Petitioning for Our Rights, Fighting for Our Nation: The History of the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women, 1949-1960

170 Pages·2013·1.977 MB·English

by  Meredith Terretta

“This book comes as a thirst quencher by showing
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that, far from occupying marginal positions, t Petitioning For Our Rights
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Cameroonian women played a central role in the ion
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history of Cameroonian and African politics.” g
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Dr Lilian Lem Atanga, Senior Lecturer, Gender and Discourse Studies, Department or Fighting For Our Nation
of African Studies, University of Dschang, Cameroon O
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R :
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Th ousands of Cameroonian women played an essential role in the h The History of the Democratic
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radically anti-colonial nationalist movement led by the Union of ,
F Union of Cameroonian Women,
the Populations of Cameroon (UPC): they were the women of the ig
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Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women (UDEFEC). Drawing t 1949-1960
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on women nationalists’ petitions to the United Nations, one of the g

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largest collections of political documents written by African women o
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Meredith Terretta
during the decolonization era, as well as archival research and oral O
u
r
interviews, this work shows how UDEFEC transcended ethnic, class,
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education and social divides, and popularized nationalism in both at
io
urban and rural areas through the Trust Territories of the Cameroons n

under French and British administration. Foregrounding issues such as
economic autonomy and biological and agricultural fertility, UDEFEC
politics wove anti-imperial democracy and notions of universal human
rights into locally rooted political cultures and histories. UDEFEC’s
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history sheds light on the essential components of women’s successful e
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political mobilization in Africa, and contributes to the discussion of e
d
women’s involvement in nationalist movements in formerly colonized it
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territories. T
e
r
r
Meredith Terretta e
earned her PhD in African history at the University of t
t
a
Wisconsin-Madison in 2004. She teaches history at the University of Ottawa
and specializes in themes of African nationalisms, decolonization, post-
colonialism, and human rights.
Langaa Research & Publishing
Common Initiative Group
P.O. Box 902 Mankon
Bamenda
North West Region
Petitioning For Our Rights,
Fighting For Our Nation:
The History of the Democratic
Union of Cameroonian Women,
1949-1960

Meredith Terretta

Langaa Research & Publishing CIG
Mankon, Bamenda
PPublisher:
Langaa RPCIG
Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group
P.O. Box 902 Mankon
Bamenda
North West Region
Cameroon
[email protected]
www.langaa-rpcig.net

Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective
[email protected]
www.africanbookcollective.com

ISBN:9956-728-05-5

© Meredith Terretta 2013

DISCLAIMER
All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do
not necessarily reflect the views of Langaa RPCIG.
Table of Contents

Preface………………………………………………….. v

Acknowledgements……………………………………... vii

Abbreviations…………………………………………… ix

Chapter 1
Introduction
Cameroonian Women and the Writing of Popular Nationalism…..1

Chapter 2
Ruben Um Nyobé and the Multi-Layered Origins of the UPC and
UDEFEC……………………………………………….. 31

Chapter 3
UDEFEC’s Political Awakening………………………….. 47

Chapter 4
The Official Ban of the Nationalist Movement, and Reorganization in
the Maquis……………………………………………….. 65

Chapter 5
City to Village: The Rejection of the Colonial Curse…………… 87

Chapter 6
Conclusion
Towards a Nation of Outsiders…………………………….. 125

Bibliography……………………………………………..
145
iii
iv
Preface

The absence of women in the history of Cameroon has been
a cause for concern for Cameroonian women and feminists.
There have been speculations about their involvement in anti-
colonial struggles in the 1950s especially in scheming with or
hiding men or in transporting arms, but existing historical
studies have not foregrounded the role of women. Cameroon
and African feminists have been thirsty for concrete
information to prove the active participation of women in the
struggle for independence.
This book comes as a thirst quencher by showing that, far
from occupying marginal positions, Cameroonian women
played a central role in the history of Cameroonian and
African politics. Meredith Terretta has shown, in her analysis
of the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women
(UDEFEC) that Cameroonian women, although largely
illiterate, PETITIONED FOR OUR RIGHTS AND
FOUGHT FOR OUR NATION. THEY served as
intermediaries between the burgeoning collective imagination
of emancipation from foreign rule and the practical
realization of that emancipation. The UDEFEC women -
working at home, in the markets, in the fields, in city shops,
colonialists’ households, or schools – actively helped to
reshape social ideology until the nationalist message became
something “thinkable” even in the humblest village home.
They contributed to the fight for independence through
petitions written to the United Nations, through their
organization of street protests, through their participation in
political meetings. Cameroonian women contributed to socio-
v
economic as well as political change in independence era
Cameroon.

Dr Atanga, Lem Lilian,
Senior Lecturer, Gender and Discourse Studies
Department of African Studies,
University of Dschang, Cameroon
vi
Acknowledgments

Funding from the Global Studies Program at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison enabled me to conduct preliminary
research in 1999 upon which this work is based. The Jacob K.
Javits Fellowship and the University Fellowship from the
Graduate School and the Department of History at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison also provided support for
the research, course work, and writing of this work.
In Cameroon, I thank the many who supported me in
putting together this work: Winsome Bammel, Marceline
Betene, Monita and Perry Burtch, Emmanuel Chia, Odile
Chatap-Ekindi, Camille Ekindi, Henriette Ekwe, his majesty
the late Fo Feze of Bandenkop, Basile Louka, Gérard and
Rebecca Mbarga, Marie-Irène Ngapeth-Biyong, Kathleen
Ngu-Blanchett, Mafo Claude Njiké-Bergeret, the Ondos,
Dieudonné Pouhe Pouhe, Maurice Takam, Nicaise Ngayo
Teclaire, Jean-Bosco Tchientchieu of the Archives Nationales de
Yaoundé, Jules Wache, and his majesty the late Fo
Tchatchouang Waton of Bangwa. In France, I am grateful to
Marc Michel and Chantal Ndami. In Madison, I thank
Edward Duesterhoeft who aided me in negotiating the micro-
print series, Professor Stanlie James who brought the
Memorial Union Library’s collection to my attention, and
Beth Harper who helped me find my way around the
unwieldy UN indexes. For all kinds of aid and encouragement
at various times during this project, academic, editorial and
otherwise I have benefited from the advice and friendship of
Florence Bernault, Bolaji Campbell, Martin Daly, Rachel
Demotts, Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg, Becky and Larry Ingle,
Stanlie James, Ousman Kobo, Dior Konate, Emilie Ngo-
vii
Nguidjol, Mukoma wa Ngugi, Peter Quella, Ryan
Ronnenberg, Penelope Pack, Michael Schatzberg, Aliko
Songolo, Cheryl Sterling, Stephen Volz, Peter Quella, and
Tresor Yoassi.
viii
Abbreviations

ALNK Armée de Libération Nationale du Kamerun
CGT Confédération Générale du Travail
CNO Comité National d’Organisation
ESOCAM Evolution sociale camerounaise
JDC Jeunesse démocratique camerounaise
JEUCAFRA Jeunesse camerounaise française
MDC Mouvement démocratique camerounais
MRP Mouvement républicain populaire
PCF Parti communiste français
RDA Rassemblement démocratique africain
UDEFEC Union démocratique des Femmes camerounaises
UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UNGA United Nations General Assembly
UNICAFRA Union camerounaise française
UNTC United Nations Trusteeship Council
UPC Union des Populations du Cameroun
USCC Union des Syndicats Confédérés du Cameroun

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