Up Station Mountain Club

Action Cameroon: Stolen Tole Tea, Stolen Baby, Football Fiasco and Ethnic Riots: Part 1

Louis Egbe Mbua (originally published in Living Lights)

I turned back my mind to revisit the general social contour of my country Cameroon as to what has changed and what has stayed the same in the last few years. The pitiful conclusion, in this context, seems to be reached that the more times the earth orbits its lone star the more the state of affairs remain the same at best; or that they progress in a sort of speedy reverse at worst. A kind of peculiarity, this is, one may inveigh, as the earth never reverses its path around the sun for that matter nor does it travel at different kind of speeds – it progresses year in year out in one forward clockwise direction at the same kind of acceleration. The day one notices a reversal of progress by this rock on which one is permanently implanted on, then we may surmise that something is in dramatic remission in this troubled world of ours because this is an unnatural occurrence, an artificial state of affairs. When one critically examines the Cameroon situation, in a wider context of the world, conjuring a panoramic view, with this invoked concept, it clearly points to the direction that there is something unnatural happening in that country; and that the law of nature is in serious reverse. The trouble here is that we are certain, without a shadow of doubt, that the laws of natural justice can never be reversed by the same natural laws themselves since that would be an anathema; but that if such laws are reversed, it can only be temporally and artificially done by a human hand defect in dominion. The long-term consequences are catastrophic as we shall soon find out.

Continue reading Action Cameroon: Stolen Tole Tea, Stolen Baby, Football Fiasco and Ethnic Riots: Part 1 in Living Lights

Cameroon's Separatist SCNC Still Pushing Its Cause


Summary

The Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) is an Anglophone
separatist movement whose ultimate goal is a return to the two-state
Federation which existed pre-1972.  The movement has used violence in
the past and has recently internationalized its campaign by lobbying
in Washington, New York and Brussels.  The credibility of the SCNC is
questionable, and fake asylum cases for supposed members are common in
both the U.S. and Europe. End summary.

Historical Overview

The SCNC was founded in April 1993 at an All Anglophone Conference
(AAC) held in Buea, South West Region, in order to articulate
Anglophone grievances.  These grievances include a return to a
federation, better representation of Anglophones within the
government, increased use of the English language (especially in
official media), and an end to policies allegedly aimed at the
cultural destruction of Anglophones as a people.

In 1993, Anglophones of Cameroon decided to come together and analyze
their situation within an Anglophone/Francophone State.  Their
principal decision was a call for a return to the Federation which
existed before Cameroon became a unified nation on May 20, 1972. In
1994, the organizers of the AAC adopted a resolution which turned the
AAC Standing Committee into a national movement called the Southern
Cameroons National Council (SCNC).

In 1996, new leaders took over, with more radical ideas.  As of 2007,
the organization calls itself the United Nations Trust Territory of
the Southern Cameroons National Council (U.N.T.T.-SCNC).  This name
has not been designated by the United Nations, and the SCNC is not an
UN-recognized entity. The SCNC motto, "the force of argument, not the
argument of force," is at odds with the group's violent history.

A Violent Beginning

The SCNC used violence in the 1990s as a means to demonstrate their
commitment to the cause, and to show the Government of Cameroon (GRC)
their seriousness.  In March 1997, SCNC members killed three gendarme
officers in the North West Region. The group also tried to burn to
death a Divisional Officer and his wife in March 1997, but the couple
survived.  In 1999, the Yaounde Military Tribunal convicted 33 of
these activists.  Sentences ranged from ten years to life imprisonment
for charges such as murder, looting as an organized gang, illegal
possession and use of fire arms.

Fifteen members are still serving prison terms.  Government buildings
were also destroyed through arson or gun fire.  In 1999, SCNC
activists seized the CRTV-Buea Radio station and declared the
independence of Southern Cameroons.  Participants in these events were
arrested and in 2000, the activists were sentenced to two to three
years in jail, on charges of looting and declaration of secession.

Lack of Legal Status Leads to Arrests

The SCNC has never filed an application with the GRC to form a
political party and has never legally registered as an organization.
Although it claims to be a peaceful liberation movement, the SCNC is
considered an illegal organization by the GRC because it supports
secession, a cause which is illegal according to the Cameroonian
Constitution.

According to Section 4 of the December 19, 1990 law which governs
Freedom of Association, "Associations founded in support of a cause or
in view of a purpose contrary to the Constitution, the law and public
policy, as well as those whose purpose is to undermine especially
security, the integrity of the national territory, national unity,
national integration or the republican character of the state shall be
null and void."

SCNC members are often arrested when they meet, since illegal
organizations are not allowed to meet.  A group was arrested on
October 1, 2008 for raising an SCNC flag on the anniversary of
Cameroon's conversion from federal to unitary state.  This case was
recently adjourned to June 29, 2009 due to the absence of several of
the accused.

Twenty-four SCNC members were arrested on April 21, 2009 in Bamenda as
they gathered for a meeting.  The members were released quickly and
legal proceedings have not yet started on this case.  Ten SCNC members
were arrested on May 27, 2009 and seven were released soon after.
Three members were transferred to Yaounde for judicial proceedings and
released on June 3, 2009.

Leadership

The current head of the SCNC is Ambassador Henry Fossung, the
Secretary General is the Reverend Dr. Andrew Ambeazich, and the
spokesperson is Barrister Achem Joseph Ashu.  Henry Fossung is a
retired career diplomat with a Masters degree in Law and International
Relations from the American University in Washington, D.C.  He served
as Cameroon's Ambassador to the Central African Republic, Chad,
Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.  There are branch offices of the
SCNC abroad that lobby foreign governments and international
organizations for recognition.

