Kamerun National Democratic Party

Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP) was a pro-independence political party active in Southern Cameroons during the period of British Mandate rule.

The KNDP was formed in 1955 by John Ngu Foncha. The party initially sought a close relationship with the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon of Cameroun and in the early days contained a number of UPC members who had fled persecution in the French zone. However whilst Foncha supported autonomy for the South this was rejected by the UPC who wanted full reunification. The KNDP ended their relationship with the UPC in 1957 and the Francophone party were banned in the British territory. The party also split from the Kamerun National Congress (of which Foncha had previously been a member) and the two parties became bitter rivals over the KNC's support for incorporation into Nigeria. The KNDP's stance proved the most popular and they won the legislative elections in 1959, forcing the KNU into opposition. As the governing party they supported a united independent Cameroon but one organised along federal lines and this was endorsed by a referendum in 1961. As a result E. M. L. Endeley's Cameroon People's National Convention (CPNC), which supported the Nigeria, emerged as the main source of opposition to KNDP hegemony, with attempts by the KNDP to absorb the party floundering due to personality clashes.

Following independence, democracy largely receded in Cameroon as the KNDP in what became known as West Cameroon and the Cameroon Union (UC) in East Cameroon established their respective hegemonies. However whilst Ahmadou Ahidjo and the UC enjoyed full control in the East, the KNDP initially did not enjoy the same levels of endorsement, their 78% of the vote in 1964 parliamentary elections some way behind the 98% won by the UC.

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