French President Emmanuel Macron formally acknowledges France’s role in the repression and violence surrounding Cameroon’s struggle for independence. 

In a letter to Cameroonian President Paul Biya, President Macron accepted France’s “role and responsibility” in these events, endorsing the findings of the Franco-Cameroonian Commission of Historians. The Commission documented a war involving French colonial authorities and military forces from the 1940s through the years following Cameroon’s independence in 1960. Macron also acknowledged France’s role in the deaths of independence leaders Isaac Nyobè Pandjock, Ruben Um Nyobè, Paul Momo and Jérémie Ndéléné. They were all killed between 1958 and 1960 during military operations under French command. All three men were part of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC). Isaac Nyobè Pandjock was a military leader and a senior figure in the armed wing of the UPC. He helped to organize armed resistance to French colonial rule. Ruben Um Nyobè was a prominent nationalist and independence leader who served as secretary-general of the UPC. Paul Momo was a prominent UPC commander and a leading figure in the armed wing of the UPC. The Commission’s research concluded that France’s violent repression of the nationalist movement resulted in widespread death, along with mass displacement and internment. Macron pledged to make the French archives more accessible and support more historical research.

Link to full report: https://www.vie-publique.fr/rapport/297054-rapport-du-volet-recherche-de-la-commission-france-cameroun