Abel Kingué’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Intro Cameroonian politician
Is Politician 
From Cameroon 
Type Politics 
Gender male
Death 16 April 1964

Abel Kingué (1924 – 16 April 1964) was a political leader in the struggle for the independence of Cameroon from France.

Early years

Abel Kegne (his birth name) was born at Fokoué, near Bamendjou in the Ndé department of West Province, Cameroon in 1924. He came from a Bamiléké background. He left home early and went to Dschang to live with Mathieu Yamdjeu, a friend of his father. He became a ball boy at the tennis club, and was noticed there and enrolled in school.

He studied at Dschang, Bafang, Nkongsamba and then at the Nursing School in Ayos.

UPC militant in Cameroon

In 1947 Abel Kingué was working in a large store in Douala, where he met Robert Ekwalla. Both became militants in the Union des Syndicats Confédérés du Cameroun (USCC). In April 1950 he left the store and joined the staff of the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) at its first congress in Dschang. In 1951 at Nkongsamba he publicly denounced the political machinations of prince Ndoumbe Douala Manga Bell. He demonstrated that he had great skills as an orator, strong ideological convictions and a great capacity for work and organisation. He was re-elected vice-president of the UPC in September 1952 at its second congress in Eséka. He was also editor of the UPC organ the Voice of Cameroon.

Abel Kingué was one of the founders of the Democratic Youth of Cameroon (Jeunesse Démocratique du Cameroun – JDC). In December 1953 he represented the JDC at the United Nations. On his return, during his tour to report on his trip, he was attacked at Mbouroukou near Melong, severely wounded and left for dead. He recovered, and in April 1954 ran as a candidate for the Territorial Assembly of Cameroon (Assemblée Territoriale du Cameroun – ATCAM). Despite his great popularity, the colonial administration declared that he was defeated.

In April and May 1955 the UPC held a series of angry meetings, circulated pamphlets and organised strikes. On 18 April 1955 Kingué’s home, as well as those of the UPC leaders Ruben Um Nyobé and Jacques Ngom, was ransacked and burned. On 25 May 1955 the police opened fire on demonstrators in Loum, Douala, Yaoundé, Ngambé and other places. The following night the police sacked and burned the UPC headquarters in Douala’s New Bell quarter. There were perhaps 5,000 victims of the violence at the end of May. On 13 July 1955 the French government dissolved the UPC by decree.

Most of the UPC leaders moved to Kumba in the British-administered Southern Cameroons to avoid being jailed by the colonial power.

Exile and death

On 28 January 1956 the UPC presented its position in a declaration to the international press signed by Félix-Roland Moumié (President), Ruben Um Nyobé (Secretary General) and the two Vice-Presidents, Ernest Ouandié and Abel Kingué. They called for reunification of French- and British-administered areas as an independent state. Abel Kingué chaired a major meeting of the JDC on 8/9 November 1956 in Kumba. He was attacked and left for dead by French commandos who were trying to kill the leaders of the UPC. In July 1957, under pressure from the French, the British authorities in Southern Cameroon deported the leaders of the UPC to Khartoum, Sudan. They moved in turn to Cairo, Egypt, to Conakry, Guinea and finally to Accra, Ghana. Suffering from high blood pressure, Kingué led a quiet life while in exile.

On 6 September 1962 the UPC leadership in exile met in Accra at Ndeh Ntumazah’s house, and decided to exclude the “criminal clique of Woungly” from the administrative secretariat. At ten that evening, when the attendees were about to leave, a bomb exploded without causing any injury. The Ghana authorities were not amused and threw the entire UPC leadership in jail. In October they freed Massaga, Tchaptchet and Ntumazah, but kept Abel Kingué in prison. On 13 September 1962 the UPC organised its first Assemblée populaire sous maquis in Mungo, where the Revolutionary Committee was named. The committee was presided over by Ernest Ouandié. Other members were Abel Kingué, Michel Ndoh, Ndongo Diyé, Osendé Afana, Nicanor Njiawe and Woungly-Massaga.

A two-headed leadership was theoretically in place, with Abel Kingué leading the exiles from Ghana and Ernest Ouandié in the maquis. The organisation functioned poorly due to communication problems and also to the Sino-Soviet split. The next year it split, with Abel Kingué and Osendé Afana allied with Ntumazah and opposed to the other leaders. Abel Kingué remained imprisoned in Accra until July 1963. After being released, his medical condition steadily deteriorated, with complications that included behavioural disorders. While on a mission to Algiers his condition suddenly worsened. Ahmed Ben Bella, President of Algeria, arranged for him to be flown to Cairo for treatment, where he died on 16 April 1964.

