For Cameroon, France’s acknowledgment of its violent colonial past is not an endpoint but a catalyst for what must come next: national mourning, memorials for the dead, and the teaching of this truth in schools. The focus has swiftly shifted from Paris’s admission to Cameroon’s process of healing.
President Emmanuel Macron’s letter accepting French responsibility for a decades-long war has opened a door that was long closed. The war, which a joint commission confirmed took place from 1945-1971, resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the suppression of the nation’s legitimate quest for freedom.
According to commission co-head Blick Bassy, the immediate priority should be to organize national mourning and provide dignified funerals for those who died fighting for Cameroon. He and other activists also stress the need to find mass graves and address ongoing land disputes that are a direct result of the colonial conflict.
Furthermore, there is a strong call for this history to be integrated into the French educational system. The goal is to ensure that the French people understand the reality of their country’s colonial actions, fostering a form of restorative justice built on shared knowledge and mutual understanding for future generations.