'The leaving of General Semengue is a disgrace for the army'

By denying the massacres perpetrated by the French colonial army in Bamileke and Bassa countries during the war of independence of Cameroon last Sunday on the show « La Tribune de l’Histoire » on Canal 2 International, General Pierre Semengue, provoked the anger of a good fringe of the Cameroonian political class.

After the virulent statement of Jean Michel Nintcheu, MP of Wouri East of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) and regional Chairman of the party for the Littoral, it was the turn of the Honourable Robert Bapooh Lipót, Secretary general of the Union des Populations du Cameroun to take violently to the former colonial army officer.

"We noticed that the former french officer, General Pierre Semengue enters into a negativism in logic and even revisionist history of the independence of our country. And this comes at the time when the french president Mr François Hollande had the courage to recognise that a genocide took place in Cameroon," he said.

For the boss of the party, "the statement of General Pierre Semengue is a disgrace for our country's military."

«That this officer has this attitude should appeal to us», he notified. The Honourable Bapooh Lipót qualifies even the Act of the retired general of insubordination towards the Minister delegate at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of defense as he recognises that there has been no agenda of his hierarchy to make this statement," justified the Member of Nyong and Kelle before asking the head of State, supreme commander of the armies to "take his sovereign responsibilities and call the general Pierre Semengue to assert his rights to retire."

It is possible that this new attack will leave Pierre Semengue who had been quick to respond to the first criticism marveled. "I cannot accept talking on television to say anything. Everything I said is true and I can prove it. I can't put myself to talk on anything. I will not go into unnecessary polemics. People should not say things that they cannot prove. After the statements of François Hollande, people proclaimed in the press that I am a genocidal general. Long before, in a public debate, Henri Hogbe Nlend said that I am the man who killed Ossende Afana, cutting his head. How can an intellectual and statesman tell such fibs? I therefore wanted to render on Canal 2 International the historical truth," replied the general with confidence.