19 May 2016
To mark Cameroon’s national day, High Commissioner His Excellency Solomon Azoh-Mbi and his wife, Mercy, hosted a reception at the Château Laurier. The theme of the celebration this year is: “The army and the nation, working together towards meeting security challenges for an emerging Cameroon.”
When the country was granted independence granted in 1960 – after Cameroun voted to remain within the French Community – the ruling party (the Union Camerounaise, founded in 1958 by Ahmadou Ahidjo) was in favour of retaining a strong link with France. While the French mandated territory got independence with the name,”Republique du Cameroun”, the future of British Cameroons was still to be decided. The question was either to merge it with Nigeria (that just got independence) or with the already independent Republique du Cameroun. A plebiscite was organised to that effect in 1961. The Northern region voted to join Nigeria, while thee Southern region opted to join the la Republicque du cameroun on the basis of a federation. The new name became known as the Federal Republic of Cameroon. (Source: http://www.hc-cameroon-ottawa.org/)
Photo credit: Sarah Onyango