Barka Ngainoumbey

Reviwed by: Wafaa El-houseiny 

Translated by: Nayira Salah Eddin 

Barka Ngainoumbey

December, 18, 2022- 20: 38

Barka Ngainoumbey

By/ Kribsoo Diallo

The one who led a rural rebellion ( Peaceful disobedience) over enslaving and exploiting Africans in constructing the railway and rubber plantations in the previous French colonies in Equatorial Africa and Cameroon.

Barka Ngainoumbey is "a clergyman for (African "Traditional" spirituality) in 1928. He organized a peaceful disobedience against the French occupation" to protest against the recruitment of the local population into the construction of the railway, the collection of rubbers, in addition to the bad treatment of the European enterprises concessionaire.. 350000 Africans took part in this disobedience in a unified way which has never been achieved in a colony affiliated to France in the African continent.

Barka Ngainoumbey was murdered by a French military patrol, hence the armed struggle was broken into against the occupation army, French traders, French government officials,  local leaders, and local soldiers who worked for the French. The locals then took over several cities, torching and expelling everything related to French colonialism.

From 1928 to 1932, rebellions continued to spread haphazardly to include Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville... The French colonial administration asked European countries for help and it also tried to conscript native ranks to fight against protesters. However, they refused to leave their villages and moved deep into the forests throughout the conflict. Some of them joined revolutionary ranks and others took forests as a hideout... The ability of French soldiers were defeated by the local population thanks to their valiant resistance. In addition, because they were not able to endure high temperatures and terrain inside the forests, they were forced to give up and negotiate. Unfortunately, there is not much to tell about this uprising.

This conflict in African colonies against Western occupation was class-oriented. This is because Ethnic or tribal formations trampled on their privileges and sometimes their existence, clashing with the occupier or invader. This does not mean to underestimate its historical value, because its development has led to colonial independence through many stages.