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Cameroonian activist Andre Blaise Essama feels his country is still a far cry from decolonization. He has been repeatedly sentenced and jailed for damaging statues that, in his view, contradict all that independence stands for. In 2016 he spent six months in prison for destroying a monument to French colonial general Leclerc. Earlier he had been sentenced to three months for knocking over the statue of the Unknown Soldier, because it was represented by a white western man. The statue's head disappeared in April of this year. The suspicion fell immediately on Essama.
On the 60th anniversary of the independence of the French-speaking part of the Cameroons on January 1, 2020 the activist plans to pay another visit to Leclerc's statues. His own way of celebrating Independence Day is to strike at the image. "Once you have decolonized a people, they should no longer submit to France," Essama says in frustration. "France would never allow a Paul Biya monument to be dedicated in the country. Do they have a Cameroonian general honored that way? No."
Cameroon: A muted 60th Independence Day amid crises and resentment | DW | 31.12.2019
That's depressing as hell.
On the 60th anniversary of the independence of the French-speaking part of the Cameroons on January 1, 2020 the activist plans to pay another visit to Leclerc's statues. His own way of celebrating Independence Day is to strike at the image. "Once you have decolonized a people, they should no longer submit to France," Essama says in frustration. "France would never allow a Paul Biya monument to be dedicated in the country. Do they have a Cameroonian general honored that way? No."
Cameroon: A muted 60th Independence Day amid crises and resentment | DW | 31.12.2019
That's depressing as hell.
