France has admitted its role in bloodying Cameroon’s independence, a stark acknowledgment of the terrible cost of freedom for the African nation. The admission confirms that Cameroon’s path out of colonialism was not a peaceful handover but a path paved with violence orchestrated by its colonizer.
President Emmanuel Macron’s letter accepted responsibility for a war that violently suppressed the very idea of a truly independent Cameroon. The French-led repression targeted the most ardent nationalists, ensuring that when independence came, it was on France’s terms, not Cameroon’s.
The estimated tens of thousands of deaths represent the price paid by Cameroonians who dared to demand full sovereignty. The assassination of leaders like Ruben Um Nyobè was a decapitation of the movement, designed to leave it rudderless and weak.
By acknowledging this, France is finally admitting its part in inflating the cost of freedom for its former colony. While the admission doesn’t repay that cost, it officially recognizes the immense sacrifice made by a generation of Cameroonians in their struggle against one of Europe’s great powers.