Federal Republic of Cameroon
Ahmadou Ahidjo was elected president of Cameroon on May 5 of 1960. The 1st October of 1961 gave birth to the Federal Republic of Cameroon from the reunification of French Cameroon and British Southern Cameroons. Two stars were added on the French Cameroon flag to symbolize the federation.
In 1962, the CFA franc became the official currency of the country (in both areas). A government order was made that same year and strongly regulated political parties.
During this period, a strong repression was carried out in the western countries against the guerrillas of the UPC. This war led to the death of thousands of Cameroonians. According to François-Xavier Verschave some French soldiers were involved in the operation which led to“genocide”. Although most history books on Cameroon do not mention this version in general. According to the UPC leaders in the early 1980s, the Cameroonian troops recorded “thousands” of deaths. Mongo Beti in 1982 will speak about thousands of missing victims of “Black Pinochet”; (Ahidjo).
In January 1962, when the two wings of the UPC met at their first congress after rehabilitation, Ahidjo sent his army to end it. The members were then dispersed with bayonets. After the call of April 27 of 1962, the MP and former Head of State André-Marie Mbida and other opposition leaders as Bebey-Eyidi (Secretary General of the Cameroon Labour Party), Okala Charles, Rene Guy (secretary Cameroonian Socialist Party) and Théodore Mayi-Matip (Union of the Populations of Cameroon - UPC) were arrested, making Mbida the first political prisoner of independent Cameroon, from 29th June 1962 to 29th June 1965.
In April 1964 Mbida Margaret aged 36 and wife of political prisoner Andre Marie Mbida who were sentenced to three years in prison, appeared as the head of the list of PDC (Partie Democrate Camerounais – Democrates Cameroonian Party) in April 1964 elections. The PDC is the only political party to have dared to represent the opposition in these elections. The Cameroonian opinion leaders of that time were either in exile or in prison. The results of these elections according to reliable sources gave a massive victory to PDC in what was then called the Nyong and Sanaga region. This electoral victory was to be confiscated in the name of national unity and in the name of the single party created. Voters were refused their victory expressed as stolen votes in this election. The Cameroonian government of 1964 sent the police to villages to have protesters massively arrested and deported to the infamous concentration camps of Mantoum, Tcholliré and Mokolo.
September 1st of 1966, Ahmadou Ahidjo merged all political parties in Western Cameroon except for PDC and UPC - and some Eastern Cameroon parties formed the Cameroon Union (CU), a draft single party. It was later renamed Cameroon National Union (CNU). Everything was to be implemented to achieve the unitary state and to end federalism.
Following independence, the UPC pushed away from power, insinuating the independence granted by the French was a facade (terminated earlier by Mbida when he refused to join the Ahidjo government) and that Ahmadou Ahidjo was a servant of the settlement, and thus he should be fought. The leaders of the UPC therefore triggered a revolt at the time of independence to attempt a conquest of power. There were many excesses and the rebellion soon led to the rise of robberies and gangland. This insurrection is put down by Ahmadou Ahidjo, helped by French military advisers. The leaders of the UPC in exile will be killed one after another, like Dr. Felix Moumie poisoned in Geneva (Switzerland). The last of them, returned to Cameroon to organize the armed struggle from the inside. Ernest OUANDIE was arrested and judged in the trial called OUANDIE-Ndongmo. Ouandie was sentenced to death and was shot on January 15 of 1971.
