A group of political parties in Cameroon called on French President Emmanuel Macron to acknowledge France’s “colonial crimes” hours before his visit to Cameroon to meet with his counterpart Paul Biya.
“We have a historic dispute with France. The problem does not arise because of Macron’s arrival. We take this opportunity to educate Cameroonians about the problem with France, exposing all the crimes of the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy.” Bidimo Kouh, a member of the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy, said during a press conference in Douala. France is on the negotiating table and it has finally been decided if we want to have peaceful relations.”
During a press conference, Valentin Dongmo, another member of the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy, urged the French president to “recognize France’s colonial crimes, as France began to do in Algeria.”
On Tuesday, Macron will begin a four-day tour of the African continent in Cameroon, a trip that will allow Macron to reaffirm his “commitment to the process of renewing France’s relations with the African continent,” the Elysee Palace announced.
It is noteworthy that after the defeat of Germany in the First World War in 1918, the League of Nations transferred most of the German colony of Cameroon to the custody of France, and its western part, bordering Nigeria, was given to Great Britain.
Prior to Cameroon’s independence in 1960, the French authorities bloodily suppressed the resistance of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon, a nationalist party founded in the late 1940s and participating in the armed struggle against colonialism and its Cameroonian allies, especially in the land of Bamilik (in western Cameroon).
The French army killed tens of thousands of activists loyal to the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon, including independence leader Robin Homm Niobe. After independence, the Cameroonian army under Ahmedu Ahidjo led the killings.
Source: AFP