DECLARATION BY THE UNION OF THE PEOPLES OF CAMEROON (UPC) AND THE PATRIOTIC ALLIANCE (AP), FOLLOWING THE CREATION OF FRANCE’S « MEMORY COMMISSION » ON ITS PRESENCE AND WAR IN CAMEROON.
February 20, 2023
- The Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), and the Patriotic Alliance, (AP), learned from Radio France International, (RFI), of the creation of the « Memory Commission » on French presence in Cameroon, and the war made by France against the populations of our country. This is relative to a promise by French President Emmanuel Macron during his last Cameroonian stay in July 2022. On RFI’s website, it was Published on 17 February 2023 at 9:32 am: « Cameroon War: Blick Bassy and Karine Ramondy will co-lead a “memory commission » (…) The commission in charge of working on the action of France in Cameroon during the colonization and after the independence of the country will be co-led by the Cameroonian artist Blick Bassy and the French historian Karine Ramondy, RFI has learned. Its creation was announced in July 2022 by Emmanuel Macron in Yaoundé. The French President promised a total opening of the archives on the Cameroon War (1955-1971). »;
- The UPC and the AP take note of the creation of this commission, with the hope that it is a real manifestation of the awareness of France, of the realities and the consequences of its presence (from 1922 to 2023) in Cameroon, which has never been a French colony;
- The UPC and the AP hope that this is not yet again merely a vain maneuver by France with the aim of not losing its grip on Cameroon, at a time when it is losing ground everywhere on the so-called French-speaking countries of the continent;
- The UPC and the AP note the absence of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon in this commission. Which makes us inclined to doubt the sincerity of this country. We are most likely facing a recurrence of France – UPC story, during independence. For the record, French Prime Minister Pierre Messmer in his memoirs had confessed that France had deliberately excluded the UPC from the national political scene, in order to grant, against the UPC, autonomy to Cameroon instead of true independence. Autonomy, whose dramatic consequences are the decay that Cameroon is experiencing today.
- While the UPC and the AP have been waging this fight for the « Resolution of the Cameroon-France Historical Dispute » for decades, we note with astonishment, the unpatriotic attitude and silence of the State of Cameroon regarding this Historical Dispute. Our country displays an indifference and a chilling serenity, when faced with the question as to the promise of the independence of Cameroon not kept by France, since August 27, 1940 in Douala. This, at the same time, clearly means that it concerns the extermination of more than 200,000 Cameroonians, mainly upcistes, hunted down and meticulously massacred from 1955 to 1971.
- The UPC and the AP reiterate that the main concern of the day in our country is not only the succession of President Paul Biya but also and especially the end of the fratricidal war in West Cameroon, alongside the « Resolution of the National Historical Dispute », created by France and its Cameroonian collaborators in this part of the national territory. France and the State of Cameroon must assume the responsibility for the disastrous consequence of the pernicious « Foumban Conference » of 1961 and the iniquitous « Referendum of May 20, 1972 ».
- Nevertheless, after all these decades of denial, contempt, and condescension on the part of France, the creation of this commission is for the UPC and the AP, a small victory, nonetheless, for the Cameroonian people, because by so doing, France has finally acknowledged, implicitly and publicly, that it acted outside of International Law with regard to Cameroon.
- The UPC and the PA continue their struggle for the « Resolution of the Cameroon-France Historical Dispute » which is unavoidable and inevitable! The choice of wisdom and common interest requires that this Historical Dispute between Cameroon and France be emptied for the interest of our two peoples, in order to establish equitable cooperation. It is a question of resolutely turning our backs on iniquitous practices that enrich only a handful of individuals to the detriment of the Cameroonian people. This common-sense approach will thus make it possible to clean up this vitiated climate and establish relations based on foundations of justice, balance, and mutual respect;
- Finally, the UPC and the AP asked the Cameroonian people, patriots in general and upecists in particular, to remain united and vigilant as to the real motivations of this « Memory Commission » of France on the « Resolution of the Cameroon-France Historical Dispute ». A resolution that runs from the period of the Mandate of the League of Nations in 1922 to the present day.
Luanda, February 20, 2023.
Dr. Daniel YAGNYE TOM
UPC Special Representative in Southern and
Central Africa President of the Patriotic Alliance.