Internationalizing the Cause

The absence of dialogue with the government has led the SCNC to
develop an international strategy, especially at the level of the
United Nations, the Commonwealth and the African Union.  In the last
six years, the Council has sent many legal/rhetorical documents to
these organizations to make the case that Southern Cameroons should
become an independent entity.

In November 1999, the SCNC applied for admission into the UN as a full
member of the organization.  In 2000, it also applied for membership
with the Commonwealth (both applications were denied).  More recently,
it filed a complaint against the Government of Cameroon at the African
Commission on Human Rights.

In 2002, the SCNC named a Head of Mission for the United States of
America in Washington, D.C. (office located on K Street). The purpose
was to launch a diplomatic offensive in Washington and New York that
would help push the admission of the organization to the UN.  These
initiatives have so far failed to produce results, especially as the
credibility of the organization is increasingly being questioned.
Other diplomats in Yaounde have also report seeing increased lobbying
by SCNC groups based in their home countries.

COMMENT: Questionable Credibility

The SCNC is a marginal organization with a limited following (probably
numbering in the hundreds).   Its members seem disconnected from the
realities of the current world.  The SCNC has no standing in
Cameroonian politics, not only because of its illegal status, but also
because most Cameroonians - including Anglophones - do not agree with
its separatist ideology and strongly reject its involvement in violent
actions ten years ago.  Nonetheless, there is a widespread passive
approval of SCNC activities as an expression of linguistic and
political fault lines.  Many Anglophones do feel marginalized and
cheated by the Francophone majority (and sometimes their own leaders'
collaboration with them).

Some of them might support a return to a federal state system if it
were done through peaceful means.  Today, the organization appears to
focus on making its case and fundraising to international audiences
through the internet and other communication tools.  The SCNC recently
tried to garner public support to claim rights and benefits on behalf
of the population inhabiting the Bakassi region, arguing that this
population has a similar claim against the GRC.  This attempt has not
been successful to date.

There have been allegations that the SCNC makes money from providing
fake asylum documents to Cameroonians in the U.S.  Some people see
asylum fraud as the organization's main purpose, although it is
difficult to confirm such allegations.  In an interview with "The
Herald" newspaper in 2003, Sam Ekontang Elad (Chairman of the 1993 All
Anglophone Conference) said that when his leadership team left, "the
new leadership had no vision and saw the Cause as a source for
enriching themselves."  There have been many cases of Cameroonians
claiming asylum in the U.S. because they allege that they fear
persecution as members of the SCNC; many of these claims were later
found to be fraudulent.

European countries have also seen a large number of fraudulent asylum
cases, but have found that numbers slowed after most cases were
denied.  While it is very difficult for post to accurately evaluate
the volume of SCNC claims, they number several hundred annually, with
perhaps half of them being approved.  Post has been asked by theDepartment of Homeland Security to investigate a few dozen suspect cases in the past three years and has found every one of them to be fraudulent.

Recently, Cameroonian lawyer Patrick Tzeuton, a specialist in bogus
SCNC claims based in Maryland, was convicted of immigration fraud and
sentenced to five years in federal prison and three years of
supervised release for assisting hundreds of his countrymen in making
false claims for asylum.

This conviction and the eroding credibility of the SCNC seem to be
pushing Cameroonians to favor other claims as the basis for asylum.
For example, asylum applicants now routinely allege that membership in
the main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) has led to their
persecution.

The SCNC leadership is elusive and its support base is difficult to
assess.  We believe its domestic following is very small.  The
organization is not considered to be a significant player in
mainstream Cameroonian politics and appears to have a larger support
base outside Cameroon than domestically.  As many of the founding
members age and fewer new members join, the organization increasingly
appears out of touch.

If, however, a dynamic leader enters the picture, or if armed
resistance is perceived as being a viable alternative, the SCNC could
transform into a violent alternative to the Social Democratic Front
(SDF), the leading opposition party in Cameroon.  One senior SDF
contact told us, for example, that he believes SCNC members were  involved in sparking the nationwide February 2008 riots. END COMMENT
GARVEY

Senegal music star Ndour makes bid for presidency

By SADIBOU MARONE

FILE- In this Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 file photo, Senegalese pop star Youssou Ndour, …

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — World music icon Youssou Ndour says he plans to run in Senegal's presidential election next month, challenging an 85-year-old incumbent whose plans to seek a third term have sparked violent protests.

Africa lies naked to euro-American military offensive

Glen Ford http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/78866

their grip on Africa, following the seizure of Libya and its vast oil fields, most of the continent’s leadership seems to welcome re-absorption into empire. “Africa is the most vulnerable region in America’s warpath, a continent ripe for the plucking due to the multitudinous entanglements of Africa’s political and military classes with imperialism.” AFRICOM is already in the cat-bird seat, placed there by Africans, themselves.

Nation of Born Again Slavery

 By Dr. Peter Vakunta

 

 

 

Methink we are now vibrating on the same wave length

Regarding the veracity in the assertion that Cameroonians

Are governed by Born Again Slaves,

Philemon Yang is no exception,

Paul Biya and Jacques Fame Ndongo

Have played the lyrics and they are all

 Toward A Cameroonian Renaissance

By Dr Peter Wuteh Vakunta

I believe that one day Cameroon will cease to be a country saddled with inept leaders, most of whom are stooges of Western powers, notably France. Many reasons account for my compulsive optimism. Cameroonians are slowly but surely shedding their fear syndrome and learning from recent events in Africa—grassroots revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. The economic dire straits at home have forced Cameroonians to venture into the Diaspora, a move that could be counted as a blessing in disguise. They are rapidly acquiring expertise in a myriad of domains: technology, health, military intelligence, economics, finance, science, and more. These skills will be sorely needed in the stride toward economic prosperity in the post-Biya era.