He was the only UPC leader who did not die a violent death.

You May Also Like

Kodi Smit-McPhee’s net worth, biography, fact, career, awards and life story

What is Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Net Worth and Salary?Kodi Smit-McPhee is an Australian actor who has a net worth of $3 million. Kodi Smit-McPhee first gained widespread recognition as a child, when he starred in the films “The Road” and “Let Me In.” He went on to appear in such titles as “A Birder’s Guide to Everything,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Alpha,” and “Dolemite is My Name,” among many others. In 2021, Smit-McPhee earned the best reviews of his career for his performance in Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” for which he won the Golden Globe and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.Early LifeKodi Smit-McPhee was born on June 13, 1996 in Adelaide, Australia to Sonja and Andy. His father is an actor who was once a professional wrestler as well; his older sister Sianoa, meanwhile, is an actress and singer-songwriter. At the age of 16, Smit-McPhee was diagnosed with a form of arthritis that causes pain and impairs vision. As a result, he is blind in his left eye.Start of Film CareerSmit-McPhee made his feature film debut in 2007 in the Australian drama “Romulus, My Father,” costarring Eric Bana and Franka Potente. In the film, he played Raimond, the son of Romanian immigrants in post-World War II Australia. For his performance, Smit-McPhee earned the AFI Award for Best Young Actor. His next role came in 2009, when he starred opposite Viggo Mortensen in the big-screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel “The Road.” The following year, Smit-McPhee starred opposite Chloë Grace Moretz in the romantic horror film “Let Me In,” an English-language remake of the Swedish film “Let the Right One In.” He also appeared in the Australian drama “Matching Jack.” In 2012, Smit-McPhee was in the literary adaptation “Dead Europe,” and voiced the main character Norman Babcock in the stop-motion animated fantasy film “ParaNorman.”Further Film CareerSmit-McPhee began landing roles more frequently in 2013. That year, he appeared in three films: “A Birder’s Guide to Everything,” “The Congress,” and Julian Fellowes and Carlo Carlei’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet,” in which he played Benvolio Montague. Smit-McPhee was subsequently in four films in 2014. They were “All the Wilderness,” costarring Isabelle Fuhrman, Danny DeVito, Evan Ross, and Virginia Madsen; the science-fiction blockbuster sequel “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”; the animated kids’ comedy “Maya the Bee”; and another science-fiction film, “Young Ones,” costarring Nicholas Hoult, Michael Shannon, and Elle Fanning. Smit-McPhee next starred in the 2015 Western film “Slow West,” playing a young Scottish man searching for his lost love alongside an Irish bounty hunter, played by Michael Fassbender.In 2016, Smit-McPhee returned to the world of Hollywood blockbusters to appear in the superhero film “X-Men: Apocalypse”; in it, he played Kurt Wagner and his alter-ego Nightcrawler. He would later reprise this role in the 2019 superhero film “Dark Phoenix.” In between the two movies, Smit-McPhee starred in the prehistorical adventure film “Alpha,” playing a young hunter who befriends an ailing wolf during the final ice age. He subsequently appeared in the supporting role of Nicholas Josef Von Sternberg in the biographical comedy “Dolemite is My Name,” starring Eddie Murphy. The following year, he starred opposite Ryan Kwanten in the post-apocalyptic science-fiction film “2067.” In 2021, Smit-McPhee gave his most critically acclaimed performance yet in Jane Campion’s psychological Western “The Power of the Dog,” an adaptation of the eponymous Thomas Savage novel. In the film, he plays Peter Gordon, the son of a widowed innkeeper who vows to protect his mother from her new brutish brother-in-law, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. One of the most lauded films of the year, “The Power of the Dog” earned 12 Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Smit-McPhee.Television CareerOn the small screen, Smit-McPhee first appeared in the 2006 ABC television film “Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America.” The same year, he was in the Australian biographical television film “The King: The Story of Graham Kennedy,” and appeared in four episodes of the primetime Lifetime soap opera “Monarch Cove.” Smit-McPhee’s next major role came in 2015, when he starred as Thomas Johnson in the Australian miniseries “Gallipoli,” adapted from the eponymous Les Carlyon novel to mark the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign. Five years after that, Smit-McPhee starred alongside Peter Sarsgaard, David Strathairn, and Kyle Gallner on the short-lived true crime series “Interrogation.” Among his other television roles, Smit-McPhee voiced the character of Ravi on the British preschool animated series “Poppy Cat,” which ran from 2011 to 2016.Personal LifeSince 2014, Smit-McPhee has been in a relationship with girlfriend Rebecca Phillipou.
Read More