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23 Chapter Three Asylees Hatch up a Plot Initially, Ahidjo and the French were not interested in the idea of a possible political association between British Cameroons and French Cameroun.65 The idea of so-called ‘unification’ was apparently first mooted in 1948 by Bamileke asylees from French Cameroun who had been allowed to settle in the Southern British Cameroons.66 The asylees had in mind something like a customs union between British Cameroons and French Cameroun. They saw such a union as a way of facilitating cross-border trading between the two countries, trading being the forte of Bamileke tribesmen. In the early 1950s the ‘unification’ idea was still very hazy. Then, after they were disqualified from voting in the Southern Cameroons resident French Cameroun asylees decided to use ‘unification’ as the ideological foundation of a new political party that would subvert the political process in and evolution of the Southern Cameroons. The British Consul General in Brazzavile, French Equatorial Africa, sent a confidential memo dated 24th January 1952 on this subject to the Foreign Office. The memo is so revealing that it is worth quoting at some length.67 “The grievance being expressed by the French Cameroons welfare welfare union regarding the disqualification from voting of persons of French Cameroons origin; and the general feeling described in the eighth paragraph, offered a most profitable opportunity for initiating a new political movement with a fresh slant calculated to make a strong appeal to the public and to attract the support of the many persons of French Cameroons ancestry who are qualified to vote. Among the original supporters was Mr. Ngu the author of one of the petitions to the Trusteeship Council on behalf of French Cameroons immigrants, John Mukete, son of the District Head of Kumba and Mr. R. G. Dibonge a retired provincial administration chief clerk of French Cameroons origin, who was for some years in charge of the provincial office in Buea and is now the President of the French Cameroons Welfare Union.” The confidential memo went on: 65 West Cameroonians, op. cit. p. 136. 66 In Victoria Division alone these refugees numbered about 3000 in 1930 and about 4500 in 1937. See Report by His Majesty’s Government in the UK to the Council of the League of Nations on the Administration of the Cameroons under British Mandate for the year 1930 (Colonial Office file No. 583/180/2 p. 131) and for the year 1937 (Colonial Office file No. 582/228/2 p.137). The estimate of the refugees in the entire Southern Cameroons was about twice that number. By 1961 the number was well over 20000, the bulk being made up of people from the Bamileke, Yaoundé (i.e. Beti) and Bassa tribes. 67 See Confidential Letter F.O. 371/10/390 TNA-PRO. The spelling of the names of the various individuals is as found in the document. I am most grateful to Chief Dr Michael Alemanji for drawing my attention to this document and for his unpublished article entitled, ‘A miscarriage of justice at the United Nations: the missing link in the case of Southern Cameroons independence,’ February 2008. 24 “The political influences came together in the meetings organised by Mr. Mbile’s congress, which during the conference adopted the title of the United National Cameroons Congress. According to the minutes of these meetings received through police channels, the French Cameroons delegations to the conference included, besides the men Matthew Fah and Jacob Mafo referred to in the foregoing paragraph, Albert Kingue described as President of the R.D.A. and U.P.C. from Nkongsamba; Francis Fwo Isedu, Duala Younge, Lieutenant Bonju, Alfred Sika and Ernest Wandu of the R.D.A Douala; and John Tachwa, J. Ngemeta, Talong and Sam Morfor from Dschang. British Cameroons delegation came from Bamenda, Mamfe, Kumba, Buea, Tiko, Muyuka, Mbonge and Tombel. The Kumba group included the petitioner Joseph Ngu and Chief Albert Mukete, the District Head, in whose house receptions were held at the end of the conference. Bamenda was strongly represented by, among others the President of the Bali improvement union, and the President of the Bamenda Women’s Association. Mr. Mbile ventilated the grievances of the congress as being: unification of the both Cameroons etc. A plot was then prepared and hatched by Mr. R.J. Dibonge … who recommended that the best of ideas is that the whole organization shall be on the British side, and the copies of the correspondence shall...

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