UNITED NATIONS

TRUSTEESH.IP COUNCIL

Distr. GENERAL

T/PET. 5/892 22 June 1956 ENGLISH

ELEVEN PETITIONS CONCERNING THE CAMEROONS UNDER FRENCH ADMINISTRATION

ORIGINAL: FRENCH

(Distributed in accordance with rule 85 of the rules of procedure of the Trusteeship Council)

Note by the Secretariat: The petitions circulated in the present document are those listed in annex III, section III, of the Final Report of the Committee on Communications from the Cameroons under French administration (T/L.671). For the convenience of members of the Trusteeship Council, the petitions have been reproduced in a single document, and the Secretariat. has arranged them in tae 'same order as in annex III of the above-mentioned report.

Section: Page:

56-18151

1.

2.

Petition from Mr. Bibi Ndjodo Vincent .

Petition from Mr. Betsi Hubert

2

3

3. Petition from Mr. Simon Kono and others on behalf of the people of Ndigue village 4

4. Petition frcm Mr.· Dima Bodo . . 8

5. Petition from Mr. Ndjie Etienne 9 6. Petition frcm Messrs. Muogo Irenee, Muilango Pierre

and Ateba Muogo . 11

7. Petition from Mr. Abega Cnana Yves 12

8. Petition from Mr. Onana Ayissi and others on behalf of the peoples of Nkolkosse village 13

9. Petition from Mr. Ndongo Boniface 15

10. Petition from Mr. Alega Etienne . 16

11. Petition from Mr. Jean Ekanga Zeh Evina and Mr. Olinga Membouta . . . . . . . . . . 17

T/PET. 5/892 English Page 2

1. Petition from Mr. Bibi Njodo Vincent

Bibi Njodo Vincent

Planter at Minkama, Obala

Saa Subdivision

Nkolbogo I Group

To the President of the United Nations

Sir,

Minkama, 4 November 1955

I have the honour, with great respect, to inform you as follows: He, who

dwell along the read to the north, have refused to allow the UPC to send its

agents to spread their evil propaganda in our villages. The French do not

treat us Cameroonians fairly. A Frenchman says 11 I am going to give you this or

that", and then he does not give it you. I asked the SAP for a loan, but it

was refused; yet loans are granted to Whites.

I am a cacao planter and my plantation does not pay. 'Ihat is how the French

treat the Cameroonians unfairly.

I have the honour to be, etc.

(Signed)

2. Petition frcm Mr. Betsi Hubert

Betsi Hubert

SAP delegate

Village of Nkolyeque I

T/PET.5/892. English ·" Page 3

To the Chairman of the Trusteeship Council's Visiting Mission, at Yaounde

We are willing as horses, and docile as women; we wish no harm to anyone.

We do not bear a grudge. I am a planter owning 6,850 fully grown cacao trees.

I require a loan of lOO, 000 francs for the upkeep of my plantation and my house:

Long live France, long live the Cameroons ~·

(§igned) Betsi Hubert, delegate

Nkolyeque I,

5 November 1955

T /PET. 5/892 English Page 4

). Petition from Mr. Simon Kono and others on behalf of the people of Ndigue village

Territory of the Cameroons

Nyong and Sanaga Region

Saa Subdivision

Nkolkosse Group

Capita Max Tsanga

. From: The people of the hamlet of Ndegue

Nkolkosse Group

Nkolkosse, 3 November 1955

To: The Chairman of the United Nations Visiting Mission to the Cameroons,

at Yaounde

He thought it would be difficult to explain the following facts to you

orally, as we have been prevented from speaking our minds since the events

took place. He would ask you first of all to read this request attentively,

long as it may seem to you, and secondly, to pardon us for using words and

phrases which you may consider too outspoken.

The UPC is an assembly of which we know nothing, for no one in our group

has a membership card. Moreover the disturbances which this bcdy has caused

during the year have caused grave concern and damage so that we are in a constant

state of alarm.

France has been governing our Territory since 1916. It presented us with

the first blueprints of civilization, which have so far appeared to us

inadequate for educating primitive peoples. As you will have observed, our

country will be slow in evolving if the rate of change is no greater than it is

at present.

