Ahmadou Ahidjo wished to be buried in Cameroon

The former President of the Republic had recorded this vow in the testament that he had written on December 19, 1985.

"If God takes my life, I would like that my remains be returned to Cameroon”. These were the words of Ahmadou Ahidjo, first president of the Republic of Cameroon who died in exile in Dakar (Senegal) on November 30, 1989. He made this statement in a Will, a two-page document, dated 19 December 1985.

Ahmadou Ahidjo adresssed the document to the Senegalese president at the time, Abdou Diouf. The ex-president of Cameroon did not wish that his remains be repatriated immediately after his death. In the aftermath of the Coup d'Etat which failed, he prefers that the return of his remains to the country be delayed.

The intention was to protect his wife from any hostile act. "If it is done now during this vilaine parenthesis facing my country that I unintentionally wanted and by the action of envious and jealous people in Cameroon, my wife Habiba Germaine would definitely want to accompany my remains and I will not want her to be harmed." Therefore, it is better to wait.

According to the Cameroonian newspaper L’œil du Sahel which unveils the testament, the document was delivered to Abdou Diouf on December 1, 1989, a day after the disappearance of one his supporters called "the father of the nation".