 

I believe that the attainment of Cameroon’s long-term developmental objectives should be anchored in the Cameroonian people’s determination to extricate themselves from the tentacles of Western imperialism.I have the conviction that Cameroon’s economic recovery initiative requires a new vision, a new type of partnership with the West—one in which the country’s economists and decision-makers will work in tandem with foreign partners to promote the nation’s developmental goals, rather than simply give foreigners the leeway to exploit natural resources for the benefit of Western corporations. What Cameroon desires from the West at this juncture is not Foreign Aid but economic partnership on an equal footing. Foreign Aid has been described by economic pundits as the death-knell of recipients in Africa.

In her seminal book, Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and Why There is a Better Way for Africa (2009), Dambisa Moyo adumbrates an economic blueprint intended to serve as a paradigm for weaning Africa off the debilitating aid-dependency syndrome that has kept the continent in perpetual economic stagnancy for decades. Using dependable statistics, Moyo argues that government-to-government or bilateral aid (which should be distinguished from charity-based aid) to Africa undermines the ability of Africans to conceptualize their own best economic and political policies. As she puts it: “The net result of aid-dependency is that instead of having a functioning Africa, managed by Africans, for Africans, what is left is one where outsiders attempt to map its destiny and call the shots.”(66) Foreign Aid does not only undermine economic growth, it keeps recipient countries in a state of endemic poverty. It is itself an underlying cause of social unrest and possibly even civil war. Here then is the reason why Cameroon should steer clear of foreign aid now and in the future. To achieve meaningful economic advancement, Cameroonians will have to think and come up with effective paradigms that would guarantee genuine sustainable development in the economic arena. I think that the time has come for Cameroonians to go beyond the blame game; taking the West to task for their  grime and gloom.

I have believe that one day Cameroonians will take their destiny into their own hands by combating endemic corruption through moral education and the inculcation of life skills (truth, integrity, loyalty, respect, honesty, trustworthiness, patriotism, and decent work ethics) into every citizen. No amount of wishful thinking is enough to resolve Cameroon’s internal problems. The onus is on all Cameroonians to bit the bullet and come clean, by turning over a new page. Cameroonians should learn to be architects of their own destinies, rather than await some inaccessible manna from heaven.  I believe that there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel in Cameroon. To achieve their common objective, Cameroonians should to not take other Cameroonians for granted.

 

I believe that to rescue Cameroon from the economic doldrums in which she finds herself at present, Cameroonians should learn to invest at home. I am aware that our leaders have set a bad example by putting their money where their hearts are. In other words, they prefer to invest in France, Baden-Baden, Switzerland, you name it, instead of in Cameroon. But bad leaders are what they are. We are under no obligation to learn from them. In fact, my appeal is that we do the opposite of what they do. In the final analysis, they will learn from us. Cameroonians at home and in the Diaspora must take bold steps and work together to eradicate chronic poverty by all means necessary, including redirecting expenditure toward the acquisition of skills sorely needed in the global workplace. Cameroonians must learn to invest in the future because a saving nation is a prosperous nation.

 

I believe that Cameroon is neither a country for the taking nor the designated bread-basket of her ex-colonizers. She may be home to Africa’s most underprivileged people; she may be saddled with some of the deadliest endemic diseases on the globe, she may even be in the throes of underdevelopment. Nonetheless, the incontrovertible truth is that Cameroon remains one of the most robust and resilient countries on the African continent.

 

No country that I know of has ever been subjected to the same magnitude of exploitation, dehumanization, denigration, and brutality that have been the lot of Cameroon. Of all the African countries, Cameroon alone had the misfortune of being the victim of three colonial regimes (German, French and British)! Yet, in the face of all these tribulations, Cameroonians have continued to hold their heads high, and to walk tall in the face of unsolicited provocation. I believe that to forge ahead, Cameroonians must transform their hard-won political independence into genuine economic autonomy. They must avoid servitude in all its forms. The journey toward true liberation begins with decolonizing the mind.

 

It is my belief that in the foreseeable future, Cameroon will remain a peace haven. Right now, in many African countries, bullets have replaced ballots as instruments of governance. Not yet in Cameroon. That is because Cameroonians have understood that democracy and fair-play have the potential to ease countless socio-political bottlenecks. I believe that Cameroonians have come to the realization that for every gun that is manufactured in the West, an African is destined to be a casualty. In many African countries, inter-tribal feuds have degenerated into civil wars. This is because most Africans perceive the world through borrowed lenses.

 

I believe that one day Francophone and Anglophone Cameroonians will see eye-to-eye as they walk hand in hand in the streets of Yaoundé without looking over their shoulders. What transpired in Rwanda in 1994[ii] should never happen to our country! I believe that before long the graffi from the Northwest Region will dine with their brethren from the Southwest Region. When that time comes, there will be no chants of “come no go”[iii]It is my fervent belief that one day Francophone Cameroonians will perceive Anglophone Cameroonians as dependable compatriots; rather than enemies in the house. I have no illusions about the fact that one day the much dreaded Bamileke-Anglophone Conspiracy[iv] will be a thing of the past.

