The UC was formed by Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1958 when he broke from André-Marie Mbida and the Bloc Démocratique Camerounaise.
[1] Under Ahidjo, the UC was prepared to work with the French in order to achieve its goals of a united, independent Cameroon.
[2] Formed from an alliance in the legislature between political figures from the centre and south of the country and magnates from the Islamic Fula people the UC emerged as the main party post-independence.
[3] The party had initially only won a slim majority in the election immediately after independence and was forced to govern by coalition.
[4] Indeed, in the 1964 parliamentary elections the UC captured 98% of the vote in East Cameroon whilst in the 1965 Presidential election Ahidjo captured 99.95% of the vote as a joint UC-Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP) candidate.