8 Shot In Buea Central Prison Jail Break

By Pegue Manga

Fifty prisoners escaped from the Central Prison in Buea, following a massive jail break on the morning of Sunday, August 14. At press time eight of the escapees had been shot and arrested by a mixed squad of warders, gendarmes and the police. One of them Konrad Forbi, said to be a hardened robber died after receiving several bullets around his hips.

Police and gendarmes are still searching for the 42 prisoners still at large. One of the warders on guard, Guiegou Mouko, told The Post that a group of prisoners, numbering over 100, surged towards the main gate of the prison, with a pistol (which turned out to be a toy gun) and threatened to shoot him. "I retreated and fell over the counter in a bid to reach out for my gun in the armoury, as some of the prisoners pelted me with stones," Mouko said.

After overpowering the warder at the counter, 50 of the prisoners outsmarted four other warders who were guarding the main gate. One of the warders, Roger Kum, told The Post that, the prisoners trampled on them as they escaped. "They were armed with knives, stones and cutlasses. We did not have any weapons," Kum said.

The prisoners ran in different directions while the warders sought reinforcement from the police. In the ensuing pursuit, eight of the prisoners were shot. They have been abandoned in the lobby of the prison building writhing in pains.

The Medical Officer in charge of the prison, Dr. Norbert Ndi, told The Post that he did not have the necessary equipment to take care of the wounded prisoners. "For now they will be left there. If they recover fine, if they don't, then it would be too bad for them. By one week you would be surprised to see them already recovered," he said.

The Senior State Counsel for Buea, Martin Sakwe, told The Post that some of the escapees included inmates who had been sentenced to death. Some of them are supposed to stand trial for murder, Sakwe added.

Comments

[Ma Mary]

If the comments of this medical officer are accurately transcribed, Cameroun must be a very scary place. Dr Ndi not only lacks the equipment, he lacks the skill to take care of individuals with multiple gun shot wounds. In a civilized society medical doctor is sworn to take care of the wounded, even if they are criminals. Callous statements like one reads here are not made by doctors. It is his duty to administer pain medications even if the people are beyond help, or to seek external help, if it is beyond the means of the prison. Otherwise, why not just put coup de grace bullets to their heads. There is something grotesquely uncivilized about this, because it is a form of torture. It tells a lot about the inhuman conditions in the prison, which must have led to the prison break.

This is a horrible year for Buea, which has not seen so much blood in a century. That does not mean that One condones dangerous prisoners running around free, but the torture is unwarranted. Thank you again, Post.

[Ma Mary]

From the Post archives, about Buea Prison:

1) Ghanaian Dies in Buea Central Prison
http://www.postnewsline.com/2005/06/strongghanaian_.html

2) The Hell-hole Called Buea Production Prison
http://www.postnewsline.com/2004/11/the_hellhole_ca.html

3) Prisons Not Intended to Kill - Administrator General
http://www.postnewsline.com/2005/07/prisons_not_int.html

etcetera...

a massive prison break from Buea for the first time in a century indicates terrible problems.

[MBECHA FERD]

"Like emaciated mendicants in rags, inmates came running towards these reporters, immediately the gate was flung open. By the mere fact of living on the sharp edge of life, a good number of them had aged prematurely, no doubt. Yet, even those who had real age on their side, had had what was left of their dignity reduced to the level where they referred to us, fit to be their kids, as ‘grand sœur’, meaning, big sister." http://www.postnewsline.com/2004/11

From the quote above above it is evident that the Buea prison had long been a time bomb already counting down the seconds. these prisoners were sent to gaol because they commited or were believed to have done wrongs.While we all agree that it is the right of the wronged to seek redress we would also strongly agree that it is the right of the wronger to be treated humanely.We are not in an eye for an eye society. Many people will immediately condemn these prisoners for breaking gaol but forget that violence is the language of those who have waited to long to be heard.I would recommend readers to go back to the issue of the post quoted above and read for themselves the terrible conditions that have been friends with these inmates for as long as only God knows.
The picture of naked prisoners- nay, humans! lying on the bare floor writhing in the pains of gunshot wounds is too gory to look on. And then comes one callous Doctor saying that there's nothing he can do for them. Well na cameroon that.

[Reader]

The only good prisoner or criminal is a DEAD one. We want a free, peaceful and orderly world.

