Paul Monyonge Kale (1910–1966) was a leading politician of the pre-independence era in Southern Cameroons and speaker of the West Cameroon House of Assembly until his death in 1966. Much of his adult life was spent in the pursuit of Cameroon independence.
Biography
editEarly life
editBorn 20 March 1910, in Buea, Kale did his primary education in Buea before continuing his secondary education in Normal College, Kake (near Kumba). After this he worked as a teacher in Buea for a few years.[1][2]
Adult life
editIn April 1935 he moved to Lagos working as Supervisor of the Salvation Army Schools and also working for the magazine the West African Pilot. Through his journalism he quickly became caught up in activism. He was a founding member of the Cameroon Welfare Union (CWU), joined the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC), and also cofounded the Cameroon Youth League (CYL) and the Cameroons National Federation (CNF). He was also involved in the founding of the Bakweri Union and the Bamenda Improvement Association.[3][4] In 1949 he was part of the pan-Nigerian delegation to London.[5][6]
In 1953, Kale returned to Southern Cameroons where with Nerius N. Mbile he created the Kamerun People's Party (KPP). In 1959 Kale left the KPP and founded the Kamerun United Party (KUP), which advocated the independence of British Cameroons as a separate political entity. Later, in 1960 the KPP merged with the Kamerun National Congress (KNC) to form the opposition coalition, the Cameroon People's National Convention (CNPC).[7][8] He served as the speaker of the West Cameroon House of Assembly, 1961–1966.[9]
Published works
editHis book, ‘Political Evolution in the Cameroons’, was published posthumously in August 1967.[10]
An earlier book by Kale about the Bakweri had been published in 1939.[11] Edwin Ardener discussed this in his "Kingdom on Mount Cameroon" book already cited.
References
edit- ^ Njeuma, Martin Z. (1999). "Kale, Paul Monyonge". Valiant soldiers from Fako: an extract from a "Who's who in Bakweriland. Yaoundé, Cameroon: Mega Impression. pp. 25–31.
- ^ DeLancey, Mark Dike; DeLancey, Mark W.; Mbuh, Rebecca Neh (2019). Historical dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
- ^ Njeuma, Martin Z. (1999). "Kale, Paul Monyonge". Valiant soldiers from Fako: an extract from a "Who's who in Bakweriland. Yaoundé, Cameroon: Mega Impression. pp. 25–31.
- ^ DeLancey, Mark Dike; DeLancey, Mark W.; Mbuh, Rebecca Neh (2019). Historical dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
- ^ Matera, Marc. (2008). Black internationalism and African and Caribbean intellectuals in London, 1919–1950 (Thesis). Yaoundé, Cameroon: Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, School of Graduate Studies. p. 433. ProQuest 304510895.
- ^ Lynn, Martin. 2001. "British Documents on the End of Empire Project v7: Nigeria". London: The Stationery Office. Retrieved 19 Sept 2023
- ^ Njeuma, Martin Z. (1999). "Kale, Paul Monyonge". Valiant soldiers from Fako: an extract from a "Who's who in Bakweriland. Yaoundé, Cameroon: Mega Impression. pp. 25–31.
- ^ Ardener, Edwin, 1996, "Kingdom on Mount Cameroon: the Bakweri and the Europeans." In Kingdom on Mount Cameroon: studies in the history of the Cameroon coast, 1500-1970, edited by Shirley Ardener, 41-150. Providence, R.I.; Oxford: Berghahn.
- ^ Sternberger, D, Vogel, B, Nohlen, D & Landfried, K (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Erster Halbband, p885
- ^ Kale, Paul Monyonge (1967). Political Evolution in the Cameroons. Buea, Cameroon: Gov. Printer.
- ^ Kale, Paul Monyonge (1939). A brief history of the Bakweri. Lagos.
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