Ernest Ouandié and the Unfolding Verdict of History – By Chief Charles A. Taku
Chief Charles Taku, a Traditional Chief, is an international lawyer and Lead Counsel in International Courts and Tribunals. He is a distinguished author, member for life of the Governing Council of the African Bar Association and former President of the International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA).
Pan African revolutionary hero Ernest Ouandié was condemned to death by a neo-colonial court-martial in Yaoundé, La Republique du Cameroun on January 5 1971 and executed in Bafoussam on January 15, 1971. He did not testify during the neo-colonial court-martial. He left on record, the following prophetic message full of historic and ideological significance to victims of colonialism and neo-colonialism in Africa and
beyond which LRC and its court-martial were representative executioners: ” You will one day have to answer for this mockery of a conviction before
history! As far as I am concerned, I am ready, under these conditions, to be executed rather than submit to a mockery of a trial”.
This message relates to the sham independence which predatory neo- colonial France purported to grant to Cameroun. The supposed structures of governance of neo-colonial Cameroun are remote-controlled by colonial treaties and puppet leaders. The judiciary, the military and security architecture of the neo-colonial state are mere instruments of oppression.
These coercive instruments of oppression were relied on to enforce the assassination of Ernest Ouandié who was a leading African voice of freedom from colonial rule and neo-colonialism. Because of his historic stand against colonialism and neo-colonialism, Ernest Ouandié must be celebrated as an African liberation hero and not as a citizen of La Republic du Cameroun.