[Felixam]

Dr Ndi,
Your are a disgrace.To make such a comment about shot inmates is apalling.You took the oath to heal and cure no matter the circunstances.If you donot have the means at least you shpuld use good words.I am sure you were taught some ethics during your training.
Donot forget,you may one day end up as a prisoner yourself
'L'impossible n'est pas Cameroun'

[Njei Moses Timah]

I am enclined to believe that Dr. Ndi was misquoted.

[couurtneyeko]

The country indeed has definitely gone to the dogs.Dr Ndi,whatever happened to the Hippocratic oath you took? For you,it was probably just a bloody formality.How I wish you were in England, or some other properly run country.You would have been called up by the ethics committee and been given some hard sanctions,you would have regretted your indiferrence to life.If a Doctor can descend to such a lowly level,then I fear for the country.
I am not squeamish,but boy ,only those who want to see such pictures should open them for themselves.The post should take into account the sensibilities of some of their readers.

[mukete]

When I read this article, I actually felt my HEART falling to the ground. When I read what Dr. Ndi had said, I felt as to vomit. When guinea pigs are operated upon, they are given anesthesia so that they do not feel pains as they sleep into death. In Cameroon,
people are allowed and even encouraged to die in pains, in public, in disgrace, and without attention.

I have repeated over and over, in this same forum, that bitter times, still, lie ahead for Cameroon and Cameroonians. The time is fast approaching when Cameroonians will be worshiping satan and lighting candles to the devil. Some of us were forced into thinking that the tensions of the 1990s were the climax in the history of Cameroon's destruction. We have seen nothing yet!

I hear the Chancellor of the University of Yaounde I has banned all student meetings and demonstrations ... I also hear that Dr. Dorothy Njeuma (Dr. again!) wants to germinate trouble, again, in the University of Buea (Buea again!).

As long as we allow our country to be governed as if it belongs to some selected few, we would continue to be treated as guinea pigs. Words, whether through the internet, on papers or through music, will NEVER remove Cameroon from the mess it finds itself. These words MUST be backed by actions, if Cameroonians truly want to liberate themselves from the mess that our leaders (in Government or in the opposition) has brought us into.

Understand me, I am not supporting the actions taken by the prisoners. No!. But I fully understand that the greatest wish of humanity is to be happy and free. If the prisoners were not happy and free, then what do we expect? Expession of anger is a human right! And when someone feels that he or she has been reduced to dust, that person has the right to use the means available to seek freedom. Poor prisoners, they could affort a "toy gun" that kept armed prison guards looking for "Weapons of mass destruction".

And when we recall that in Cameroon prisons are jammed with honest and innocent people, while criminals occupy important offices and move freely in the streets, we can not just say that ALL the prisoners had done wrong.

And as Cameroonians continue to die, just like abandoned dogs, we expect our leaders to speak up. Consequently we are expecting the two people who matter in Cameroon - Paul Biya and Ni John Fru Ndi - to speak up. They can not be enjoying abroad or in hidding in the country while Cameroonians are slaughtered like pigs.

As a last note, I want to thank The Post for bringing the reality to light. The Post should continue to send in the details and the pictures, and those who can not hold their hearts can please avoid reading everything that stands before them. By publishing the details, The Post is bringing the world to stand side by side with Cameroon's oppressed.

MUKETE

[limbeman]

Man is always a victim of his environment and as Cameroonians, we are victims of an environment blighted by mans inhumanity to man. Don't blame the poor Dr. Ndi for expressing his mind on an issue many of us find appaling, because in so doing, he has unwithingly defined with callousness, the reality of life in Cameroon.
I remember some radical friends in CCAST Bambili in the 80's, some are Doctors, Lawyers, Inspectors of Customs/Treasury, Magistrates, Commissioners to name a few. We had such lofty ideals on what we would do to bring back Cameroons lost glory. I had the privilege of interacting with a lot of them before I left home. These previously decent young people had suddenly become monsters, all wanting a share of the national cake, compromising their intergrity for financial gain. Corruption is now the status quo, people worship money, the source is immaterial. Many of us in this forum have brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and friends who are perpetrating this cycle of destruction and we rever them, throw big parties for them when they visit here.It is no longer news that the gov't doctor asks for money before he sees a patient, the bank manager asks for a cut before he approves a loan, the magistrate asks for an incentive to deliver a favorable judgement. The list is long but in Cameroon, Cameroonians are not complaining! Those who complain are not in a position to 'Chop'. How many of you are here because you had access to such ill gotten wealth, directly or indirectly!
The majority of people in Cameroon are suffering because of the corrupt practices of the people in power and only a radical solution can bring transformation for good.
The problems in Cameroon are collosal and there are few people of goodwill left there.We need to identify people of goodwill in Cameroon who have potential power, people we can support to bring the necessary changes to transform our nation to its glory days. Any suggestions!

