The Baháʼí Faith in Cameroon was established when the country was separated into two colonies - British and French Cameroon. The first Baháʼí in Cameroon was Enoch Olinga, who had left his homeland of Uganda to bring the religion to British Cameroon in 1953. Meherangiz Munsiff, a young Indian woman who had moved from Britain, arrived in French Cameroon April 1954 - both Olinga and Munsiff were honoured with the title Knight of Baháʼu'lláh. In 2003 Baháʼís estimated there were 40,000 adherents of the religion in the country.
Early history
In 1953, Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Baháʼí Faith, planned an international teaching plan termed the Ten Year Crusade. This was during a period of wide scale growth in the religion across Sub-Saharan Africa near the end of the period of the Colonisation of Africa. During the plan Ali Nakhjavani and his wife drove by car with two African pioneers from Uganda where the religion was growing very quickly to open new countries to the religion. The first pioneer in the region was Max Kinyerezi October 6 who settled in what was then French Equatorial Africa, and then Enoch Olinga to British Cameroon on October 15. In Limbe (then called Victoria), through the efforts of Olinga, Jacob Tabot Awo converted to the religion becoming the first Cameroonian Baháʼí. During the following year there were many converts to the religion, many of whom were from the Basel Mission system of Protestant Christians. Meherangiz Munsiff, a young Indian woman, arrived in French Cameroon in April 1954 in Douala after helping to found the Baháʼí Faith in Madagascar. A letter from Olinga describes the advancement of the religion into 6 towns and translation work into the Duala language had begun of a pamphlet.
As the number of Baháʼís was growing rapidly, Shoghi Effendi asked if members of the religion could pioneer to neighboring areas where there were still no Baháʼís. On April 21, 1954 a Baháʼí Local Spiritual Assembly was formed and five young Cameroonians left during the Ridván period, each becoming a Knight of Baháʼu'lláh; the various protectorates they arrived in merged into the modern countries of Cameroon, Ghana, and Togo. It was emphasized that western pioneers be self-effacing and focus their efforts not on the colonial leadership but on the native Africans - and that the pioneers must show by actions the sincerity of their sense of service to the Africans in bringing the religion and then the Africans who understand their new religion are to be given freedom to rise up and spread the religion according to their own sensibilities and the pioneers to disperse or step into the background. Enoch Olinga is specifically mentioned as an example of this process unfolding as he arose out of Uganda and repeated the quick growth of the religion. Because of the successive waves of people becoming Knights of Baháʼu'lláh, Enoch Olinga was entitled "Abd'l-Futuh", a Persian name meaning "the father of victories" by Shoghi Effendi. In very early 1955, Valerie Wilson, an Auxiliary Board member for Africa stationed in Monrovia, Liberia, embarked on what was considered a bold trip for a woman alone by car to travel on a trip across some to visit the Baháʼí groups functioning in the Gold Coast, Togoland and the British Cameroons. In April 1955 British Cameroon had eight assemblies.
Growth
In 1956 a regional Baháʼí National Spiritual Assembly of North West Africa was elected with Olinga as the chairman with its seat in Tunis, comprising areas from the Cameroons north to Tunisia and parts west including Islands like the Canary Islands. Early in 1957 the Baháʼís in British Cameroon acquired a center and the population was noted at some 300 Baháʼís while the younger community of French Cameroon had between 10 and 20 Baháʼís and there was a Baháʼí conference on the progress of the religion held in Mutengene, near Tiko. In 1958 the Baháʼís of Cameroon sent another pioneer, Willie Enang, to Ghana while multiple communities held local conferences on the progress of the religion in their area. Baháʼís sometimes walked through dense forests to people who had not heard of Jesus Christ. By 1960 the entire Baháʼí population across North West Africa was 3000 and 1800 were in British Cameroon. Limbe, (then called Victoria), British Cameroon, hosted the convention for the election of the regional national assembly for north west Africa in 1960 and there were 45 delegates, including local chiefs and women, as well as Enoch Olinga. Enoch Olinga could not attend the dedication of the Baháʼí House of Worship in his native Uganda because of political turmoil in Cameroon after independence. While over 1500 people and Baháʼís from many places in Africa went, Olinga preferred to stay in Cameroon to help guide the Baháʼís through times of civil unrest.