There is no point in mentioning in this report all the benefits conferred

on us by France, as the mother of the Cameroons, and describing all the projects

and development plans which it is in_the process of drawing up. Our task here

is to tell you scme of the shortcomings of France in regard to the Cameroons.

T /PET . 5 /8Q2 English Page 5

France, the first country of the Whites to widen our horizons for us, seems

to be failing in its task. Our brothers travel about in France and those

African countries whose civilizations are more advanced. They see how the

development of those countries is proceeding: roads are well·kept and bridges

built, administrative and business centres are developed even in the remotest

parts of countries off the beaten track; hospitals and dispensaries are set up;

there are vast numbers of ambulances for the local peoples; post offices and

telegraph cables are installed; there are schools for technical education, and

agricultural schools; a service du paysannat; factories; high schools such as

the Medical School at Dakar; schools of mines; forestry schemes; scholarship

funds to enable the students to continue their studies; and shotguns may be

purchased so that families can be fed. 'Ihere is nothing of the sort in the

Cameroons.

We who live far away frcm the towns cultivate cacao trees in order to

support our families. The cocoa, which has cost us a great deal of back­

breaking work, is bought from us at a beggarly price. At the same time, the

taxes increase every year till it is becoming impossible for us to pay our

taxes and at the same time cope with the growing needs of our families. While

we are paid fifty francs a kilogramme for our cocoa, the annual census

ccr:1pulsorily registers us in a tax class for people with vastly higher incomes.

This procedure has obliged us to ask the French for permission to aell our

produce to scme nation other than Greece, or else to sell it direct to the

factory manager who buys it from the Greeks. This would at least repay us for

all our toil throughout the year.

We therefore re~uest that Saa, the Subdivision on which we are solely

dependent, should be provided at least with one or two secondary roads and

permanent bridges, and should set up branch medical posts and efficient means

of ccrrmunication even in the most remote villages. We hand over a great deal

of money to the French Government every year, but we never discover what is

done for the more remote countries with the money.

It was proposed that Nkolkosse, our principal village, should have an

adr:Jinistrative centre and a tribal court. Not a sign of it. There are no

shops, no post and telegraph office - nothing, nothing. The SAP, which was said

to be set up in order to help us, two years ago collected from us 200,000 or

T/PET.5/892 English Page 6

300,000 francs or more, to help improve our dwellings. It is strange that vle

have seen no evidence of such improvement. Provision was made for a vast fund

called the "Credit du Cameroun" to help the planters maintain their plantations

by purchasing mechanical equipment and phyto-sanitary products. The money was

given to the French colonists alone. Provision was also made for another fund

to help parents bring up their children. But such help is given only to white­

collar workers here, though the difficulties of bringing up children are the

same for all. Our children are no longer able to pursue advanced studies,

because they have to leave school without a diplcma when they reach the age of

fifteen.

We draw attention to another matter which is still worse: the taxation

rate is climbing steeply because women do not pay taxes. What is the position

in France? Here there is no assistance to widows with responsibilities. There

are too many difficulties in the way of children entering the high schools, to

say nothing of metropolitan scholarships which are granted only to the children

of the rich.

Finally, 'sir, we are asking for a better life such as that enjoyed by

other territories in Tropical Africa; the kind of life to be found at Dakar;

not a life of tyrants on the one hand and the indigenat system on the other,

but a life which offers ample remuneration, freedcm to purchase hunting ·v;eapons)

true justice, equal pay for equal work; a free life, with full application of

all the legislation to be found in the other territories of Tropical Africa.

