Mebenga m'Ebono

Mebenga m'Ebono

Mebenga m'Ebono (born around 1875 in Metundu Engong , died August 8, 1914 in Ebolowa ), also Martin-Paul Samba or Martin Paul Zampa , was a Cameroonian officer and resistance fighter against the German colonial power .

Life

Mebenga was born in the Bulu- speaking village of Metundu Engong near Ebolowa and was raised by his uncle shortly after his mother's death. His village had been proselytized by American Presbyterians .

During a research trip by the German Lieutenant Richard Kund , which arrived in his village, Mebenga was chosen as a guide to show the explorers paths and settlements in the area. Samba impressed with his knowledge and was sent by General Curt von Morgen to Germany, where he improved his German language skills and received military training for the Imperial Guard , first as a non-commissioned officer , then as a sergeant . He was tutored by Pastor Martin Schall in Kladow near Berlin , where he was baptized Martin Paul Zampa on November 18, 1891. He returned to Cameroon around Christmas 1892.

Because of the resistance of the Bulu and the Beti to the German colonial power, Mebenga should be a key figure for translations and for knowledge about the Bulu. He was a sergeant . During the German invasion of the Wute area in 1895 and during the advance against the Tsinga in 1898, he was an ally of the Germans. In 1896 he taught the young Charles Atangana how to serve the Germans.

Around 1900 he ended his military service for the Germans due to a rheumatism disease from which he suffered due to a gunshot wound in the War Against Fury. Jesko von Puttkamer wanted to involve him in his political circles. Instead he became a trader at the German company Randad & Stein in the Yesum region east of Yaoundé . Around 1906 he founded his own trading posts in Makaa communities and acted as an interpreter and mediator between the Makaa and the Germans.

Monument to Martin-Paul Samba in Ebolowa

His loyalty to the German colonialists decreased more and more. Mebenga hoped to be appointed chairman of all Bulu communities by the German colonial government, but it did not. Samba therefore began plans for military resistance. He found allies in important communities in South Cameroon and trained them militarily. Rudolf Manga Bell in Douala, for example, supported his plans. He was having trouble getting enough ammunition and weapons equipment. He also made contact with French and English colonialists in neighboring countries.

The German colonial administration found out about his resistance plans in 1914 when they intercepted a message from Mebenga's to the governor of French Congo . On August 1, 1914, he was arrested and sentenced by a military tribunal to high treason . On August 8, 1914, he was executed in Ebolowa; before his execution he is said to have shouted: "You will never have Cameroon". Bell was hanged in Douala that same day.

meaning

Mebenga has been a national hero since Cameroon's independence because of his resistance activities . In 1960 a memorial was erected in his honor in Ebolowa.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Jeremy Rich: Samba-Martin-Paul . In: Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong, Henry Louis Gates, Steven J. Niven (Eds.): Dictionary of African Biography . 2012, p. 247 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Missionary work and mission schools. Education Agency, accessed March 15, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Robbie Aitken, Eve Rosenhaft: Black Germany: The Making and Unmaking of a diaspora community, 1884-1960 . 2013, p. 56 .
4. ↑ ^{a b} Mark R. Lipschutz, R. Kent Rasmussen (Eds.): Dictionary of African Historical Biography . University of California Press, 1989, pp. 30 .
5. ^ First World War - The end of German colonial rule in Cameroon. In: Deutschlandfunk. Retrieved March 15, 2020 (German). 
6. ↑ John Tazifor Tajoche: Cameroon history in the 19th & 20th centuries . 2003, p. 111 .