In 1984, Paul Biya visited London. From Cameroon’s treasury, he paid Britain £1 million — widely seen as hush money, buying silence in the face of Ambazonia’s right to self-determination.
By MC Chryton, AfroLeaks
A Betrayal Written Into History
In 1946, the United Nations entrusted Britain with the duty of preparing Southern Cameroons — today Ambazonia — for independence. That responsibility was never fulfilled.
When the time came in 1961, the people of Southern Cameroons were denied the most basic option: independence. Instead, they faced a plebiscite offering only two choices: join Nigeria or join French Cameroon. UN Resolution 1608 required Britain, France, and Southern Cameroons’ leaders to negotiate and sign a treaty of union before October 1, 1961. That treaty was never signed. Britain walked away, leaving behind a dangerous vacuum that French Cameroon quickly turned into occupation.
It was not independence. It was abandonment.
Silence for Cash and Favour
The betrayal deepened. In 1972, President Ahmadou Ahidjo of French Cameroon staged a referendum abolishing federalism and extinguishing Southern Cameroons’ autonomy. Britain said nothing.
Two years later, during the Falklands War, Britain cut a secret deal with France: in exchange for advanced Exocet missile technology, London abandoned Southern Cameroons’ cause.
In 1984, Paul Biya visited London. From Cameroon’s treasury, he paid Britain £1 million — widely seen as hush money, buying silence in the face of Ambazonia’s right to self-determination.
Elections Rigged, Missiles Poised
In 1990, French President François Mitterrand declared in Yaoundé that no Anglophone would ever rule Cameroon. Britain said nothing.
Two years later, when John Fru Ndi mounted a credible challenge to Biya in the 1992 elections, the ballot was brazenly rigged. Britain’s blunt reply: it had “no strategic interest” in Southern Cameroons.
Meanwhile, French warships docked in Douala. Intelligence suggested that if protests broke out in Bamenda, a missile strike would be ordered. Britain knew. Britain stayed silent.
Only U.S. satellite images, leaked to The Cameroon Post, exposed the plot. The newspaper published them; the plan was aborted. Its publisher, Paddy Mbawa, was arrested. Britain said nothing.
A Nation’s Institutions Dismantled
While Britain and France looked away, French Cameroon dismantled Ambazonia’s very fabric:
The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) stripped and sold.
Cameroon Bank bankrupted.
Airports in Tiko, Bali, Besongabang, and Nkwen shut.
Tole and Ndu Tea estates liquidated, Santa Coffee closed.
Cameroon Society of Engineers banned.
Ombe Technical College downgraded.
WADA and MIDENO dissolved.
Niba Motors, Nangah, and Che Company bankrupted.
Hospitals shifted to French Cameroon.
Common law judges replaced by civil law magistrates; Ambazonian notaries erased.
It was not reform — it was strangulation.
The Commonwealth’s Shame
In 1995, Cameroon applied to join the Commonwealth. It was unqualified by every measure. Human rights abuses were rampant. Yet Britain supported its admission.
Since then, Biya has never met human rights standards, never faced sanctions. Southern Cameroonians are excluded from representation to prevent exposure of Yaoundé’s darkest crimes. Britain knows. Britain complies.
The hypocrisy is glaring:
Nigeria suspended for military coups.
Zimbabwe for land seizures.
Fiji for undemocratic rule.
Biya, presiding over mass killings, remains untouched.
Patricia Scotland dined with Biya instead of visiting Ambazonian victims. Prince Charles toured Korup Forest, promised a transformer for Bamenda — later diverted to French Cameroon. Silence from Britain.
Today, Britain invests more in the Institute of Tropical Agriculture (ITA) in Mbalmayo, experimenting with “carbon sink” projects since the 1990s, than in Ambazonia’s survival.
America’s Spirit vs. Britain’s Void
Today Britain’s presence in Ambazonia has been reduced to speaking pidgin and Lamso, offering token micro-grants to chiefs and fons.
By contrast, America left a living legacy. Thanks to U.S. training, postgraduate doctors now serve at Mbingo and Banso, caring for both Ambazonians and French Cameroonians. Peace Corps volunteers teach STEM in Bamenda, Banso, Buea, and Molyko. The spirit of John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, lives on.
Strangely, when the UN Secretary-General learned of Britain’s betrayal, he personally visited Buea. On his way to the Congo, his plane crashed. Was it really an accident — or sabotage?
A Verdict History Cannot Ignore
The record is damning: Britain and France
Betrayed trusteeship.
Accepted cash to stay silent.
Bartered Ambazonia for weapons.
Watched its economy and institutions collapse.
Protected Biya inside the Commonwealth.
They stand guilty in history’s court — of betrayal, complicity, and sustaining genocide for oil, bananas, and contracts.
The question is no longer whether Britain will act. The question is whether Ambazonians, at home and abroad, will break the silence Britain has chosen.
Because one day, that silence will break.
MC Chryton, AfroLeaks
