Cameroon’s government in distress

[in German] Thomas Fues argues that the handover of six Maka ancestors in Freiburg University has not brought the breakthrough for the German-Cameroonian reappraisal of the colonial heritage that many had hoped for.

For more than 100 years, the anatomical collection of the university there has contained the bones of six Maka resistance fighters who were victims of German violence.

Although the community of origin has coordinated closely with the authorities of their country over the past two years, the ceremonial blessing in Freiburg had to take place without participation of the Cameroonian state.

What is remarkable about the process on the German side is that the university management − presumably after consultation with the state government of Baden-Württemberg − refused to postpone the date requested by Cameroon at short notice.