La Grande Palabre (LGP) is a series of conferences and debates on socio-political issues, of which thirty-eight were held in Yaoundé. It is an original attempt in Cameroon to institutionalise a public space in the habermassian sense of the term and to expand a critical culture, the origins of which date back at least to the anti-colonial struggles. Since its creation in February 2011, it has grown steadily in geographical and ancillary terms. It continued to exist differently, despite the unlawful prohibition in Yaoundé of five sessions by prefectural decree, the last four of which were successively, on the ground, in particular, that their subject was ‘liable to seriously disrupt public order’. This article shows the creation of LGP, its place in the history of Cameroonian critical culture, the way in which five of its sessions were banned and the organisers’ responses. In doing so, it will be demonstrated that systemic repression can be countered by constant pressure from — individual and collective — actors exercising their freedom, revealing both the contradictions of the power in place and the opportunities for resistance.