Mutiny feared in Douala as Gov’t Delegate plans to immortalise rebel leader

The decision by the Government Delegate to the Douala City Council, Dr Fritz Ntone Ntone, to construct a monument in memory of Cameroon’s independence martyr, Ruben Um Nyobe, has been received with mixed feelings by denizens of Douala.

Many fear that reawakening the memorise of a rebel leader like Um Nyobe may triggered anti-French sentiments in the Littoral Region and send the population on rampage, especially at a time when anti-French sentiments in the Region are surging.

Many people in Douala have recently been very vocal about the French, blaming them for remote-controlling Cameroon through Paul Biya.

They have also accused the French of the poor governance policy in Cameroon and for Biya’s indifference in the ongoing Anglophone Crisis.

According to them, the French are maintaining Biya in power to better serve their interest and not that of Cameroonians.

With the recent anti-French resentments, many Douala denizens feared that erecting the monument of Um Nyobe, the pioneer National President of Cameroon’s oldest political party (UPC created in 1948), and a freedom fighter who was killed in 1959 by the French colonial army because of his anti-French resentment and his stand for a united and indivisible Cameroon may awaken such sentiments among the population.  

The Government Delegate said the monument will cost FCFA 15 million.  

Ntone Ntone also said the monument will be erected at ‘Mobile Njoh Njoh’.

Meanwhile, there have been repeated calls over the years by UPC militants for Government to construct monuments in memory of those who fought for Cameroon’s independence like King Rudolphe Douala Manga Bell, who sacrificed his life fighting against illegal occupation and exploitation of land by the French.   

A renowned UPC political activist, Mboua Massock, has repeatedly insisted that it is insulting that monuments of French colonial masters like Generals Le Clerc and Charles de Gaulle were erected at the administrative headquarters in Bonanjo at the detriment of nationals.