TODAY IN CAMEROON’S HISTORY

This day in Cameroon’s history marked a watershed moment for the republic and for West Cameroon in particular. It was on this day (February 6, 1972) that Ahmadou Ahidjo issued proclamation DF72-270 of 2/6/72 by which he abrogated the Foumban accord, abolished the Foumban constitution and imposed upon West Cameroonians and the entire country his own constitution which had been drawn up unilaterally and in secret.

The document which became known as the constitution of the United Republic of Cameroon or the Ahidjo Constitution, gave him powers to rule by ordinances, thereby ushering and ensuring the establishment and consolidation of a dictatorship. With the powers offered him by the constitution he dismantled all the institutions of the Federation, that is, the legislature and government of East and West Cameroon, and the West Cameroon House of Chiefs.

In 1991, Albert Mukong writes in “A tale of a lesson learned too well” that the Federation was expected to be a permanent feature of the Republic, but the discovery of commercial quantities of oil in West Cameroon spurred France to urge Ahidjo to dismantle the Federation for fear that the discovery in itself will lead to the secession of West Cameroon. One of the reasons for which West Cameroon was not given the option to gain independence as a country on its own was because of the assessment by the British colonial government that its economy was nascent and fragile to stand on its own. The discovery of oil therefore was sure to turn the tables in its favour.


Albert documents that the conditions under which the referendum of 1972 was questionable. Like the presidential elections of 2018, it held under emergency conditions, with an intimidating display of military might and coercion. “No opposition voice was heard; those who dared to disapprove were arrested and detained,” states Mukong.

In his 1985 book, New Social Order, Fogum Orji Dinka posits that after the 20 May 1972 referendum, the country expected Ahidjo to forward the text of his proposed constitution before the Federal National Assembly for debate in conformity with Article 47 of the constitution. However, Ahidjo bypassed the assembly because he feared it would reject the constitution.
Is it safe to say therefore that the Anglophone problem took on a different dimension and intensity due to this proclamation?

Kwo Elonge

3 comments
  1. There are indeed a lot of murky circumstances and actions that came into play to usher in the so called ‘one and indivisible Cameroon’, actions by dictator Ahidjo and successor Biya which LRC and its leadership or the international community particularly Britain and th United Nations do not want to discuss at all. They (LRC) still live and operate under the illusion that Southern Cameroons is their property- a gift from the British crown flowing with oil and other resources.. How errenous, as the people have risen to put an end to 58 years of being marginalized and reclaim what all along has rightfully been theirs. If Biya is playing for time, he needs to be reminded that time to withdraw his authority and illegal claim over Southern Cameroons is running out. AMBAZONIA HAS RISEN TO FALL NO MORE. Short live the struggle, Long live the F R of Ambazonia.

  2. If wealth made people happy, then the happiest people in the world should be in the West. We all know that on the contrary, some of the most unhappy people are in the West.
    Hence, this fight is about injustice and the fact that some in LRC suddenly were deluding themselves into believing that we owe them something. Suffering, manipulation and indignity being meted out to a people daily cannot just go on forever. There will come a time when people will say enough is enough and will fight back no matter what. And that time is now. Forget about that “ngombe” in Etoudi for he is clueless as to the happenings around him. If Biya had common sense he will not have gone along with Lucifer Ahidjo and the french leeches. Unfortunately, we have an individual who just likes to enjoy the pleasurable things of life by living lavishly in expensive Hotels in the land of the Swiss chameleons while others do his job for him.

  3. There are so many things that we tried to comprehend in the past, we keep asking ourselves, why are they doing this, why are they doing that. Now, we finally know why.
    Their own cold-blood is worst than that of serial killers.

    For unimaginable fifty years at least, they lived among us day in day out with their secret agenda quietly like a fox. Step by step they were executing their demonic plans in front of our eyes and we Ambazonians just lay dormant in a state of stasis, totally hypnosis by fictions and virtual reality.

    They were so good and meticulous in their execution that they were totally assured that even if we find out, we will not have the courage to fight them.

    The event that triggered that which triggered this Ambazonian independence war was a blessing. We Ambazonians are very lucky people. The hypnosis, tranquilizers, anesthesias, terror of LRC are of no effect anymore to us, we have developed super resistance against all that crap and any other they come up with.

    Biya and his demonic brotherhood can do all they want, there is no way that they are going to take over our motherland Ambazonia.

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