[JB Samba]

"The Senior State Counsel for Buea, Martin Sakwe, told The Post that some of the escapees included inmates who had been sentenced to death. Some of them are supposed to stand trial for murder, Sakwe added."

DOES THE DEATH PENALTY STILL EXIST IN CAMEROUN? I AM STILL WONDERING?

When these inmates decided to try their luck using the toy gun, were they naked, or were they stripped naked after their recapture?

What a SHAME.

[Reader]

I still cannot see the reason why morons are showing sympathy with convicts that had no sympathy over their dear selves. They were with toy guns, had they life guns, guess what? Dr Ndi made statements out of frustration. He is only a medical practioner in Cameroon and not the minister of health and you all know what Cameroon is. You wanted the Dr to use his pecker to treat the wounds on the convicts? How many of you have generously made donations to take care of your brothers and sisters doing time? Why were they escaping in the first place? As i have said, the only good prisoner is a dead one.

[Ma Mary]

Hello Reader:
I sense your frustration. Perhaps you have been the victim of a criminal and would just like to lash out and wish that "the only good criminal is a dead criminal" to quote you. If society were to adopt your position and execute all criminals, the following would need to happen:

+ We would need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the person committed the crime. Even with very sophisticated police methods in the West, innocent people have been tried an executed in the past.

+ We know that scores of people who are merely suspected, or framed by enemies and powerful people are locked up in Cameroun prisons under subhuman conditions. This is called "waiting trial". You could be waiting trial for years without your case being heard, and then you end up being proven innocent. Meanwhile you get emaciated and catch TB or get raped by other men.

+ States should not be in the barbarous business of torture. The scene seen in these pictures and described by the post is one of gratuitous torture. If we were to endorse Reader's attitude of death penalty for all who commit crimes, then just put them to death, not overcrowding, starvation, deprivation from medical attention, nakedness and torture. Just shoot them in the head or hang them! Cameroun is a barbaric country. That is all this shows.

+ Reader, have you ever given or taken bribes? Have you padded you accounts so that you pay less taxes? Have you lied under oath? Have you ever taken government or company money or goods for your personal use? Have you ever embezzled? Like many Cameroun men, have you had sexual relations with a person 16 years or under (staturory rape)? Have you driven a car while intoxicated? All of these are serious crimes and breaches of the public order and if you have committed them, you ought to be put to death by your standard. On these very pages, there is the story of an ambassador who alledgedly stole 2 billion cfa. What should be his lot? It did not seem to outrage you.

[Felixam]

Mr Reader,
Your comments are wrong.Not everyone in prison is a criminal.I spent time in that same prison of Buea for the simple reason of belonging to the SCNC.There are many innocent Cameroonians languishing in jail because of their political opinion.And you have nothing to show that some of them were not involved in the breakout.
As for Dr Ndi,he might live to regret his comments except he will never like to work out of Cameroon.Our comments are read wide and far.

[Reader]

Most of you are residing in the west where you've just gone there to discover how conveniently sophisticated and to a greater level, crime free they are atleast. Those western nations you always base your comparisms on, albeit you have to do so because they are your teachers, have passed through all these barbaric stages prevailing in Cameroon and Africa. Do you ever ask yourselves how these western nations ever got to this convenient stage in life where you have democracy really in action, where moral values are highly observed? They had to purge their societies to be able to have this good air you go there to breath while your own air at home is contaminated. If today these western nations (professors) are still on the process of purifying their societies why not students? Yes we must anathemize all forms of crime.

[couurtneyeko]

Mukete:
Privacy, taste, news value and potential harm should be addressed by the journalist before they publish very graphic images.It is the old argument between reality and understatement.Never under estimate the power of understatement.No skin off my nose whatever picture the post publishes,but they could use a thumbnail and the reader can then enlarge the picture if they so desire.Quality papers do not tend to publish such graphic images on the front page,and the post is most defintely not a tabloid!
Good to read from you after a while,and least this time you are not cursing and kicking.

[Ma Mary]

Do ask yourself, Reader why we are more Barbaric today than 40 years ago, or 50 years ago? Why have basic standards fallen so far. Buea Prison is not a new institution. It has been in existence perhaps a hundred years. Why do we have this kind of cruelty today? Why was society able to contain crime without the use of extreme methods? Why was there more respect for authority? The answers to these questions could be the subject of long discussions which are not appropriate here.

I do not buy the Darwinian model. Neither do I buy the notion that Western societies are intrinsically superior, and constitute a stage to which we must advance ourselves. I think we can shoot towards a different more sustainable destination. Being civilized is not something that has to wait until some future date when we are like the Europeans or the Americans. It is something that is possible now. It is possible right now. Buea circa 1967 was a much more civilized place in this regard than most European or American cities!

Finally, if we are having a discussion, it does no good to start attacking the persons instead of making your argument. Make your point; it is irrelevant whether or not we live abroad. You did the same thing when you earlier called a lot of evidently intelligent and compassionate people "morons". Attacking people is a cop out from an otherwise fruitful discussion. It only means that you have run out of ideas or are intimidated, which is a mistake, because you are an intelligent person.

Have a great week.

[Ma Mary]

Sometimes it behooves one to answer a question, because who knows who might read it? Perhaps someone who could become our saviour might read it and it would motivate him or her into effective action. Authority is not respected today, because authority does not deserve respect. Authority that is unjust, takes bribes, exploits public funds and uses free prison labour for its personal benefit does not deserve respect. Society in which goodness and hard work is not rewarded, in which there is no clear cut legitimate path to success is asking for crime. Society in which large scale theft by the powerful is encouraged and unpunished is asking for crime to be legitimized from top to bottom. The poor and completely hopeless commit the low level crimes that lead to Buea Prison. The true answer to crime is not massive crackdowns, lynchings and the liberal use of the death penalty. That is the Saudi Arabian method, in which the high ups pocket most of the wealth, while enjoying libertine lifestyles in the French Riviera and Malibu, while the country is rendered "safe" through the beheadings of adultererous women and the amputation of petty thievess. The world today sees the effects of that pathological response in terrorists ready to give up their own lives to hurt others.

The true answer lies in social justice, not in massive crackdowns and blood lettings (from which the wealthy and connected are exempted). Such methods inevitably raise a breed of people in whom death with just a little honor is preferred to the meaningless life in which they now live.

Ma Mary

[mukete]

I have stated before that the liberation struggle in Cameroon is NOT for the weak and the uncommitted. It is for those who are prepared to maintain their stand even in face of intimidation. Those who change their names, tribes, religion or identity in order to make their points of view accepted, are those who have failed in spirit and in their hearts. They are the true cawards, who use different identities in order to sell their points!

I think The Post Newspaper has a lot of credibility. This is a paper that is managed by people we can trust; people who have the sentiments its readers have; people who know the rules guiding journalism - what to publish and what not to publish. It may, therefore, be a complete waste of time trying to give them a lecture on what to publish. I strongly believe that The Post weighs the consequences of what it gives out before publication. The Post does not publish by INERTIA!

When it comes to exposing muder to the outside world, we do not make compromise for the mere sake of "understandability"; we do not make compromise just to be understood or to gain cheap popularity. We render that which serves the truth and reality - as it is ON THE FIELD.

Those of us who are FORTUNATE to be living in Cameroon are already accustomed to seeing people dying in the streets as abandoned fowls. We have seen Paul Biya's Army of occupation killing people in Bepanda, Bamenda, Buea, Kumba, etc. We have seen them raping our university students. We have seen the government promoting those who kill Cameroonians like pigs. We have been burying Cameroonians day and night. We have been washing smelling corpses that have been abandoned in the streets. We have been living with the realities.

Consequently, our brothers and sisters living abroad (I do not want to use the name BUSH FALLERS) must be prepared to see the realities in a LESS painful way - graphic illustrations. If people should close their eyes and hearts just because of graphic illustrations seen on the Internet and even want The Post to stop posting some of them, then I wonder what these people would have done if they, too, were experiencing the realities we live here in Cameroon.

We can only congratulate The Post for taking the realities far out of Cameroon. It is a job to be commended! The world needs more of such pictures. And I think in the years ahead to come, the International community will defend The Post in any courts for having exposed the painful realities in Cameroon.

BESIDES, NO ONE EXPECT THE POST TO DECORATE WOUNDED AND NAKED CORPSES BEFORE PUBLISHING THEM. THIS WOULD BE NAKED HEART HYPOCRASY.

MUKETE
(The name since from ...)

[Reader]

40 or 50 years ago we were less barbaric than today, you say. Can't you be any more off topic to have reasoning and face the realities of life? 40 or 50 years ago, just when the west put to the test the amount of education, religion, culture, etc you've just received from them. It was pretty good though as always, still in the stone age, but then went off track and we are now fumbling in re-tracking it. Remember you can't eat your cake and have it again. criminality is a moral sin.

[couurtneyeko]

What is all this talk about people living abroad got to do with the arguments and discussions in this forum? We are in the same chat room, if you like.Can we all remember this? Mukete,I never said I live abroad and I do not use a pseudonym.Eko is my cameroonian name from Ekona,Fako.Courtney is my white man name! I was named after Courtney Pine a famous Black British jazz musician,one of the finest tenor saxophonist in the world.The old man was a bit of a jazz aficionado,probably thought the name will inspire me or something.I will gladly send you a CD of Courtney Pine ,'where excellence is just a beginning',pretty heavy stuff,not for the uniniated,but you can learn how to swim at the deep end of the pool!
You have not seen human suffering more than me.As a student,I ,volunteered for many good causes and have been to quite a few places doing philantropic work:Ethiopia,Nicauragua etc.You cannot preach morality to me.You cannot make me feel guilty about cameroon either,you are not more patriotic because you have seen fellow cameroonians being raped;What did you do about it?
I agree with you though,let the Post publish what the want after all,'it is damned if you do,damned if you dont'.Catch 22. I only mentioned thumbnails,did no say they should not publish.

[Ma Mary]

History: 100 years ago, 50 years ago, 2 years ago is never out of topic. It is the primary way to learn and reflect. You remember the old saw: "he who does not learn from history is bound to repeat it blah blah blah." Having no history diminishes one's humanity, because you become like a blank slate with no reference.

Civilization, in the definition that I prefer refers to how people treat each other in society. If it lifts and nurtures people, it is civilized. The opposite, degradation and brutality is barbarity.

50 years ago might look like a long time, but it was definitely not the stone age, just the blink of an eye in the life of a country. The use of brutal methods by a state does not just hurt the criminal, it hurts those who are the instruments of the violence as well as the children who are watching and become too used to violence. The state generally possesses overwhelming force, and should stick to the LAW.

OK, maybe people have more stuff now than they did 70 years ago. You seem to imply that having more stuff means being more barbaric. The average Singapore citizen has substantially more stuff than he or she did in 1960 and a lot more stuff today than his Camerounese contemporary. But his society has the same, perhaps more adherence to the rule of law as it did 50 years ago. So, what went wrong with us and what went right with him? The cure for a boil on your foot is seldom amputation! Crime is moral sin. Is its remedy always the guillotine?

Again Mr Reader, you descend into side snipes instead of staying on topic. What has others' education in the West or wherever got to do with anything? What do you happen to know about anyone here other than assumptions and guesses?

[Dr A A Agbormbai]

Ma Mary,

Like I have said before the people take their cue from what their leaders do. If their leaders set the right examples they will learn from those examples. But this does not mean that there will be no crime, as in general the character of the people is, and should be, less superior to the character of their leaders. It means that the level of crime would be much lower.

If their leaders set the wrong examples the people will take liberties from these and they will multiply such wrong doings several times (the people are always less continent than their leaders, and as such their moral values are fragile).

Another factor that increases the level of crime significantly is the (sudden) exposure to freedom and democracy. Don't forget that in every human being there is always this internal fight between good and evil (with God on one side and Satan on the other).

Most people (perhaps everyone) have an intrincic pull towards evil (i.e. the Satan in them always seems to win), unless when restrained externally. One can only turn to Russia to see how the introduction of democracy and freedom dramatically upped the level of crime.

It is the same scenario that Cameroon has experienced with the coming of Paul Biya. Freedom is often taken by the people to mean freedom to indulge and freedom to lose their self-control.

You can even see what was happening on this forum until recently - commentators spent their time exchanging insults instead of educating one another.

To reduce crime in a democratic and free society you need a combination of meaures:

1) Of paramount importance are the examples set by the leaders. They must exude high moral character and obey the law (which must itself be morally correct). Cameroonian leaders and authorities flout the law at almost every opportunity and thus demonstrate lawlessness to the people. They then turn round and are surprised when the people show no respect to authority. Would you respect a teacher who indoctrinates you against stealing and then turns round and commits a theft?

2) With freedom and democracy must be attached the need for self-control (or restraint) and respect for people and property. A campaign must be launched to promot these values, and all institutions must demonstrate them to the people.

3) It must be recognised that people have problems and the leaders of society must address, or help the people to address, these problems. In general, if you force people into a corner they will turn to crime either to survive or to get their own back.

4) Finally, it must be noted that prisons don't solve crime. They are there to put away society's undesirables - people who are beyond help and who represent a risk to society if freed. Creating a fair, positive, and supportive society, that has consideration for everyone's needs, solves crime. Such a society is not idealistic. All it needs is a high attachment to moral values, and this is possible if our leaders would educate themselves in this direction (and if they would be intolerant of those things that should not be tolerated: things such as negative thinking, tribal thinking, divisive behaviour, bad manners, persistent confrontational approach to interpersonal dealing, etc.)

[Reader]

Many thanks to DR A A, who has taken his valuable time to put across these insightful analyses in simple vocabulary for you all to understand that we have to resovle to get rid of social sewage in order to have a clean society. We need to exercise a strong moral fibre. The problem is not that we cannot uphold maximum moral values but because we have a complex in us. This obsessive fear in us has come about as a result of our state of receivership as far as our system of education is concerned. Africa cannot be proud of an educational system that is their own as you can find in the west or in Asia, consequently original ideas do not want to come out of the African mind. While we learn from history as i am advised to, we should make history as well.

[Ma Mary]

Agreed,reader, we must make history, better history and not history for the sake of making history. History making needs to be anchored in a state of law. Sorry, Reader, I have to bring other historical examples. The worst human rights abuses in the 20th Century (not long ago) were perpetrated by zealots who wanted to get rid of those that they described as "social sewage". Hitler came to power on that ticket, and was enthusiastically embraced by what was then the most educated country in the world. 6 million dead Jews later and 50 million others dead around the world, I think we ought to take notice. Stalin conducted purges of human sewage. So did Idi Amin, who decided to eradicate the Asians that he described as sewage before getting to African Ugandan sewage. The only safety from terrible "saviours" who prescribe simple solutions are good laws, checks and balances and scrict compliance to those laws by the powers that be. There must be systems that can remove rulers and institutions that become law breakers.

It is necessary to have strong internal moral standards in individuals, but there must be systemic checks as well. There can not be one without the other.

About original ideas, nothing wrong with reverse engineering. What do I mean by reverse engineering. Toyota does that all the time, as does Mercedes Benz. They take their competitor's excellent product, tear it down to pieces and figure out how the competition made it, then make something superior. There is absolutely no need to reinvent the wheel or to feel inferior to anybody else. Not reverse engineering excellent stuff, whether it is ideas or things is a mistake. Japan became a preeminent industrial power by reverse engineering.
My parents were born in the 1930s and there were lots Japanese items on the market then (during our stone age). "Japan" was synonymous with cheap and poor quality, in the same way that "Made in HongKong" was in my own childhood. Now things even from China are of excellent quality. These are shameless copiers. They adopt banking systems and other models, study them, use them, reengineer them for their own purposes. Originality is in the improvement of an already good thing.

The question is not about people going abroad to study whatever, but about how they enhance what they have learned and adapt it so that we make a world class version.

I wonder why the post has not had another story since this prison story. I hope the Cameroun authorites have not clamped down on them.

MM

[Reader]

Perfect, you are now talking. So now what next? We do not need to wheedle or coax any society henceforth but to launch a serious and bitter attack on the African society to effect a meaningful change on the continent. The African Union is that instrument for change though, still on its first baby steps. To begin with, a society can never overlook the role of the media, else that society can never fart coveniently. The African union, crusading a unity for the African people is blindly overlooking the role of the media in its business that concerns about 900 million people. You will agree with me that with the post going on line a larger number of Cameroonians and the world have had an insightful understanding of the Cameroon situation. The African Union doesn't want to understand this very simple technique, especially in this very age of information technology. Though i have pointed out and stressed to them in writing that the AU needs a website through which they can inform and receive feedback from the African people, but have always received an African answer,"we will seriously consider it in our next summit" and in the African context, that has already been considered. Maybe they are wrongly supposing Africans do not have an interest in their business, but that is not true. It is our responsibility to organize all the talent on the continent and to give them a collective chance to transform the continent into a living world and this is doable through the AU, but then we need that forum to give a chance to every one to chip in a word. I am again urging every African to emphasize to the African Union the invaluabe role of the media in conducting business on behalf of the continent. They should have a website on the internet. The African people need to know and to contribute to that unity that concerns them. THE FORCE BE WITH YOU.

[mukete]

The unfortunate thing with us, Cameroonians, is that when we do make suggestions, we do them as if everyone is the same or at the same level. We do them as if everyone has the same opportunities. We fail to understand that we are completely different people living in the same place. Unity in diversity does not only refer to tribe, culture, religion, tradition or politics. Unity in diversity refers to our different potentials, status (economic, social, academic ...) in society, our different niches (roles) in the society we find ourselves, our intellectual abilities, our reasoning faculties, our disabilities and abilities. DIVERSITY REFERS TO EVERY ASPECTS OF LIFE!

Cameroonians like to talk- BIG TALKS ESPECIALLY! Cameroonians like to make suggestions - especially those that will never work, at least for now. Another problem with Cameroonians is that everyone believes that he or she is a genius. And when we talk and make suggestions, we fail to understand that not even one tenth of the Cameroonian population gets the message. How many Cameroonians use the "MEDIA" we are using here? How many Cameroonians can afford to pay for internet services in Cameroon? How many Cameroonians can buy a Newspaper?

Look, we are talking about people who can not afford to buy basic drugs for headache. We are talking about people who live below a dollar per day. We are talking about people who have lost faith in what people write and say. We are talking about people who can not send their children to school. We are talking about people who consider themselves prisoners in their own country.

Cameroonians believe it is now time for ACTION. And when I say action I am not referring to the act of sitting behind the computer and making suggestions that will go no where. Cameroonians have been writing and talking, but things remain the same.

How do we expect Cameroonians to believe in what we write and say, when we are the very people who turn around and take them hostage when we are given the opportunity? Those who have the ability to write and who have the position to make genuine suggestions are the very people who have failed us. Bouba Bello MYgarri talked and talked. Bouba Bello Mygarri made many suggestions from within Cameroon and when he was on exile in Nigeria. But when he returned, he was offered positions and paid all his salaries in advance. This is the same Bouba Bello MYgarri who is actually walking on the dead bodies of Cameroonians. Many examples exist!

Understand me, I am not saying that "WRITING AND READING" has no importance. No! What I am saying is that these efforts alone will yield nothing useful unless they are backed by TANGIBLE ACTIONS. Cameroonians need ACTION more than words! Cameroonians want those who would come "DOWN" to Cameroon and deliver the message in the streets. Cameroonians are looking for those who would come "DOWN" from the "CROSS" and use the streets to get freedom for them. Cameroonians are looking forward to those who would walk in the wilderness and fast for just forty days! Cameroonians are looking forward to those who would come "DOWN" to Cameroon and walk into the streets to use their strength, body and energy to overturn all those who are puling our country into mud. Cameroonians are looking forward to those who would walk into Cameroon and ask Paul Biya and his gang of thieves to "LET MY PEOPLE GO". Cameroonians are looking forward to those who would come "down" to Cameroon and tell our leaders right in their faces that, "GET BEHIND ME SATAN!"

Without people who can do all these, then we all labour in vain as we write volumes that go relatively to nowhere. Our experiences in other countries, unfortunately, may never work in the cameroonian content. Charity begins at home! Volumes of words and tons of "researched" suggestions, without ACTION ON THE GROUND, will lead Cameroon nowhere. It may be a waste of time!

Actions made Nelson Mandela to become President of SA. Actions made dictators like Mubutu, Idi Amin, Saddam, and many others to surrender power. Let all Cameroonians living abroad come and join us in the liberation struggle HERE in Cameroon. Their physical presence and action are more important than the suggestions they make. Abandoning the fight is an indication of failure and this is what Biya encourages.

I personally believe that if the great minds abroad could join us here, in Cameroo just for a week, Paul Biya and his gang would surrender. Please come!

MUKETE

[Dr A A Agbormbai]

The Post,

Are you alright? Or has something gone amiss? You've been very quiet for some time now. Please, inform your readers that all is well.

[Ma Mary]

IN DEFENSE OF THE POST PUBLISHING "HORRIBLE" PICTURES
See this story from today's NY TIMES titled
"How Photos Became Icon of Civil Rights Movement"

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/082805F.shtml

Truth, not softened to spare the hearts of the timid is often what is needed to cause change for the better.