The petition is signed by the following notables:

No. Surname and first name(s)

1. Kono Simon

2. Ndjana Mathieu

3. Nega Denis

4. Olcmo Benoit

5. Nemo IJke

6. Beycne Henri

7· Ncono Pierre

8. Apo Christine

9 . Beyina Daddee

10. Ngolo Ate

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

Ngolo Joachim

Cwono Benoit

Atan Noah

Ngolo Elias

Nkolo Obama Zacharec

Ayisci Obama

Lobo severin

Ambassa Abene

Hbac,si Andre

Zoeo Bisse

NGo Augustc

Ayj.ssi Olea

Ay.i.na l/Jfcmo

T /PET. 5/892 English Page 7

T /PET. 5/892 English Page 8-

4. Petition frcm Mr. Dima Bodo

Dima Bodo

of the village of Saa

Chief Zogo Abraham

To: The representatives of the United Nations with the Visiting Mission to

the Cameroons

Sirs,

I have the l1onour to report to you the following case: for 20 years I

worked with the French as foreman in charge of the labourers during_ the

construction of the aerodrome at the administrative post of Obala. When I left

Obala, I started a big cocao plantation, with 8,000 trees, which is often raided

by monkeys. I have had difficulty in getting a gun, and I am therefore applying

.to the French Administration for a firearms permit. As I hope in due course to

see all the claims of my fellow countrymen aatisfied, and my own claims as well,

I could never become a member of the UPC, nor could my colleagues, who are

planters like myself. What I want is that the French administration should

continue indefinitely.

In the hope of a favourable reply, I have the honour to be, etc.

(Signed)

Saa, 31.10. 55

5. Petition from Mr. Nd.i ie Etienne

Ndjie Etienne, tradesman

at Obalong Batschenga

Native of Ondondo II

Nkolbogo I group

Saa subdivision, Nyong and Sanaga region, Eton Race

To: The President and Councillors of the United Nations

Sirs,

T/PET.5/892 English Page 9

Obalong 4 November 1955

/

'

I, Ndgie Etienne, a poor tradesman of Obalong, beg vith great respect.to bring

before your high benevolence my request for consideration of the follo-vling case, and

I thank you earnestly in advance. I am glad that you have come to the Cameroons,

because I nm1 have the opportunity to give you a full account of my ideas·' my

worries and my desires:

I vJas born in 1914, and I have never been to prison in my life. That proves

that I have never done anything against the French Government. In the Cameroons,

particularly at Yaounde (the chief tmm), a great commotion has been caused by a

body of vlhich you will already have heard: the UPC. I have never even inquired

about it. Why have I never inquired? Because, at the time of the Germans, there

was a certain person named Dominique vlhO cut my father's left arm off. He had

asked my father for many men to kill, to put him on the throne. vlhen my father

refused, his left arm was brutally cut off.

Long before the present commotion, we found out that the members of the UPC

had another religion. We do not need any.religion other than·catholicism. In

short, we love France, our mother, vlho brought us this religion, who has tried to

bring civilization and has given us back our Territory.

If I say that we love France, ·I might also say that France only half loves us.

Hhy do I say this? It is because, since 1ve have known the French, we Black people

have never enjoyed the fruits of our labours.

If a Black man works in an undertaking, and a vJhite man does too, and they

do the same ~oTork, and exert the same amount of effort, what happens? The

Frenchman earns more .than the Cameroonian, no one knov1s vJhy; that is unjust.

If a Cameroonian, in his mm country, 11ants to sell goods, and buys a license

to sell from market to market, the French ask him for mere rroney than

T/PET. 5/892 English Page 10

he possesses .. For instance, I went and asked my uncle for money: he gave me

20,000 francs. When I got back to my subdivision, the Administrator asked me

for 16,000 francs. What have. I got left? 5,000 francs. Now what am I to do?

The Frenchman has taken the money.

It is most unjust~ A tradesman who has been operating for ten, fifteen

or twenty years pays the same for his licence as the beginner. Is that what

they did in the metropolitan country, even before the French Revolution?

We are happy with the French. We should be even more so if they would

cease this double dealing, this love of. money and these unjust acts.

He have no help but you. He rely entirely on you. It is you who will

restore justice. It is through you that we shall be saved or lost. Awaiting

your favourable reply, I have the honour to be, etc.

(Signed)

T/PET. 5/892 English Page ll

6. Petition frcm Messrs. Muogo Irenee, Muilango Pierre and Ateba Muogo

Sendong Village

Alano-Ngoe group

Saa subdivision

To: The Chairman of the United Nations Visiting Mission to the Cameroons, 1955

Sir,

We should be very pleased if you would settle this question for us. vle

do not know anything about communists. We only know the French. The French

have opened our ears and our eyes, and have built us roads, provided dispensaries,

etc.