The trail of economic destruction and human suffering left on Cameroon by Mr. Paul Biya’s rogue government is unprecedented.  But there is room for hope. Why civil servants continue to be routine on dereliction of duty remains a moot point. But there is ample room for learning from past errors. One reason that political competition has degenerated into a dog-eat-dog warfare in our country is that we are politically illiterate, thirsty for power and hungry for material possessions. But I believe that this trend will change as Cameroonians begin to learn the ropes. I believe that in the near future, it will dawn on Cameroonians that politics is not all about self-aggrandizement; rather it is service to the governed.

I believe that in the face of mounting pressure from international human rights watchdogs, Cameroonian leaders will learn to respect the constitution they promised under oath to protect. Cameroon’s constitution has been transformed into worthless pieces of paper by the executive branch of government. But the status quo will change. When that time comes, the people of Cameroon will be invited to take part in the drafting of a constitution that includes a Bill of Rights that truly grants them basic rights and freedoms. At present, there is too much toying with the national constitution of Cameroon. In the future, there will be a way of holding our leaders accountable in the event of breaches of the constitution. I believe Cameroonians are inherently law-abiding, peace-loving people. They desire to live under the rule of law. One day Cameroonians will realize that the onus is on them to devise ways and means to reverse the current trend of misgovernment and wanton misappropriation of public funds.

I believe that the day will come when Cameroon will write her own history. It will be a story of glee and glory. When that day comes, Cameroon will cease to be looked upon as a sore thumb on the African landscape.The capacity to embrace diversity has always been part and parcel of the Cameroonian mindset. Our cultures melt and spread into subcultures which in turn generate aggregates. In a bid to mint a common national identity and avoid asphyxiation, Cameroonians have the onerous task of embracing disparate subcultures.

 

The submersion of various cultures into a holistic Cameroonian heritage by means of mutual acceptance is one of the extraordinary ways in which Cameroonians could enter into symbiotic intercourse with their kith and kin of different extractions. I believe that this is a rewarding means to commune with members of the global village. Our emotional make-up, our pains and our uncertainties, the strange curiosity of what is generally perceived as our flaws and shortcomings should serve as a support base for our convivial strive toward a common identity.

 

I believe that one of the prerequisites for the collective survival of Cameroonians is their ability to maintain a conscious relationship with one another and with the global community in which they live as a subspecies. This presupposes sinking superficial differences and embracing the all too obvious commonalities. Cameroonians must ensure that their collective consciousness celebrates and enriches rather than alienate them as a people from the community of nations. Cameroon constitutes an integral part of the international community. I believe our heritage should not be hijacked by foreigners to place us in a pariah state. Our collective diversity should be perceived as part of an integrating process of world diversity. Cameroonians must acknowledge the fact that each culture— Francophone, Anglophone, or indigenous for that matter is never a finished product but rather a stratum in the continuum of global cultures.

 

I believe that Cameroonians are interested in cohabiting rather than dominating, in exchanging rather than expropriating.That’s why we remain our brother’s keepers in good and bad times. A Hausa man from Northern Cameroon sees himself as a brother to a Hausa man from Donga-Mantung. A Fulani woman from Sabga considers herself a sister to a Fulani woman resident in Foumban; a Bororo from Maroua is kith and kin to a Bororo from Misaje, and so on and so forth. That is why they all sing Ubuntu,[v]we are one! 

 

Without denying the cosmetic differences that exist amongst us, differences which have been exploited by our detractors to their own advantage, we must acknowledge that what unites us as Cameroonians is vaster that what separates us. This implies that the celebration of our diversity should constitute our contribution to the edification of the United States of s Africa. As the adage goes, united we stand; separated we fall. Our unity will empower us to face up to the different hegemonic challenges that threaten our very survival in a global community that has become the marketplace for the commercialization of ideas.

 

Cameroonians have a rich culture of care, mutual respect, self-esteem, love and protection. Childcare for instance, is not perceived by Cameroonians as the duty of the child’s biological parents alone. It is seen as a communal responsibility involving members of the nuclear and extended families. That explains why in Cameroon the young address the elderly as "Pa" or "Ma" regardless of blood relationship. By the same token, the elderly address the young as "son" or "daughter" whether or not they are biologically related.

 

Cameroonians possess time-honored methods of inculcating moral rectitude and life skills into their offspring. This is a task that commences from the cradle and continues into adulthood. The preservation of our Cameroonian cultural specificities, to my mind, is a manifestation of our being a tributary to the concept of African renaissance which makes Africanity distinct from other global cultures. Espousing the concept of the African personality[vi] is tantamount to embracing those elements of our cultures that identify us as a people with a common heritage.

 

I believe in the concept of Cameroonian Renaissance, the quest for a contraption that obligates political leaders, parents, traditional and community spokespersons, teachers and social workers to instill into the youths a sense of self-worth and respect for the nation. Renaissance amounts to a re-assessment of our cultural values, worldview and imagination. Embracing the ideals of Cameroonian renaissance will empower us with the bagagge necessary to put a premium on our Afritude[vii]At the same time, the idea of a Cameroonian Renaissance should not be construed as a negation of otherness, or a rejection of our colonial heritage. Indeed, I believe that Cameroonians should enjoy the best of both worlds. In doing so, they must maintain constant vigilance over the cankers that have transformed their nation into a moribund Nation-State.

 Notes

---

[i]  Dambisa Moyo, Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is A Better Way for Africa, New York. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009

 [ii] The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda’s Tutsis by Hutu militia. Over the course of approximately 100 days, from the assassination of Juvenile Habyarimana on 6 April up until mid July, at least 500,000 people were killed. Most estimates indicate a death toll between 800,000 and 1,000,000.

[iii]  Derogatory expression used by indigenes of the Southwest region to describe settlers from the Northwest Region of Cameroon

[iv]  President Paul Biya believes that Anglophone and Bamileke Cameroonians are conspiring to overthrow the Beti-led government based in Yaoundé.

[v]  African communalism

[vi] Reference to Es’kia Mphahlele’s book titled African Image (1974).

[vii]  Attribute  of being African

 

Book Review: Peter Vakunta’s Indigenization of Language in the African Francophone Novel: A New Literary Canon. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. New York.  2011, 178pp. Hardcover $72.95. ISBN 978-1433112713 

 

Reviewer:  Ken Walibora Waliaula

 



  

Peter Vakunta’s Indigenization of Language in the African Francophone Novel: A New Literary Canon revisits the age-old question of the language of African literature, with as the title suggests, the Francophone novel as its centerpiece. Vakunta rehashes the old debate on whether or not African Europhone literature is indeed African as well as shedding light on the tension inherent in the African writer’s choice of a European language to capture his or her African experience.

 

Using three Francophone African novels, namely Ahmadou Kourouma’s Les soleils des indépendances (Suns of Independence), Nazi Boni’s Crépuscule des temps anciens and Patrick Nganang’s Temps de chien(Dog Days), Vakunta illustrates the extent to which the African novel in French, like its Anglophone counterpart, tends to domesticate or as he puts “indigenize” the language of the European master and to shape and mold it into a peculiarly African character and flavor. This process of indigenization necessarily, Vakunta posits, entails deconstructing the colonial language.

 

The book is divided into three chapters besides the introduction and conclusion. In chapter 1, Vakunta focuses on the trajectory of conceptual debates regarding post-coloniality. He argues that for the postcolonial African literary text, the use of the ex-colonial master’s language is replete with subversive tendencies as well as conscious and unconscious infusion of elements culled from oral traditions. This idea of subversion and infusion of orality into literature is the bedrock of the postcolonial writer’s appropriation of the European and African sources of creative projects. Also, embedded in this fusion of the European and the African elements as building blocks of the Europhone African novel, Vakunta, refreshingly argues is a form of “translation” conceived in very broad terms. In this translation, the African cosmos is translated and therefore made intelligible to the outside world in a European language that is extensively and deliberately Africanized.

 

Chapter 2 is preoccupied with the orality-literacy continuum debate, particularly the transition from the oral to the written word in African literature.  Reinforcing his broad conception of “translation in literature,” Vakunta argues that the transposition of elements borrowed from folklore into African writing is a form of “conscientious translation paradigm” that typifies the African novel in European languages.

 

In chapter 3, Vakunta embarks on a critical reading of the three carefully selected texts to illustrate numerous instances of his indigenization premise as a remarkable characteristic of the Francophone African novel. Indigenization of Language in the African Francophone Novel is remarkable both in its succinct analysis of primary texts and gripping synthesis of various strands of theoretical and critical debates on the core and inexhaustible question of the language of African literature.

 

If postcolonial theory is notorious for its selective silence with respect to Francophone African literature, then clearly Vakunta’s text is an important step toward filling this void. Despite or because of the so-called dearth of postcolonial theory, this new title is a welcome addition to the corpus of studies on postcolonial literature originating from the post-colonies in Africa. Vakunta's language of communication in his new book is clear and  accessible to the neophyte and professional alike. Students and professors of  African literature would find this theoretical book an indispensable research tool. It is worth its price. 

 

 

UNCANNY ACTS OF A ZOMBIE PRESIDENT

EXCLUSIVE!!! Paul Biya Appoints a ‘DEAD MAN’ as SDO of North Makombe

January 28th, 2011  

Paul Biya. Time to go and rest now Popol.

According to the newspaper La Nouvelle Expression (Cameroon), on the 18th Jan 2011, president Paul Biya signed a decree appointing Senior Divisional Officers (SDO) for some 370 subdivisions in Cameroon. The appointments were however read on the 24th January and to the horror of some members of the public, the deceased Njutapmwoui Ousmanou was among those appointed. Reports show that the late Njutapmwoui Ousmanou who was 2nd Assistant at the Bagangte Mayor’s office passed away on the 11th of May 2010 and had since been buried in his native village of Massagam in the Western province. Yet our president went ahead to appoint him as SDO of Manjo sub-division in the Mungo.

For more on the story, click here

Paul Biya’s Rogue Governance of Cameroon: Open Sore of a Nation

By Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

It's often said that people deserve their leaders. Can anyone in their right frame of mind honestly deny the fact that Cameroonians deserve Mr. Paul Barthélemy Biya Bi Mvondo? There is a generation of Cameroonians who have not known another president but Paul Biya.  And they will never know another leader but Paul Biya because by the time Paul Biya has completed his godly task of messing up Cameroon and ready to give up the ghost these poor souls would be in the Never Land. Be it as it may, let it be known to these unfortunate souls that Cameroon has known its heydays. Cameroon has not always been this forsaken wasteland that has been transformed into a “corrupt club of banditti masquerading as leaders.”[1] The majority of Cameroonians born during this current dispensation of social and moral degeneracy have never known a police force that was not prone to corruption and dereliction of duty.  They have never known an armed force that was not half-educated and uncivil.

The vast majority of young adults in Cameroon are unaware of the fact that once upon a time a person went to prison for giving a bounced check. The generality of Cameroonians born under Paul Biya cannot fathom that there was a time when fraudulent acts such as procuring bogus diplomas, fraudulently obtaining a driver’s license, tinkering with marriage and birth certificates, transplanting visas into passports, fabricating counterfeit banknotes, enriching oneself as a conman,  and more were considered  felonies. To this generation, therefore, supposedly the future of this blighted nation the end justifies the means. As Doh would have it, “all they … think they need is a job and some money to keep finding their way through the maze of sleaze and professional ethical squalor that marks social life in Cameroon”[2] .

Another critique of Paul Biya’s lame duck government has the following harsh words to say: “Dans ce Cameroun, qui semble naviguer sans tête et sans but, les jeunes, soit la moitié de la population, ne parviennent plus à s’imaginer un avenir.”[3][In Cameroon, a country that seems to have lost it head and sense of direction, the youths that constitute half of the population, are unable to fathom a future for themselves]. Anyone who has had the misfortune of navigating the bureaucratic labyrinth of the public service in Yaoundé and other capital cities in Cameroon knows exactly what Pigeaud is talking and need not be lectured on the ethical squalor and mental retardation that have become the hallmarks of Cameroonian ‘civil’ servants.

The idea that propelled me into crafting this article is to let Cameroonians at home and in the Diaspora know that there could be a better Cameroon; that there had been a better Cameroon, and that bribery and corruption, white collar thievery, brazen impunity, and the rape of officialdom need not be the modus operandi in our beloved homeland. There is no gainsaying the fact that in a corrupt society, only few—the conniving and the powerful—continue to enrich themselves.[4] On the contrary, in a morally sane, law-abiding nation, all who can afford to discipline themselves and work hard can make it to the top. The reason is that everyone benefits from social, economic and political stability, all ingredients that fertilize the environment and occasion blissful existence in lieu of the dire straits in which the majority of Cameroonians now live under Paul Biya’s government; a rogue regime that is fashioned, guided and run by a bunch of unpatriotic morally bankrupt grave-diggers parading as God’s ordained leaders of the nation.  The stinking Beti-led oligarchy in Yaoundé is the open sore of our nation.

The ramifications of the governmental hold-up masterminded by a bunch of cocky Betis at the helm in Cameroon are legion. I will limit myself to a discussion of the most salient ones on account of the scope of this write-up. Brain drain, the flight of human capital from the homeland to countries overseas, is real and hurtful. Brain drain has deleterious consequences for the growth of the nation’s economy. As a matter of fact, most Cameroonians are faced with two unpleasant choices: resistance or flight to unknown lands.  Pigeaud maintains that “Le président et son mode de governance sont  souvent présentés comme la cause principale des départs [Those who leave often point to the head of State and his style of government as the major reasons they are leaving.][5] She cites the lamentation of a young Cameroonian immigrant she interviewed to buttress her point: “Si je reste au Cameroun, ma vie est foutue. Rien n’est fait pour encourager les jeunes alors que notre pays est riche.”[6] [If I stay in Cameroon, my life will be fucked up. Nothing has been done to encourage the youths although our country is rich.] This should sound like a familiar song to most Cameroonians residing abroad.

Institutions of higher learning in the Western world are replete with talented Cameroonian intellectuals who have made their mark in all walks of life but dare not return home for fear of being “fucked up” by a regime that has lost its bearings. Medical institutions the world over are teeming with gifted Cameroonian medics who cannot entertain the thought of returning home on account of the skeletal nature of our impoverished hospitals at home. The crème de la crème of our legal practitioners are hibernating in nations in the West, torn between the fate of staying put to face incisive racism and the temptation to return home to be subjected to home-bred apartheid. Here is what a literati living abroad told Pigeaud: “J’ai grandi dans le quartier d’Essos à Yaoundé: sur les cinquante copains de mon enfance, il n’en reste aucun au Cameroun. Certains sont au Bengladesh, au Népal. Voilà où finit une grande partie de la jeunesse camerounaise.”[7][I grew up in the Essos neighborhood in Yaoundé:  not one of the fifty childhood friends that I had is still here in Cameroon. Some are in Bangladesh in Nepal. That’s where the majority of Cameroonian youths end up.]

Corruption has crippled our national economy. Moses Timah Njei makes heartrending remarks about the State of Cameroon and corrupt practices which I am citing at length:

"Corruption has brought our beloved country to her knees and exposed us to international ridicule. Our country has held the first position as the most corrupt nation on earth and it is on record that those governing us actually lobbied that the country be classified as one of the poorest highly indebted nations on earth! One really needs to be courageous and shame-proof to make a request like this for such an apparently rich nation. This act alone qualifies us to be in the hall of fame of corruption. The issue of corruption in Cameroon has gone past the level that can be described only as a social ill. It has effectively become part of our national culture. Corruption is embedded in every facet of our national life and it has effectively thwarted and dislocated our path to nationhood for generations to come."[8]

This explains the consternation of Cameroonian sociologist, Jean –Marc Ela: “Le Cameroun semble échapper à toute catégorie de l’entendement. Ce qui arrive à ce pays relève de l’inimaginable, de l’incroyable et de l’impossible. Tout ce passe , en définitive, comme si, sous le règne de M. Paul Biya, le Cameroun tout entier avait basculé dans le hors-norme, la déraison ou la folie.”[9][It would appear that the case of Cameroon defies all attempts at comprehension.  What has happened to this country seems unimaginable, unbelievable, and impossible. In sum, it seems as if under Paul Biya Cameroon has plunged into illegality, irrationality, and insanity.]  

