When the Foumban Conference at which representatives of the then
independent French-speaking Republic of Cameroon and those of the
English-speaking Southern Cameroons met in Foumban in 1961 to discuss their
future, the civil war that opposed the French Government and President Ahmadou
Ahidjo on the one hand and the disbanded UPC party was raging. History tells us
that both the French and Ahidjo were ruthless in their repression of the UPC.
That means that during the period the civil war lasted –
which was up to about 1970 – Ahidjo must have been a prime target of the UPC
fighters. Yet he was able to take the risk to travel to Foumban for the
conference and even spend some days there as well as travel back to Yaounde
without being harmed, let alone killed.
That is not all, he also “freely” travelled to Buea, capital
of the Southern Cameroons and later (after 1961) the capital of the federated
English-speaking state of West Cameroon where he officiated at several state
functions.
My question is: What
made him so safe, considering that on each of those occasions he either
travelled through “enemy” territory or sojourned in it? What guaranteed his
free passage?
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire