Education in its very essence serves as an instrument for human transformation and liberation. This paper explores Paulo Freire’s understanding of education as a tool for human emancipation. Freire argues that human liberation is integral because it frees the individual socially, economically, psychologically, culturally, physically, intellectually and spiritually. In this paper, we argue that it is in the idea of liberation that Freire’s concept of human flourishing takes its roots and finds meaning. We examine Freire’s concept of education as a tool for human emancipation and flourishing and show its implications on the educational systems in Cameroon. After Cameroon’s independence and reunification in 1960 and 1961 respectively, the educational systems “inherited” from the French and British colonial administrations were maintained in the two parts of the country which they administered. These systems of education are still heavily invested in their colonial origins and not fully grounded in indigenous values, beliefs, epistemologies and knowledge systems. In this paper, we argue that the continuous presence of colonial values hinders genuine freedom and human flourishing in the Freirean sense. The paper argues for the need to decolonise Cameroon’s educational system from French and British epistemic influences to ensure authentic freedom and human flourishing.