference agreed today that the Southern Cameroons trust territory should become a separate unit within the contemplated federation of Nigeria.
The first Executive Council for Southern Cameroons (1954). Picture taken at the Schloss in Buea.

Oliver Lyttelton, British Colonial Secretary, who is presiding over the conference, presented a series of proposals that he had formulated last night in consultation with the delegates from the British Cameroons, a trust territory under the United Nations.

The conference endorsed these proposals, the most important of which were:

Memory Lane (Jan 1, 1960): French Cameroons Independence Celebrations

On January 1, 1960 , the French Cameroons aka Republique du Cameroun gained its independence from France. Here is a rare  English language report on the official celebrations commemorating this even. Among the participants featured in this brief clip is John Ngu Foncha, Premier of British Southern Cameroons, whose message to the people of "East Kamerun" is available here.

Memory Lane (Jan 1, 1960): Message of J.N. Foncha, Premier of Southern Cameroons, to the People of La Republique du Cameroun on their Independence Day

I wish to say how happy we of the Southern Cameroons are... We look forward to seeing you enter courageously among the sovereign nations of the world. In this happy venture we wish you God’s guidance. Premier Foncha.

Mr. President of the Republic of Cameroun, Honourable Ambassadors and Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the people of the Southern Cameroons, my delegation and myself take this opportunity to congratulate the people of Eastern Kamerun for their well-earned independence. It gives me the greatest pleasure to be here in Yaoundé to take part in the celebration of this historic occasion. This happy day has not come as a surprise, it is the result of hard struggle. Congratulations to the architects of this resounding victory and masses of the population who have in their various ways contributed to the success.

Memory Lane (May 9, 2015): Common Law Lawyers in Cameroon Call for a Return to Federalism

On May 9 2015, lawyers from the Common Law jurisdictions of Cameroon met in Bamenda to discuss "The security and future of the Common Law in Cameroon." During this inaugural Common Law lawyers' conference, the lawyers lamented about the steady erosion of Common law in Cameroon, the systemic Francophonization of courts in Anglophone Cameroon with the proliferation of French speaking magistrates who made oral and written submissions in French, and wrote their judgments in French in a region where the language of the courts and litigants was English.

The lawyers called for a scrupulous respect of Cameroon's bi-jural system and demanded that Common Law be full represented in all instances of the judicial system (from the School of Magistracy to the Supreme Court). Most significantly, they called for a return to a federal system of government without which it would not be possible to protect the history, heritage, education and cultural values of Cameroon's English speaking minority.

Memory Lane (December 1992): Bamenda Erupts after 173 Detainees are "Kidnapped" to Yaounde

By Dibussi Tande

On December 23, 1992, the Bamenda High Court (in case No. HCB/19.CRM/92, Nyo Wakai and 172 others vs. the State of Cameroon) released 173 individuals who had been arrested during the state of emergency in the Northwest Province and held "under absolutely dehumanizing conditions and deteriorating in health and have hardly had any medical attention.”

The ruling by the Bamenda High Court infuriated the Biya regime because it went against the explicit instructions of the Minister of Justice and included an scathing condemnation of human rights abuses perpetrated by security forces during the state of emergency. A furious Minister of Justice insisted that the ruling was illegal because the Bamenda High Court was a court of “private jurisdiction” and the presiding judge, Justice Fombe, a “private judge” who was not competent to rule on “administrative (public) acts.” He therefore asked the Minister of Territorial Administration to suspend the release of the detainees.

Memory Lane ( October 30, 1991): The Tripartite Conference Begins

Dibussi Tande

Thus, unable to force the government’s hand on the issue of a national conference, the opposition’s hope was that the tripartite conference could be transformed into a conference whose decisions on the access of political parties to the official media, the electoral code and a revision of the constitution would be binding and have the force of law – far short of the NCOPA’s initial demands, but a “mini sovereign national conference” of sorts…

On October 11, 1991, President Biya announced during a nationwide address that multiparty legislative elections would take place on February 17, 1992.

United before the fall: Opposition leaders during a rally in Yaoundé in 1991.

He also announced that a tripartite meeting between the government, opposition parties and members of the civil society would take place in Yaounde, under the patronage of the Prime Minister, to discuss the draft electoral code and the draft decree on the access of political parties to the official media. He declared that the decisions of the meeting would be binding on all.

By the time President Biya addressed the nation, the Ghost town and civil disobedience campaign initiated by the National Coordination of Opposition Parties  and Associations (NCOPA) had taken a heavy toll on the country’s economy with the state suffering a severe financial hemorrhage.