In my hometown, it is said that the ‘baby’ cow watches its mother eat and then later it will begin to mimic her when its turn to eat comes. The majority of Cameroonians have learned to ape their corrupt leaders. Why would Cameroonians not be terribly corrupt when their Head of State and his ministers are all corrupt to the marrow?  Nurses in hospitals and clinics have learned to misappropriate medicines, injections, and other medical supplies.  Some doctors have learned to charge illegal fees. Policemen have learned to take infinitesimal sums of money in the form of bribes from taxi drivers, bendskin drivers[10], sauveteurs[11] and bayam sellam[12]  in broad daylight! Corruption is so endemic in Cameroon that the few decent citizens who refuse to engage in it are either ridiculed or coerced into the practice. Pigeaud notes: “On peut donc parler d’une ré-institutionnalisation de la corruption sous le parapluie de l’Etat. Au Cameroun, on a même corrupu la corruption.”[13] [We could refer to this practice as the re-institutionalization of corruption with the blessing of the State. In Cameroon, the notion of corruption itself has been corrupted.] In Cameroon, if you are not corruptible, people think you are stupid. They will mock you and try to inveigle you into the rotten game. Cameroon’s brand of corruption is contagious.

It is not just corruption that has become the stock in trade of all Cameroonian leaders; impunity is another canker that has eaten deeply into the fabric of the government. That is why Pigeaud can afford to say: “La société camerounaise, sans plus de repères, multiplie ainsi les incongruités et semble souvent marcher sur la tête.” [14][The Cameroonian society, having lost its bearings, continues to commit multiple incongruities and seems to walk on its head.]  Impunity knows no bounds in Cameroon. Informed Cameroonians would remember that in 2007, a member of the presidential guard shot and killed a young man who had tried to cross the street a little too early in the wake of a motorcade escorting the first lady. No one bat an eyelid after this incident occurred. Paranoia or apathy? Your guess is as good as mine.

Outspoken Cameroonian Cardinal, Christian Tumi, wondered aloud that same year whether or not he should be held accountable for flouting laws voted by deputies who have fraudulently made their way into the National Assembly: “Parfois je me demande moi-même, si je suis obligé d’obéir aux lois de ce pays, quand on sait que les députés qui les votent n’ont pas gagné les élections. Qui représentent-ils?”[15] [Sometimes, I ask myself whether I should be held accountable for not obeying laws in this country, when I know that the deputies who voted these bills into law did not win the elections that brought them into the House. Who do they represent?] He further reiterates that in Cameroon, “la justice s’achète, se vend” [16][justice is bought and sold.]

As the foregoing discourse clearly indicates, the death knell of the Republic of Cameroon has been sounded under Paul Biya’s cavalier regime. His government is, indeed, an open sore that defies all treatments; it is the shame of the nation. Adulated in the past for its talented soccer players, well-mannered citizens, robust economy, and status as Africa in miniature; Cameroon has ended up in the trashcan of history!  The misdeeds of our leaders have transformed our fatherland into the laughing stock of Africa. Ndifor’s narrative says it all:  “Ah! “Your country recently held a presidential election. How did it go this time?” the officer from Botswana, with a smirk on his face, asked. Even before I could answer, these men, all from African countries that have experienced smooth transitions of one government after another since their respective independence, jointly said that Cameroonians have lost their “dignity” as a people and should consider the consequences.” [17] Roger that!

About the author

Dr Vakunta is professor of modern languages at the US Department Defense Language Institute in California. He is the author of numerous books including Cry My Beloved Africa: Essays on the Postcolonial Aura in Africa’(2007), No Love Lost (2008), Ntarikon (2009) ,Martyrdom (2010)Indigenization of Language in the Francophone Novel of Africa: A New Literary Canon’ (2011 and more). He blogs at http://www.vakunta.blogspot.com

---

[1] Emmanuel  Doh, Africa’s Political Wastelands: The Bastardization of Cameroon, Langaa Research  & Publishing  CIG, Bamenda, 2008, p.vii.

[2]  Ibid, vii.

[3] Fanny Pigeaud, Au Cameroun de Paul Biya, Editions Karthala, Paris, 2011, p.7.

[4]  Ibid,vii

[5]  Ibid, 224.

[6] Ibid, 224.

[7]  Ibid, 225.

[8] Moses Timah Njei, “Cameroon and Corruption”, culled from http://www.njeitimah-outlook.com/articles/article/2076046/31946.htm

 [9]  Jean-Marc Ela.  Innovations sociales et renaissance de l’Afrique noire, L’Harmattan, Paris, 1998

[10]  Motorcycle commuters

[11] Hawkers

[12]  Retail traders

[13] Pigeaud,202

[14] Ibid, 208.

[15]  Ibid, 207

[16]  Ibid, 193.

[17]  Joseph, M. Ndifor, “Our Collective Shame”, originally published at http://www.postnewsline.com/2011/11/-our-collective-shame.html

 

Book Review: Harold Scheub’s The Uncoiling Python: South African Storytellers and Resistance. Athens: Ohio University Press. 2010.240 pp. Paper Back $24.95. ISBN 978-0-8214-1922-9

 

Peter Wuteh Vakunta, Reviewer

 

Unlike some of his unimaginative peers who collect African folklore in order to imprison it, thus delimiting its potential implacability to literary thought, Harold Scheub takes cognizance of the fact that the import of collection is to make possible interpretation, which expands on the possibilities inherent in the primary (oral) texts. My fascination with oral literature led me to the reading of Scheub’s recent work on oral tales from Southern Africa. This book can be seen as a scholarly return to a study of the nexus between folklore and literary criticism. Using oral tales culled from various ethnic groups in South Africa (San or Bushmen, Zulu, Nguni, Swati, and Xhosa), Scheub establishes an interface between oral traditions and contemporary African literature.

