[1] On 18 November 1965, East Cameroon Prime Minister Vincent de Paul Ahanda was dismissed from office due to a dispute with President Ahmadou Ahidjo.

[7] Ahidjo, who was from the Hausa–Fulani north of the country, made a practice of appointing Beti Prime Ministers from the center/south to maintain balance.

[2][8] In June 1966 President Ahidjo called a conference that included the leaders of the two main political parties, the KNDP and CPNC and the prime ministers of West and East Cameroon.

The Archbishop of Yaoundé, Jean Zoa, requested that Tchoungui ask the Pope to summon Ndongmo to Rome and then invite him to remain there.

He was arrested immediately after arriving, and after several months of interrogation faced a military tribunal in January 1971, which sentenced him to death for treason.

It also caused dissension among Catholics, some of whom condemned Archbishop Zoa for being too close to the government, and for possibly assisting in removal of a popular rival.

[1] On 24 March 1984 the UNC became the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (In French, Rassemblement démocratique du Peuple Camerounais - RDPC).