The French are like fathers or husbands to us. And we ask you, can a father

or husband leave his wife or his children without food and clothing?

Here in the Cameroons we have only one crop frcm which we can earn a

livelihood, and that is cacao; now that the price of cocoa has fallen, how are

we to pay our taxes? 'VJe started working on the roads in 1951, and we had always

worked in family groups. Now they have abolished our team, at Nkol-kasse.

He are very discontented. We want our team to start working in the cacao

plantations. He have no profits, we work for nothing, and we earn nothing; we

hear the name of "planter", we hardly know what a planter is, our plantations

are being destroyed by rot; we haveasked for materials to treat them, but none

have been given to us. All this makes us discontented, especially the fact that

they have abolished our team for no reason. We have nothing more to write to

you.

No.

lio.

r:o.

vie have the honour to be' etc.

To the Chairman of the United Nations Visiting Mission to the Cameroons, 1955.

Sir,

Here are our addresses and signatures:

1. :rv:uogo Irenec, Planter of the village of Ler.dong, A.N. group 2. Muilo.r.go Pi-erre (fingerprint)

11 11

). Ateba Mucgo (oicncd) 11 11

T/PET.5/892 English Page 12

7. Petition from Mr. Abega Onana Yves

Nyong and Sanaga region

Abega Onana Yves

Sports representative

Oveng village Oveng, 5/ll/1955

To: The delegates of the United Nations Visiting Mission at Yaounde

Sirs,

I am very happy to see you among us. I am the sports representative

at Gveng and I think that my petitions rr.ayperhaps be useful to you.

l1y' master's work seems to be making progress. During the years 1951-52

there did not seem to be any likelihood that an indigenous athlete would ever

see Paris. But to my great surprise, my compatriots are now travelling to the

metropolitan country for sporting events. I must thank first and foremost my

master, who is giving me a thorough training.

As an orphan, I am asking you for favours for an unfortunate. I want a

good tarred road; I am thirty-five kilometres frcm the Kribi road. I want a

station between Ottotomo and Akono, because this has cost us much sweat.

I cannot tell you all the things that I want, because when one is poor, one can

ask for a houseful of things. In fact, if I told you all that I need, I should

fill pages. I will conclude by !wishing you a happy stay in the Cameroons.

Long live the United Nations. Long live the Cameroons.

Your pupil

Abega Yves

T /PET • 5/892 English Page 13

8. Petition from Mr. Onana Ayissi and. others on behalf of the population of the village of Nkolkosse ·

Nkolosse, 2.11.55

Nkolkosse village

On behalf of the entire population

To: The Chairman of the United Nations Visiting Mission to the Cameroons at

Yacunde

Sir,

This is the hope of our population here in the south of'the Cameroons.

We have the honour to tell you that the UPC is unlmown in our secluded corner

of the world .

We had hoped that the great European civilization would spread everywhere.

We went to great pains to plan motor roads. Since the trouble started, we have

bad nothing to do with members' of the UPC. We were promised materials for

treating our plantations, but so far we have had nothing. ·

Since the days of our grandparents, our group of Nkolkosse has always

been faithful to the Administration of our mother country "France". From this

good French people we expect only the progressive achievement of all our plans:

(1) Opening of a trading centre at Nkolkosse

( 2) provision of a customary court.

The French people have brought us all kinds of benefits. We have no truck

with that accursed party of the UPC. We will have none of it here in Nkolkosse.

We have trust in the French people who have raised the status of the black

people in Africa. Black men have become priests, and there are many African

doctors, postmasters and even lawyers. We are grateful to the good French people.

We still place our hopes in the French. One further need is a ferry here on the

Sanaga.

Long live France, our mother country.

Long live the Cameroons, the land of our ancestors.

Long live the Chairman of the United Nations Visiting Mission in the

Cameroons.

Long live the Nkolkosse group.