Memory Lane (May 5, 1991): President Biya Awarded Controversial Honorary Degree in the United States

In April 1991, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the United States announced that it had awarded President Paul Biya an honorary doctor of laws degree, and that the President would travel to the United States for the award ceremony.

This announcement was greeted with outrage particularly within the Cameroonian student community in the United States which launched a protest campaign through the Cameroon Students’ Association of the United States (CAMSA-USA).

Memory Lane (May 26, 1990): The Social Democratic Front (SDF) is Launched in Blood and Tears

By Dibussi Tande

Thanks to its stand-off with government and the sympathy generated by the Bamenda incident, the SDF was able to successfully present itself as a credible alternative to the ruling CPDM. The party’s launching also mobilized political activists, particularly those in exile, who began thinking of creating other political parties.

On March 16, 1990, barely six days after the Biya regime insisted that multipartyism was not illegal in Cameroon, John Fru Ndi, a Bamenda-based bookseller, and Dr. Siga Assanga, a lecturer at the University of Yaounde, submitted an application with the Mezam divisional office seeking authorization for a political party called the Social Democratic Front (SDF).

Although the application was in direct response to the government’s declaration that multipartyism was not proscribed in Cameroon, the SDF had actually been in gestation months before the Yondo affair.

Memory Lane (May 26, 1990): The Launching of the SDF in Pictures

Here in pictures, the May 26, 1990 launching of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) in Bamenda which ended with the death of six individuals - Fidelis Chosi Mankam (Corn Mill Operator), Tifuh Mathias Teboh (Student), Asanji Christopher Fombi (Student), Nfon Edwin Jatop (Tailor), Juliette Sikod (Student), and Toje Evaristus Chatum (Student) - killed by security forces who had been dispatched to Bamenda to prevent the "illegal march" by any means necessary.

 

Memory Lane (May 26, 1990): University Students Organize Pro-Democracy Rally... and "Betray the Nation"

By Dibussi Tande

In Cameroonian politics, linking “les anglophones” with “le Nigeria” or “un pays voisin” in times of crisis is not an innocent act; it is a powerful tool for demonization and exclusion which is meant to conjure images of the Biafrazation of the country; of a fifth column serving the interests of Nigeria rather than Cameroon’s; and of a powerful neighbor busy manipulating the “Anglophone Trojan horse” to its advantage.

On May 26, 1990, Cameroonians apprehensively awaited the outcome of the inevitable confrontation between the Social Democratic Front (SDF) and the Biya regime in Bamenda. Officials of the SDF, a political party created a couple of months earlier, decided to officially launch the party in Bamenda on this day, in spite of a government order formally banning the event on grounds that the SDF was an illegal organization – a view not shared by SDF members and sympathizers who were determined to go ahead with the launching come what may.

In response, the government flooded Bamenda with troops whose mission was to to crackdown on any SDF-led public manifestation as thousands of SDF sympathizers from all over the Northwest province and beyond converge on the city under siege.

Memory Lane (May 26, 1990): John Fru Ndi's Speech at the Launching of SDF

Speech delivered by Ni John Fru Ndi, National Chairman on the occasion of the launching of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, on May 26th 1990 at Ntarinkon Motor Park, Bamenda.

"But what we see today is that African leaders have cultivated the tendency of using the vocabulary of democracy to conceal modern forms of dictatorship. It is against this dictatorship and oppression that we join the battle with anyone, and we assure you today that we shall emerge victorious."

Fellow Cameroonians!

Today is the most significant day in the struggle for DEMOCRACY in Cameroon. You are here in your numbers because you do not only have faith in democracy but more so because you are determined to ensure that it works in Cameroon.

Memory Lane (Nov. 4 & 6 1982): Ahidjo Resigns, Paul Biya is Sworn In (Audio)

On November 4, 1982, Ahmadou Ahidjo, president of the United Republic of Cameroon resigned from office and handed over to his Prime Minister, Paul Biya, who was sworn in on November 6, 1982. In this audio excerpt, we listen, first, to Ahidjo announcing his resignation in a speech to the nation, then to Biya being sworn in as President of the Republic by Solomon Tandeng Muna, Speaker of the National Assembly.

 

Memory Lane (September 1961): Cameroon in Chaos

The Glasgow Herald - September 12, 1961

"It must be hoped that [the people of Southern Cameroons] will not regret their choice, for few states have ever embarked upon independent self-government in more inauspicious circumstances."

After more than 40 years of separation under British and French Trusteeship, the main parts of the old German colony of Kamerun will be reunited on October 1 as an independent African State. This was the vision that carried the people of the British-administered Southern Cameroons to the poll in February of this year to vote for union with the neighbouring (and already independent) French Cameroon Republic.

