Tiko, Cameroon – On a warm day in Mudeka, an English-speaking village across the river from Cameroon’s Francophone region, supercentenarian Atemafac Anathasia Tanjuh pieces together snippets of her childhood memories.
Tanjuh, whose family claims she is around 120 years old, is one of the last living witnesses to European colonial rule in Africa and her Bangwa people’s fierce resistance against German colonization.
“They imposed their rules on us,” Tanjuh said, surrounded by one of her five surviving children and some great-grandchildren, her voice tinged with both nostalgia and resilience. After European powers divided Africa during the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference, Cameroon became a German protectorate until after World War I, when it was partitioned between Britain and France.
Tanjuh recounted that her people endured harsh times under the Germans, but the true weight of imperial rule grew even heavier under the French and British – a legacy that continues to divide Cameroon and fuel conflict today.
When the English and French first partitioned the country in 1919, Tanjuh’s community was torn apart. “We could no longer move from Fontem [under British rule] to the market in Dschang [under French rule], where I used to sell cocoyam and palm kernel,” she said. The divisions severed ties with their historical trading partners and relatives on the other side.
[Image: A roundabout in downtown Yaounde showcases Cameroon’s bilingualism, which the government hopes will unite the troubled country.]
Over the years, the divide became more than just physical – it grew linguistic and cultural. After independence in the 1960s, Cameroon maintained its French-majority culture, while those in Anglophone regions felt increasingly marginalized. This tension escalated into a violent conflict between Anglophone separatists and Francophone state-armed troops, which has killed over 6,500 people and displaced around 700,000 in the southwest and northwest regions since late 2016.
When gunfire echoes from separatist clashes today, Tanjuh’s mind is drawn back to her memories of World War I, her daughter says. “Let’s hide in the caves to stay safe, just like we did back then,” the elder tells her family, her instincts sharpened by a lifetime of turmoil.
‘They Simply Drew Straight Lines’
Before European colonization, Cameroon was a vibrant tapestry of independent kingdoms, each with its own territory, leadership, culture, and traditions. This intricate web of societies was upended in
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