Petitioning for our Rights, Fighting for our Nation. The History of the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women, 1949-1960: The History of the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women, 1949-1960

3. UDEFEC’s Political Awakening

47 Chapter 3 UDEFEC’s Political Awakening The women of UDEFEC organized in 1952, but would not officially approve the party statutes until the first UDEFEC Congress in August 1954. 39 Beginning in 1952, UDEFEC focused on rights of women and children as well as issues of social and economic concern such as steep fees for selling goods at market, the unjust appropriation of land by the French administration, inadequate medical and educational institutions, and racial discrimination in the cities. Nevertheless members and leaders of UDEFEC only gradually began to perceive these issues as political as the French administration stepped up its repression of UPC nationalism. After Um Nyobé’s efforts to lobby the General Assembly in 1952 and 1953, he returned to Cameroon and spoke publicly about the importance of women’s visibility in politics. Little by little, UDEFEC members recognized that no other Cameroonian political party supported their claims the way the UPC did, and as a result they soon realized the importance of entering the political arena. UDEFEC women began to understand the political significance of petitioning the UN as they assumed the role of speaking for the people and in so doing, creating a counter-narrative to the French administration’s annual reports to the UN. From Babimbi to the Bamileke region, the women of UDEFEC wrote to set the record straight, exposing the failure of the French 39 UDEFEC, Union démocratique des femmes camerounaises, Douala, 1992?, 15. See pp. 20-25 for a complete list of its 26 statutes. 48 administration to serve the Cameroonian peoples’ best interests. In Babimbi, the women of UDEFEC demonstrated the pernicious effects of the administration’s neglect of infrastructure. They described the decrepit ferry that served as the only way to cross the Sanaga river that separated the economic center of Douala from Babimbi as a cause of fatal accidents. In the Bamileke and Mungo regions, women of UDEFEC protested the administration’s appointment of chiefs who sought personal gain at the financial and social detriment of their people. In 1954 and 1955, the UPC increased its popular visibility by regularly organizing regional congresses that attracted growing numbers of members. Um Nyobé traveled tirelessly, speaking at UPC, JDC and UDEFEC gatherings. The party created unifying symbols that were easily diffused, such as a national anthem and a national flag. More importantly, the UPC distributed copies of Um Nyobé’s speeches to the General Assembly in tracts and party newspapers, making UPC political strategies readily accessible to members. Traveling delegations carried this information with them, and at UDEFEC meetings, leaders read aloud Um Nyobé’s speeches, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Charter. They related the origins of UDEFEC and its purpose in ways that were easy to understand, even for those women in rural areas, lacking urban experience. They invented songs and enacted skits to ensure the transmission of the UPC message in a way that was both memorable and entertaining. UDEFEC grew in numbers and in organization throughout its first two years but only presented the Visiting 49 Mission with one petition in November of 1952.40 Drawing on issues raised at the International Conference in Defence of the Child held in Vienna in 1952, the petition contained a localized list of WIDF principles. The petition described the unsuitable conditions of maternity wards, a lack of nutrition, unfit living quarters, deficient educational institutions, and the need for child labor laws.41 Although conservative in tone when compared to later UDEFEC petitions, the document already contained the signature references to UPC principles. In its closing paragraph, the petition attributed the social misery it decried to the improper application of the Trusteeship system, and demanded immediate reunification and a fixed date for independence. UDEFEC did not become prominent in Trusteeship Council records until 1954, the year after Um Nyobé’s second visit to the UN to speak before the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly in December 1953.42 Um Nyobé returned 40 Interview with Ngapeth-Biyong who said: “On ne faisait pas la politique à l’époque.” UDEFEC, Pétition remise à la Mission d’enquête du Conseil de Tutelle de l’ONU en visite au Cameroun, 1 Nov 1952, Douala. This petition does not appear in the Trusteeship Council records. 41 Ibid. 42 The members of the Trusteeship Council challenged Um Nyobé’s presentation of the UPC as the political party with the...