1984 Cameroonian coup attempt
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An attempted coup d'état occurred in Cameroon in 1984, when presidential palace guards unsuccessfully tried to overthrow President Paul Biya. The fighting that resulted began on April 6, 1984, and ended several days later. The coup attempt is widely viewed as one of the most crucial events in the history of Cameroon since independence in 1960.[1]
Background
After nearly 23 years as President of Cameroon,
In early April 1984, President Biya ordered a transfer of all presidential palace guards who came from the predominantly Muslim north, probably because he had been alerted to a coup plot involving those soldiers. Dissident members of the palace guard promptly reacted to the order by rebelling against Biya; the plot's leaders may have been forced to launch their coup attempt prematurely due to Biya's order to relocate the soldiers away from the capital, Yaoundé. An important factor was Cameroon Air Force, which remained loyal to the president.[2] After several days of heavy fighting in Yaoundé, Biya loyalists defeated the rebels. Estimates of the death toll ranged from 71 (according to the government)[3] to about 1,000.[4] More than 1,000 accused dissidents were arrested shortly afterward, and 35 of them were immediately sentenced to death and executed. The government declared a state of emergency lasting six months in Yaoundé and the surrounding region.
Although Ahidjo was not overtly involved in the coup attempt, it was widely believed that he had masterminded it from exile.[3] The failure of the coup attempt was followed by Biya's full consolidation of power; in 1985 he relaunched the CNU as the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM).
References
- ISBN 978-0-7486-0812-6.
- ^ Erwan de Cherisey. Siły Powietrzne Kamerunu [Cameroon Air Force], "Lotnictwo" 7-8/2017, p. 78-79 (in Polish)
- ^ a b Jonathan C. Randal, "Tales of Ex-Leader's Role In Revolt Stun Cameroon", The Washington Post, April 15, 1984, page A01.
- ^ Milton H. Krieger and Joseph Takougang, African State and Society in the 1990s: Cameroon's Political Crossroads (2000), Westview Press, pages 65–74.