Ernestine Ouandié

Ernestine Ouandié
Born(1961-05-11)May 11, 1961
Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria
DiedOctober 27, 2009(2009-10-27) (aged 48)
Near Foumbot, Cameroon
NationalityCameroonian
OccupationJournalist
ParentErnest Ouandié

Ernestine Ouandié (May 11, 1961 – October 27, 2009) was a Cameroonian journalist. The daughter of political exile Ernest Ouandié who she never met, Ouandié had a difficult childhood in Ghana. After becoming a journalist she moved to Cameroon to learn more about her father. She was featured in a documentary directed by Jean-Marie Teno, titled Une feuille dans le vent (Leaf in the Wind), about her life and her feelings about her father's 1971 execution. The documentary footage was filmed in 2004 but the film was released in 2013 after she committed suicide.

Biography

Ernestine Ouandié was born in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria, on May 11, 1961. She was the daughter of Ernest Ouandié, vice-president of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon, who was in exile in Nigeria, and a Ghanaian mother.[1] Ouandié had a difficult childhood, initially being raised by her maternal aunt in Ghana who physically and mentally abused her. She returned to her mother who abandoned her; after ending up homeless, she found refuge in Lomé where she was able to seek an education.[1][2]

Ouandié never met her father;[3] he was executed on January 15, 1971, in Bafoussam for his fight against colonialism and neocolonialism.[1][4] In 1986, Ouandié earned her degree in journalism and moved to Cameroon so that she could learn more about her father.[1]

In her forties, Ouandié worked as head of the news bureau for the Ministry of Communication in Bafoussam. She was the wife of Dr. Jacques Djoko Tamnou, a biologist pharmacist, and they lived in the commune of Foumbot with their three children.[5][6] She was a member of Cameroon's Commission Nationale des Droits de l'Homme et des Libertés (National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms).[6][7][8]

Ouandié disappeared on October 27, 2009.[5] On October 31, she was found dead near the Noun River between Bafoussam and Foumbot.[6] She is thought to have committed suicide.[2][1]

She is the subject of a 55-minute 2013 documentary directed by Jean-Marie Teno, Une feuille dans le vent (Leaf in the Wind).[1] In interviews with Teno she talks about the injustice and suspicious circumstances of her father's death; she describes herself as feeling like a leaf on a branch cut from the tree due to her separation from him.[2][9] She asks Teno, "How do you expect a leaf taken from a tree to survive?"[10] The interview footage was filmed in 2004 and Teno decided to make the film after learning of her death.[2] The African Studies Review describes it as providing "an informative and compelling snapshot of how decolonization was derailed in Cameroon".[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Taoua, Phyllis (April 2015). "Jean-Marie Teno, director. Leaf in the Wind. Original title: Une feuille dans le vent. 2013. 55 minutes. In English and French (with subtitles in French, English, Spanish and German). Cameroon/France. Raphia Films. €25.00". African Studies Review. 58 (1): 285–287. doi:10.1017/asr.2015.29. ISSN 0002-0206. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Thackway, Melissa; Téno, Jean-Marie (2020). Reel Resistance: The Cinema of Jean-Marie Teno. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 82–84. ISBN 9781847012425. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  3. ^ "Une feuille dans le vent = Leaf in the wind". AfricaBib Bibliographic Database. 2013. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  4. ^ Dit, Devscience (January 15, 2015). "15 janvier 1971 : Ernest Ouandié est fusillé sur la place publique à Bafoussam". Daily Retro (in French). Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Ferdinand, Michel (October 30, 2009). "Foumbot: La fille d'Ernest Ouandié a disparu". Mutations (in French). Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Nwafo, Blaise Nzupiap (November 3, 2009). "Foumbot: Le corps de Ernestine Ouandié retrouvé et inhumé". Royaumebamoun.com (in French). Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  7. ^ "Décret n° 2006/276 du 6 septembre 2006 portant nomination des membres de la Commission Nationale des Droits de l'Homme et des Libertés | Prime Minister's Office". Republique du Cameroun | Services du Premier Ministre (in French). September 6, 2006. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  8. ^ Feukouo, Honoré (December 4, 2009). "Bayangam : Hommage à la fille de Ernest Ouandié". Cameroon Web News (in French). Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  9. ^ Higgins, MaryEllen (2015). "The Winds of African Cinema". African Studies Review. 58 (3): 77–92. doi:10.1017/asr.2015.76. ISSN 0002-0206. JSTOR 24805880. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  10. ^ Moorman, Melissa (October 22, 2014). "The troubled border of the colonial and postcolonial". Africa Is a Country. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.