Memory Lane (Jan. 1961): Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa's Message to the People of the British Cameroons

On October 16, 1959, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 1352 (XIV) confirming that the people of the UN Trust Territory of the British Cameroons would achieve independence by deciding, via a plebiscite, to join either the Federation of Nigeria or the independent Republic of Cameroon. It also ordered that the plebiscite take place no later than March 1961. The plebiscite was ultimately scheduled for February 11, 1961.

On January 22, 1961, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, addressed the people of Southern Cameroons via Radio Nigeria. He reassured them of their future if they decided in the plebiscite to rejoin Nigeria and also presented them with the stark choice before them:

Memory Lane (July 29, 1992): The Death of Jeanne-Irène Biya

An excerpt from Dibussi Tande, Reform and Repression: A Chronicle of the Smoldering Years, 1990-1992. (Forthcoming).

Plans for nationwide CPDM rallies in favor of early elections were scuttled when First Lady Jeanne-Irène Biya died suddenly in the early hours of July 29 from an undisclosed illness.

"Madam is Dead" - Cameroon Tribune, July 30, 1992.

Only a week earlier, a beaming and and apparently healthy First Lady had been on TV receiving American musician Stevie Wonder at Unity Palace. Her sudden death, just hours after President Biya left for a meeting in Dakar, Senegal, led to widespread rumors that she had been assassinated:

Memory Lane (March 16, 1962): President Ahidjo Receives Honorary Doctorate in New York

At 4 P.M. President Ahidjo was the guest of Long Island University [New York] which conferred upon him the degree Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa.

Citation:
Mr. President: I have the privilege of presenting to you His Excellency Ahmadou Ahidjo, President of the Federal Republic of Cameroun.

Born to the respected Fulani of northern Cameroun, he came south to study in the capital Yaounde, and here he was soon drawn into the swift political eddies of a people aspiring to independence. In 1947, when his country was yet a United Nations trust territory administered by the French, he won his first elected office, a seat in the Representative Assembly. He was then 23 years old. Sagacious beyond his years, quick-witted and persuasive in debate, he rose to become Prime Minister in 1958 and from this high office, guided his country to independence on the first day of January 1960.

Memory Lane Video (March 13, 1962): President Ahidjo Visits the United States

Motion picture covering the official state visit of President Ahmadou Ahidjo of Cameroon to the United States, including welcoming ceremonies with President John F. Kennedy and a visit to the White House, other stops in Washington, D.C., and a visit to New York City and the United Nations (UN) headquarters.

Source: United States Information Agency (USIA), received from Paul Fisher, White House, 9/18/64. Presented by: United States Information Service (USIS). Produced by: Thomas Craven Film Corporation Productions.

Why Cameroon Does Not Have a Two-round Presidential Election System

Or how the parliamentary opposition shot itself in the foot in 1992...

By Dibussi Tande

The Republic of Senegal has a new president following run-off elections which resulted in the defeat of outgoing President Abdoulaye Wade by Macky Sall, his one-time protégé and former Prime Minister. One of the main reasons for Macky's victory is Senegal’s two-round electoral system, which calls for a second round of voting if no candidate obtains more that 50% of votes cast. This is unlike countries such as Cameroon which have a one-round/first-past-the-post electoral system.

In 1992, Cameroon's National Assembly failed to vote on a motion instituting the 2-round system.

In the first round of voting, President Wade obtained 34.81% of votes cast while Sall obtained 26.58%. If this had been the first-past-the-post system practiced in Cameroon, Wade would still be President of Senegal...

Memory Lane (15 June 1991): Opposition Parties Issue Yaounde Plan of Action, Paralyze Nation

By Dibussi Tande

On June 15, 1991, delegates from the 30 political parties and 10 associations that made up the National Coordination of Opposition Parties and Associations (NCOPA) held their first ever rally and meeting in Yaounde.

Leaders of the NCOPA  in the streets of Yaounde on June 15, 1991

They insisted that the national conference was “incontournable” (unavoidable), and unveiled the “Yaounde Plan of Action” aimed at paralyzing the country indefinitely until a Sovereign National Conference was convened.

Memory Lane (May 16 – 17, 1991): Opposition Parties Launch “Operation Ghost Town”

By Dibussi Tande

On May 12, 1991, 22 political parties and 10 human rights associations, including the Yaounde University Students' Parliament, met in Bamenda to discuss the political situation in the country. In their final communiqué, they gave  President Biya 14 days to reconsider his stand on the National Conference, and issued the Bamenda Plan of Action which announced a two-day nationwide Ghost Town campaign (also known as operation dead cities) on May 16 and 17.