He is chopping off heads of statues of all former colonial masters in his country
The fight to get rid of all colonial heritages in French-speaking West African countries has taken another dimension. This is as a Cameroonian is vandalizing all colonial-era statues and monuments.
Andre Blaise Essama, a 41-year-old man, has put himself on this mission. He aimed at replacing all the colonial statutes Douala with those of national heroes. that fought for the independence of the country.
Andre launched this campaign in 2015 with the beheading of the statue of General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, a French colonial hero. The statue was erected in Douala since the colonial period. He added to this by pulling down a status of an unknown French soldier.
For these acts, he was arrested and sentenced to three months in prison for destruction of public property.
In 2016, Andre again beheaded the repaired statue of the French general, and this fetched him another six months in jail. This is as he refused an offer of paying for its repair instead of a jail term.
This earned Andre large supporters praising his action as a heroic and nationalistic.
Andrea erected a statue of deserved 'National Hero'
Andrea erected a statue of John Ngu Foncha – a pivotal figure in the unification of the British and French Cameroons, but was pulled down Cameroonian authority. More so, Foncha's statue was replaced with an effigy of French videographer, Sylvie Blocher.
Sylvie Blocher’s effigy holds a sign with English and French inscriptions that read: “Even If I Do Not Have the Right, I Apologize”.
Andre also pulled this down within 24 hours and he was applauded for his actions by motorists and pedestrians.
This has earned him a day with the court.
Fight to erase colonial memorial is going on across Africa
Andre’s activism against colonial memorial is not the only struggle going on in the continent. The call for an abolition of CFA franc has also received support across the French-speaking West African countries.
In September 2017, a similar campaign was launched by a Senegalese activist, Kemi Séba. Seba called for the abolition of CFA franc by all 14 French-speaking countries in Africa. He claimed the currency keeps these countries under the economic influence of France.
South Africa has also had a fair share of continuous protests calling for pulling down of statues and monuments. The protesters stated that these monuments are reminders of colonialism and apartheid rule.
In March 2015, students of the University of Cape Town (UCT) demanded the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes. They stated that its removal would make the campus to become a less “Eurocentric” and more African institution.