Part II- Rebirth of the Southern Cameroon Nation

The Annexation Machine Activated

In part one of this series of events; we saw how the formerly known British Southern Cameroons gained its independence and joint La Republique du Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. There was great joy and consternation across West Cameroon. Hopes were high for the future as Southern Cameroons looked forward to working with their French Cameroun counterparts, now considered as brothers to build a prosperous nation. The politicians of Southern Cameroons did not know that underneath the smiles and handshakes of president Ahidjo, lied claws and wolf teeth ready to devour them mercilessly. As a matter of fact, Ahido had drafted a MASTER PLAN with his French mentors to gradually but completely annex the Southern Cameroons (West Cameroon).  This plan which began at the Foumban Constitutional Conference of July 17 to 21 1961 has continued till the present day and is almost at completion.

While top Southern Cameroonian politicians headed by J.N Foncha and E.M Endeley were still slumbering and under the spell of excitement for their upcoming new independent status; Ahidjo had a deeply planned and well design scheme to annex the Southern Cameroons, rip it of all its coveted natural resources and render her completely dependent like a dog on a leash.  The Foumban conference aimed at confirming the desire of the Southern Cameroonians to join La Republique at independence and to draft a preliminary constitution which will not only safeguard the independence and sovereignty of both parties as equal partners in the union, but also set rules that will ensure the maintenance of the Federal statusquo.  At the conference, Southern Cameroonians where tricked in to thinking they had a choice to vote between staying with La Republique or Nigeria. The two ballot answers which amounted to the same thing “Yes” and “Oui” sealed the fate of the West Cameroonians into eternal servitude at birth on October 1, 1961.

I am going to dedicate this portion of the multi-part series by exposing how President Ahidjo maliciously started his annexation plan by attacking the economic foundation of the Southern Cameroons.

Before independence in 1961, Southern Cameroons was enjoying an economic boom. The land was blessed with a variety of natural resources particularly oil and timber. With an opening to the Atlantic Ocean, the Southern Cameroons was blessed by God to be the crown jewel of West Africa and a beacon of prosperity overflowing with milk and honey.  The industrious character of Southern Cameroonians was evident from the structures they set up and the businesses that flourished at every angle. Southern Cameroons also had a vibrant system of government with well-structured legislative powers and a police force that was trained by the British. After independence, Southern Cameroonians will begin to see the devil’s claws unravel finger by finger.

Destruction of West Cameroon’s Economic Independence

·         Banks and Credit Unions: Southern Cameroonians before independence had financial institutions that helped finance small enterprises and startup businesses. Institutions such as the Cameroon Bank (Buea) which operated under the Barclays Bank in the UK. It was the biggest bank in the two Cameroons. There was also the West Cameroon Development Agency and the National Produce Marketing Board in Victoria. (today Limbe). These institutions were the “Wall Street” of Southern Cameroons and helped manage the financial wealth and reserve which the territory could boast of.  The Marketing Board processed and graded cash crop produce such as cocoa and coffee that was grown in West Cameroon. With its main office in Limbe, this board was the main source of information to cocoa and coffee farmers of West Cameroon regarding the grade of their products on the world market before shipment. The financial success of the board opened up other opportunities for the youths as it promoted football clubs such as sponsoring Kamac Kumba and Kamac Bamenda. These all died down when the board was closed by the government of La Republique. Farmers lost their protection in the world market and many became poor and went out of business.

·         There also existed small credit unions which grew from the local “njangi” system. The first credit union in Cameroon was established in 1963 in Bamenda, with the help of Canadian and US clergymen. These credit unions made funds readily available to farmers and merchants in times of need. The government of La Republique managed to shut down these institutions and transferred some of the institutions to the French regions. Also, because a strict credit system of borrowing and lending which the regime introduced in order to maintain control over small businesses in West Cameroon, we noticed a gradual asphyxiation of West Cameroon small businesses and eventual closures. Businesses such as Niba Automobile, Kilo Brothers, Che Company, Fomenky Direct Suppliers, Nangah Company in Great Soppo, Buea under the management of Mr. J.G Mallet and Mr. Mofa., are glaring example. 

·         There were many other financial institutions that were closed or left to rotten in poverty. One other famous Bank was Fonade. This bank was created to financially and materially support and subsidies Southern Cameroon farmers. Despite the importance of this bank, the president of La Republique Ahidjo thought it wise to move it to Yaoundé in East Cameroon and change its name to Credit Agricole which will in turn be taken over by Crédit Lyonnais. This deprived Southern Cameroonian farmers of a financial source of subsidy and many went out of business.

·         Power Supply: Southern Cameroons before independence enjoyed and managed its own energy supply. The West Cameroon Electricity Corporation – POWERCAM was the main hydroelectricity plant that supplied cheap and steady electricity to the entire West Cameroon. Based in Muyuka, this plant drew its power from the Yoke River. The plant was initially put in place by the Electricity Cooperation of Nigeria (ECN) which it operated in Victoria. When Southern Cameroons gained independence as West Cameroon, it became a West Cameroon property. Other smaller plants were set up in Ekona and Bota and were linked up by a 30-mile transmission line to supply electricity to Tiko, Victoria and other towns in the Southern Cameroons such as Bamenda. Mr Ebai A. Mbiwan was the first General Manager of POWERCAM from 1961 – 68. Ahidjo and his cohorts shut down the plant and imposed a French owned corporation called (Societe Nationale d’Electricite) SONEL on West Cameroonians. Electricity from SONEL was unstable and very expensive.

