Pre &Post-independence War : France Assumes Role, Blame In Cameroon

France has officially acknowledged the role the country’s colonial authorities and soldiers played in the pre and post-independence war in Cameroon, taking her own share of responsibility in the atrocities committed therein. In a letter addressed to Cameroon’s Head of State, Paul Biya, dated July 30, 2025 but disclosed on August 12, French President, Emmanuel Macron, upheld the findings of a joint Franco-Cameroonian commission that carried out an investigation on France’s role and involvement in the fight for independence in Cameroon between 1945 and 1971.
The French leader underlined that the, “Commission’s historians clearly established that a war took place in Cameroon, during which French colonial authorities and military forces committed various forms of violent repression in several regions of the country, a war that continued beyond 1960 with France’s support for actions taken by the independent Cameroonian authorities.” Indeed, the commission’s work focused on certain specific incidents of this war, such as the Ekité conflict of December 31, 1956, which resulted in numerous casualties, or the deaths during military operations conducted under French command of the four independence leaders Isaac Nyobè Pandjock (June 17, 1958), Ruben Um Nyobè (September 13, 1958), Paul Momo (November 17, 1960), and Jérémie Ndéléné (November 24, 1960). “It is my responsibility today to assume France's role and responsibility in these events,” President Macron writes to Paul Biya.
He said regarding the case of Félix-Roland Moumié, assassinated in Geneva on November 3, 1960, the lack of sufficient evidence in the French archives and the dismissal of the case by the Swiss courts in 1980 have apparently not shed new light on the responsibilities and nature of the facts surrounding his death. “Finally, I commend the work carried out on the Douala riots of September 1945, whose murderous nature cannot be doubted, and whose evolution is clarified by the Commission’s report. I call for continued research on these events, particularly from the perspective of comparative history opened up by the report.”
The French Head of State said the quest for historical truth initiated by the Commission must continue, pledging his commitment to ensuring that French archives are made easily accessible to enable further research. “Thus, the archives of the Franco-Cameroonian Joint Commission will be brought together in a single location at the National Archives of France, and a digital guide to the archival holdings will be published to enable researchers to explore further the avenues of research opened up by the Commission,” President Macron underlines.
To ensure the proper monitoring of the progress of each of these projects, Mr Macron proposes that a joint dedicated working group be established, which could me...