ELYSÉE PALACE.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025. 10:15 AM. MINISTER SAMUEL MVONDO AYOLO, DIRECTOR OF THE CIVIL CABINET, REPRESENTED HE PAUL BIYA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, ALONGSIDE EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, AT THE CEREMONY OF THE OFFICIAL DELIVERY TO THE FRENCH PARTY OF THE REPORT OF THE MEMORY COMMISSION. PARALLELISM OF FORMS REQUIRES, THE SAME CEREMONY WILL TAKE PLACE IN YAOUNDÉ, ON JANUARY 28, 2025.
CREATED IN A SPECIAL CONJUNCTURE OF QUESTIONING AND REVISITATION OF HISTORICAL RELATIONS BETWEEN FRANCE AND AFRICAN COUNTRIES, AND UNDER THE PROMOTION OF FRENCH AND CAMEROONIAN CIVIL SOCIETIES PRESENT AT THE MONTPELLIER SUMMIT (OCTOBER 2021), AND ESTABLISHED IN FEBRUARY 2023, BY PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON, THE MEMORY COMMISSION, CO-DIRECTED AT THE TIME BY HISTORIAN KARINE RAMONDI AND ARTIST BLICK BASSY, WAS ENTRUSTED WITH THE MISSION OF CLARIFYING “THE ROLE AND COMMITMENT OF FRANCE, IN THE REPRESSION (IN CAMEROON) FROM 1945 TO 1971”.
IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT AWAY FROM ITS TWO CO-PRESIDENTS, THE MEMORY COMMISSION IS MADE UP OF 12 OTHER PERSONALITIES OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENTIFIC ORIGINS WITH EQUAL NUMERICAL REPRESENTATION (7 FRENCH AND 7 CAMEROONIAN).
THIS MORNING’S CEREMONY HAS THEREFORE TAKEN ON AN UNDENIABLE HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE, BECAUSE IT WILL ALLOW IN A LABOR OF ANTS THROUGH THE COMPULSION OF ARCHIVES, THE COLLECTION OF TESTIMONIES, THE CONSULTATION OF ESSAYS, TO EXHUME FACTS, TO CLARIFY SITUATIONS THAT ARE OFTEN COMPLEX, CHARGED WITH PAIN, BLOODY, WITH THE AIM OF RECORDING THE AUTHENTIC STORIES THAT HAVE PEPPERED THIS DARK PERIOD OF RECENT HISTORY BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES.
HE ANDRÉ-MAGNUS EKOUMOU, AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF CAMEROON IN FRANCE, NATURALLY TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY AT THE ELYSÉE
. WE ALSO NOTED THE PRESENCE IN THE CAMEROONIAN DELEGATION OF MR. SIMON PIERRE BIKELE, CHIEF OF STATE PROTOCOL AT THE PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC AND OF CAPTAIN CLAUDE FRANCIS ENGUENE, DEFENSE ATTACHÉ AT THE CAMEROONIAN EMBASSY IN FRANCE.
CAMEROON – FRANCE: EXORCISING MEMORY.