·         Agricultural and Development structures: Agricultural institutions flourished in Southern Cameroon. These institutions were the backbone of the Southern Cameroons economic prosperity. Prominent amongst them were:

1.      The Santa Coffee Estate

2.      The Obang Farm Settlement

3.      Wum Area Development Authority were agricultural institutions that promoted the value of food security and the cash crop expansion.

4.      MEDINO based in Bamenda was another big agricultural institution. It trained students and agricultural experts who in turn educated the local farmers on new methods of farming.

5.      The Ekona research Centre in Buea which was created by a group of American experts was one of the best research Centre in West Africa at the time. It is now a ghost of its former self.

6.      Ombe Trade Centre was an industrial powerhouse. This Centre was unique in the production of heavy machinery and machine spare parts. It was also a training Centre for youths in Southern Cameroon enrolled in technical institutions. This enabled the production and consumption of homemade machinery, thereby keeping money within the territory instead of importing parts from Nigeria.

Most of these institutions were either shut down or abandoned to decay without financial assistance.

·         Airports and Air strips: The Cameroon Air Transport (CAT) in Bota with TIKO as its main hub was a fast growing airport in West Africa. It was commonly referred to as the Tiko International Airport. It was a very busy airport as it helped with the transportation of CDC produce and ran domestic flights. There were air strips in other parts of the Southern Cameroons such as the ones in:

1.      Bali

2.      Besongabang

3.      Likomba and

4.      Weh.

·         Seaports: Before independence, Southern Cameroon could boast of two big and famous wharfs in Wharfs in Bota and Tiko. The wharf in Tiko was the main water transportation connection between West Cameroon and Nigeria and it had the potential of becoming a major seaport. The existence of these wharfs contributed not only in export of local and cash crop produce, but also inspired the creation of businesses around them which in turn created job opportunities for Southern Cameroonians. Some of the companies that operated around these wharfs included the Elders and Fyffes.  Corporations such as the   Bakweri Cooperative Union of Farmers (BCUF) and the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) used the seaports to transport their cash crops such as banana and rubber. Farmers in Kumba who grew products like coffee, cocoa and timber exported them directly through these the Tiko and Bota seaports without having to pass through Douala in La Republique as is the case today.  These were all shut down or starved economically and allowed to decay. The Tiko and Limbe seaports were deliberately neglected in favor of the one in Kribi in French Cameroun region.

·         Government Residential Areas (GRA’s) in Bota, Tiko, Kumba, Upstation Bamenda and Mamfe. They were not properly maintained and have become shadows of themselves. 

·         Public Works Development (PWD) under Tamajong Ndumu was a machinery for development for the Southern Cameroons. As a structure that was charged with the construction, maintenance and repairs of roads, PWD did marvelously maintaining the integrity of good roads and more roads where in the pipeline to be constructed. However, President Ahidjo saw it fit to close down such a structure in order for La Republique to dictate which roads should be built. PWD also managed football clubs such as PWD Kumba and PWD Bamenda. The roads are dilapidated today and the ring road project is still s pipe dream till this day.

·         Mobile Wing Police: Southern Cameroons had a well-trained police force that put in place and equipped by the British during their rule. It was very disciplined and worked to protect, serve and keep Southern Cameroonians safe from internal and external threats.  Ahidjo did not want Southern Cameroonians to be able to protect and defend themselves from what he had coming to them, so he replaced them with his ruthless French Speaking Gendarmes.

Conclusion

Famous Southern Cameroons activist Nfor Ngala Nfor stated that, Former French President George Pompidou in collaboration with President with Ahidjo conspired and devised this Machiavellian Plan to close or starve West Cameroon economic companies and financial institutions in order to starve, enslave and keep West Cameron economically dependent on the Yaoundé for its survival.  As a matter of fact, the 1961 Federal Constitution had no provision for financial autonomy of the Federated states. The plan was that, upon independence, West Cameroon was to forgo its revenue sources and receive financial subventions from La Republique.  As predicted, the revenue allocation committee in charge of the subvention program was never set up and the program was never implemented despite repeated reminders by P.M Foncha. La Republique du Cameroun under Ahmadou Ahidjo gradually but methodically proceeded with the exploitation and looting of Southern Cameroons oil and gas, timber, bauxite, gold, iron and other mineral resources as well as its lucrative cash crop to enrich himself, his French masters in Paris and to develop French Cameroun (East Cameroon) while the original owners of the resources languished in poverty. Under the auspices of this plan, economic power was supposed to be centralized in Yaoundé in conjunction with political power as we will see in the next part of this series. The end result was mass unemployment, joblessness and poverty. While all of these were happening, the leaders of West Cameroons were speechless, powerless and toothless. Only a few courageous men of integrity such as Albert Mukong and Bernard Fonlon (both of blessed memories) were courageous enough to question the Yaoundé authority without fear. Albert Mukong paid a heavy price but took it with stamina and great strides and still fought the regime until his death.



Click the video below and listen to the unique historical account of the rise and fall of POWERCAM from the mouth of  Mr Ebai A. Mbiwan, the first General Manager of POWERCAM from 1961 – 68.

Mr Ebai A. Mbiwan was the first General Manager of POWERCAM from 1961 – 68)

Today Deal $50 Off : https://goo.gl/efW8Ef

Mr Ebai A. Mbiwan was the first General Manager of POWERCAM from 1961 – 68)

Today Deal $50 Off : https://goo.gl/efW8Ef