The report of the France-Cameroon Joint Commission on France’s role and commitment against independence and opposition movement in Cameroon from 1945 to 1971 has been presented to the President of the Republic, Paul Biya.

It was presented at Unity Palace this Tuesday 28th January 2025 by a joint team of researchers from Cameroon and France led by Karine Ramondy.

The event at the Unity Palace comes a week after a similar ceremony was organized on Tuesday January 21, 2025, at the Palais de l’Elysée in Paris, during which the “Memory Commission” presented a copy of the summary of its work to French President, Emmanuel Macron.

Work of the Joint Commission

The Co President of the Joint Commission, French researcher, Karine Ramondi indicated that their work is a product of research carried out on some 4300 declassified archives in over 40 cartoons.

It took roughly two years of work by researchers from different backgrounds. She said the document will be made available online and the English version will be produced in the months ahead.

The Representative of the French President expressed the desire that the report would help in healing and fostering cooperation between Cameroon and France.

President Paul Biya Outlines Perspectives

While receiving the Document, President Paul Biya The decision to set up the Franco-Cameroon joint commission was taken in July 2022 with the objective to break a taboo dating back several decades, so that the relationship between France and Cameroon can experience new developments.

The President recalled a quote from his book published in 1987  entitled, “Communal Liberalism: “The independence of our country was wrested from the colonizer through fierce struggles, led by the fighters who had in common, a love of their country. It is up to our historians to report, without complacency or bias, what decolonization was.

The President noted that it’s with great emotion, sadness and buried fear that many Cameroonians recall the stories of the 1945-1971 period in the country’s history. He also saluted the sense of duty, the courage, the self-sacrifice and the tenacity of the co-presidents of the “Memory Commission”, the historian, Karine Ramondi and the artist Blick Bassy as well as the 12 other members for the research and memorial recordings which restores the authenticity of the facts and stories, in order to bring out the truth.

To President Paul Biya, the research is a collective therapy which leads people to better accept  and take full responsibility. “We had to get there and admit together this catharsis between France and Cameroon, two friendly countries, with secular, plural and multiform relationships.

The work of the commission will undoubtedly impact future generations, in that it will allow them not only to fully understand their history, but also to better project themselves into the future, he added.

The President also noted that It is up to Cameroonians to teach and above all to popularize the work of co-construction between France and Cameroon, and to begin future relations on healthy foundations, in a spirit free from misunderstandings and suspicions.

Elvis Teke