PARIS / YAOUNDÉ – In a rare and candid move, President Emmanuel Macron has acknowledged that France waged a war marked by repression in Cameroon-before and even after the country gained independence in 1960.
In a letter released on 12 August 2025, Macron referred to a joint Franco-Cameroonian commission of historians. Their report found that between 1945 and 1971 France carried out “multiple forms of repressive violence,” including forced relocations, mass internment, and the support of brutal militias. The campaign claimed tens of thousands of lives and continued beyond independence.
“The historians … clearly highlighted that a war had taken place in Cameroon,” Macron wrote. “Colonial authorities and the French army committed violent repression … a war that continued beyond 1960.”
The president accepted France’s responsibility in the deaths of prominent independence figures—Ruben Um Nyobè, Paul Momo, Isaac Nyobè Pandjock and Jérémie Ndéléné—who were killed between 1958 and 1960 during military operations led by French forces.
In a gesture towards reconciliation, Macron pledged to open France’s archives, back further historical research, and set up a joint working group to carry forward the commission’s recommendations.
This is not Macron’s first step toward confronting France’s colonial past—he has previously acknowledged France’s role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and a massacre in Senegal during World War II. But he has stopped short of a formal apology in other cases, notably regarding Algeria, where he declined to offer a direct expression of regret.
The admission comes at a time of rising tension between France and several of its former African colonies, especially in the Sahel, where anti-French sentiment has been growing and political alliances are shifting.
Why This Matters
A frank acknowledgement like this from a French head of state marks a rare moment of reckoning. For many Cameroonians, the repression of the UPC independence movement and the civil war that followed remain painful and under-acknowledged. Macron’s move could open the door to healing—but the lack of a formal apology and no mention of reparations mean the journey is far from over.
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