T /PET. 5/892 English Page 14

l. Onana Ayissi

2. Assi Nicolas

). Zoa Frederic

4. Olcmo Nicolas

5· Ambanga Nicandre

6. Ayissi Thomas

7· Abe Etienne

8. .\wono Jercme

List of people:

9· Bodo Hubert

10. Esimi Sebastien

11. Mesinga Ernest

12. Osongo Tobie

13. Enili J oachim

14. Tala Joseph

15. Awono Theodore

(and 21 other names)

T/PET.5/892 English Page 15

9. Petition from Mr.· Ndongo Boniface

To: The Chairman of the Trusteeship Council Visiting Mission to the Cameroons

at Yaounde

Sir,

We, the undersigned, Ndongo Boniface:

We have the honour to approach your high benevolence with the following

request:

For over twenty years, you have forgotten the peasant masses in Djoungolo

subdivision: in particular the Ongot group.

We have no football grounds as they have in all the towns, we have no

dispensaries, no schools, no tracks. Nor do you need to be told that there is

only one product in our country - 11 cocoa", and it is our only wealth.

He see that last year, cocoa vms sold at 150 to 160 francs per kilogramme.

But this year, the price has fallen. We want to know why.

As you can see for yourselves from Yaounde along the Douala road as far as

Edea, there are no trading centres or posts for the whole of that long stretch.

That is why we are asking for football grounds, the establishment of schools and

dispensaries, the building of new roads, and we hope that you will increase the

price of cocoa for us.

We have the honour to be, etc.

(signed) Ndongo Boniface,

Sports representative of Ossonkia

Djoungolo Subdivision, Yaounde

T/PET. 5/892 English Page 16

10. Petition from Mr. Alega Etienne

Alega Etienne,

Planter, of the village of Nkololong I,

Nkonzok group,

Djoungolo subdivision,

Nyong and Sanaga region

To: The members of the United Nations Trusteeship Council Visiting Mission to

the Cameroons under French administration.

I like to live under the French; they improve our Territory, only in our

area of Ndjon Hinkan they do not keep up the roads.

But I lH:e them for all that - because to start with they did good work on

the main roads in the Cameroons.

Our French leaders have brought us up and have taught us various trades to

help us to better ourselves. They have taught us to work the land. Thanks to

all this teaching, the Cameroonian find himself prosperous and respected.

I do not lmovr how rrany Careeroonian students there are in France.

In vie1-r of all these facts, I want in the Cameroons only our friends the

French, 1-1ho have done us such good service.

(Signed)

T/PET. 5/892 English Page 17

ll. Petition from Mr. Jean Ekanga Zeh Evina and Mr. Olinga Memvouta

Jean Ekanga Zeh Evina,

Municipal Councillor, Mekasse Bengbis

French Cameroons

Mekasse, 20/ll/55

To:' The Chairman of the Visiting Mission of the United Nations, New York,

United States of America

Sir,

I have the honour to submit to your excellency an account of the cares which

afflict the people here.

Twelve kilometres from the village of our aged paramount chief, aged 118 years

apd with forty-eight years of service, from the time of the Germans until the

present time of the French, there is a little stream, not more than thirty metres

wide, which cuts off the motor road frcm us. So we are still forced to carry J

our produ.ce on our heads like slaves, a system which our Government has done away

with elsewhere. Ite Goverr~.ent res done ~uch to ctange our lives over ~any years.

This improvement has earned for it a veneration which leads us to tell you,

everywhere in the Councils of the United Nations that we still love France,

Our Mother. And now we of the bush ask our Mother to think of us, as she has

thought of her other children. We find that the lack of a motor road in our

area is a tragic affliction because we can do nothing without it.

We beg and implore the pity of our Government. Let men be sent to build

the little bridge, without which we are deprived of all that our hard-working

!1other could give us. What we feel is that we have been brought up by France,

that is, under the regime of Equality, Liberty and Fraternity, and Glory, and

these things have taken hold of us like a disease in the course of our upbringing

by that Nation. W~,too, despite our frustrations, want to be treated with

brotherly equality. That is why, without for the time being going any further,

we beg our Mother to build us this little bridge, out of the tenderness of her

love. He love her.

We have the honour to be, etc.

Jean Ekanga, Zek Evina and Olinga Memvouta,

Village chief of Mekasse