Although trade unions had been legalised in 1944, commercial interests had subsequently formed the Etats Généreaux de la Colonisation Française, which opposed abolishing forced labour.
Announcements from the new body infuriated African workers, leading to the strikes starting on 24 September, which turned into full-scale riots.
[2] Alexandre Douala Manga Bell, chief of the Duala, ran for the second college, but was opposed by Governor Henri Pierre Nicolas.
[2] The first college election was a close race between Louis-Paul Aujoulat, a Catholic missionary, and the candidate representing commercial interests.
However, the attempt failed, and both Aujoulat and Douala Manga Bell joined the Popular Republican Movement.