By 1963 the following cities in Cameroon had Baháʼí communities:
Local Spiritual Assemblies in Cameroon
Ashum Atibon Bakebe Bakogo Bangapongo Bara Batchuakagbe Batchuntai Bekume Boa Buea Douala Defang Ebeagwa Ebinsi Ebonji Edjuingang Eshobi Etoko Eyang Faitok Fotabe Kembong Kombone Kumba Mambo Mamfe Mbatop Mbehetok Mbinjong Moliwe Molyko Muambong Mukonyo Mutengene Muyuka Nchemba Nfontem Ngassang Ngombuku Nguti Ntenembang Nyang Ossing Sabes Sumbe Takpa Takwai Tali Tiko Tinto (1) Tinto (2) Tintombu Tombel Victoria (Limbe)
Baháʼí groups (between 1 and 9 individuals)
Bamenda Bato Besongabang Ekona Ekpaw Marumba Mpundu Tayor
Isolated individuals
Bomono Dibombari Ebensuk Melkai Moanjo Ndekwai Nsoke Yaoundé
Later October 1963 at a large public meeting in Belgium the ambassador to Belgium from the Republic of Cameroons was a guest at a Baháʼí observance of United Nations Day.
Regionalization issues
And in 1963 the Cameroons were re-organized under the regional national assembly system to be with the West-Central African National Assembly. The second convention was held in Limbe - and that year its members were Stephen Tabe, Sampson Forchnk, Janet Mughrabi, Moses Akombi, Lillie Rosenberg, Oscar Njang, Jawad Mughrabi and Solomon Tanyi and Sherman Rosenberg. The convention of 1966 for the west central regional national assembly was held in Mamfe. Following the death of Shoghi Effendi, the elected Universal House of Justice was head of the religion and began to re-organized the Baháʼí communities of Africa by splitting off national communities to form their own National Assemblies from 1967 though the 1990s. In the presence of Hand of the Cause William Sears in 1967 the National Spiritual Assembly (NSA) of the Baháʼís of Cameroon was elected for the first time thus splitting the country off from the regional National Assembly established in 1956 and had jurisdiction over neighboring areas of Spanish Guinea, Fernando Po, Cariseo and São Tomé and Príncipe Islands while the rest of the west central regional assembly continued over other countries. In 1967 the Bahá´ís of Cameroon initiated a proclamation project in Spanish territories of Fernando Poo and Rio Muni.
In December 1971 Cameroon hosted the first regional African youth conference in Yaounde. Bus loads and cars of youth came from Chad and the Central African Republic, including youth visiting from the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Iran, Canada and the United States then in Chad and Cameroon for a period of service to the community came - during the conference two radio interviews were given. Book exhibits were held in 1974 in the University in Yaounde and a classroom in the Pan-African Institute of the Buea which also attracted radio coverage. In 1978 an international Baháʼí youth Conference was held in Cameroon with 380 attendees from some 19 countries.
Though he had recently toured Cameroonian in 1975 in December 1979 a full account of the circumstances under which Knight of Baháʼu'lláh for Cameroon, Hand of the Cause, Enoch Olinga had been murdered September 16, 1977 in Uganda during political and social turmoil. Final answers may never be known why he and most of his family were murdered with confidence. A biography published in 1984 examined his impact in Cameroon and beyond. The first person in Cameroon to join the religion withstood beatings to persevere in his choice. The first woman to become a Baháʼí in Cameroon did so from his impact on her life though she had been an active Christian before - both she and her husband converted and were among the first to move to Togo and then Ghana. Another early Baháʼí, the first of the Bamiliki tribe, moved to what was then French Cameroon to help there. Another early contact joined the religion later but his wife was the first Baháʼí of Nigeria. The researcher again found that there was an emphasis not on rooting out cultural traditions among the peoples but instead focusing on awareness of the religion and awareness of scientific knowledge should not relate to social class. There were accusations of political intrigue of which Olinga was acquitted. It was judged that Olinga was always sincere and never belittled.
In 1982 the first Baháʼí under the assigned region to Cameroon of Fernando Po joined the religion. Joseph Sheppherd was a pioneer to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, circumstances woven into a book he later wrote which presents the Baháʼí Faith in a context of global change (see Baháʼí Faith in fiction) and delves into the dynamics of pioneering as a method to gain understanding of spiritual issues compared to social issues, to struggle with a cultural naivete, which was published in Baháʼí News in December 1988.
Intranational developments
In 1967 local assemblies began to acquire or build local centers as one of many activities of the community some of which continued into 1968. Informational packets and interviews were granted to major print and radio news outlets and coverage of events continued.