He starts off by underscoring the seemingly insuperable challenges that transcribers of oral literature may face in the task of translating orality into the written word: “The problems for the translator of oral materials into the written form are enormous, some of them insurmountable except by extensive multimedia productions, and even then the impact of the original performance is diminished” (116). Scheub further points out that the task of developing literary correspondence for oral non-verbal artistic techniques are staggering, the more so because the translation of a single narrative performance involves profound transformations from the oral form to the written word.

He notes that the transcriber of oral traditions must not only be aware of the images developed on the surface of the story but also of the metaphorical connotations embedded in the oral narratives. Better yet, the transcriber must be sensitive to the aesthetic principles that guide the creation of the work, for as Scheub would have it “what might appear on the written page as an awkwardly conceived-of fragmented story may not be so regarded during its actual performance” (118). In short, what initially appears as simply a matter of verbal equivalence may actually be that unique trope that the unwary translator would inadvertently bungle. Scheub resorts to the trope of ‘the uncoiling python’ to adumbrate some key features of South African oral performance.

He observes that the uncoiling python is a reference to those traditions that are necessary for the survival of autochthonous people. When traditions are broken, he posits, society as a whole is broken. The storyteller arrests time and brings the audience into the presence of history, the heart and substance of the culture. Storytelling is, therefore, not a memorized art:  “Oral performers take images from the present and wed them to the past and in that way the past regularly shapes our experience of the present” (105). In short, storytellers are the repositories of the memories of the people.

Reference to the Xhosa story titled “The Magician’s Daughter” (135-141), Scheub notes that the uncoiling python in this particular case is an allusion to the tradition of the youth, a tradition that, with the allied force of nature, deals with that intrusive force in the lives of adolescents. The snake’s significance becomes evident in tales in which the python is used as a symbol of transformation—of the transition of young people from childhood to adulthood.  The python is the poetic image of rebirth. As Scheub puts it, “In the praises of kings and other significant figures, this is a common image…” (2).

The metaphor of the uncoiling python is not the exclusive preserve of Xhosa storytellers. Scheub observes that Nguni narratives are the means whereby a people become uncoiling pythons. In his own words, “the word poetically evokes the … symbol of rebirth, as is evident in a series of stories performed by Nguni people of Southern Africa” (119). Oral stories are not obvious preachments; they are much more complex, some serving as tools of resistance.  Scheub states that “as major means of combating the racist system of apartheid, they were, for 350 years, splendidly effective. These stories were the force within the uncoiling python” (206).  The uncoiling python becomes the poetic image of the slowly uncoiling resistance to what was transpiring in South Africa during the apartheid era.

The Uncoiling Python: South African Storytellers and Resistance is fascinating in many respects but the aspect that grabs the attention of the reader most firmly is Scheub’s discourse on the social functions of African folklore. Oral tales encapsulate the most deeply felt emotions of the people whose lives are mirrored in the stories. Stories show us the way to wholesomeness. They chronicle our way in the world, log the trajectory as we make life’s corrections and move through our personal and national rites of passage. During the momentous rites of passage—birth, puberty, marriage, death—and all of the other crises that erupt in life, storytellers are there to provide imaged explanations and emotional cushioning. In other words, the stories become our means of making those corrections in movement through our life cycles. They are the mirrors of our nature, the guardians of our ideals, the means whereby we find our connections.

The stories that make up the corpus in The Uncoiling Python: South African Storytellers and Resistance take us into the innermost recesses of our souls and, by means of their luminous images, cast soul-shattering light into our deepest and most secret places. As Scheub would have it, “storytelling chronicles our great transformations and helps us to undertake periodic transfigurations” (198). At the explosive center of the storyteller’s art can be found our most profound hopes and dreams, the quintessence of life.  Oral tales create a continuum from the past to the present.  Scheub postulates that “ it is the task of  the storyteller to forge the phantasmagorical images of the past into masks of the realistic images of the present, thus, enabling the performer to pitch the present to the past, to visualize the present within a context of and, therefore, in terms of the past” (201).

A number of salient themes constitute the matrix on which Scheub’s appreciation of South African oral tales is anchored.  The concept of humanism is a leitmotif in all the stories revisited in this book. Scheub contends that “storytelling contains the humanism of the people, keeps them and their traditions alive despite life’s vicissitudes” (198). The theme of reconciliation is also ubiquitous in the stories analyzed by Scheub who underscores the fact that these stories reflect “the way we remember, the way we make judgments” (196). And perhaps, because they touch the heart, the stories “point the way to forgiveness and understanding” (196). In the Xhosa story “The House with Seven Heads” (166-180) Scheub broaches the theme of cohabitation of good with evil. Interestingly, this story is the narrative of the struggle between benevolent and malevolent forces in action. The question that begs to be asked in the reading of this story is whether Sathana’s daughter is a harbinger of good or evil. This existential question is posed consistently throughout the narrative in a bid to underscore the theme of duality in the community of humans.

The theme of transmutation weaves through this book. The oral stories of the San and Nguni people of Southern Africa are essentially constructed around the theme of transformation. Scheub points out that constant reference to transformation sheds light on the way the people of the region survived the onslaught of colonialism. The retelling of the oral tales of the people serves as an indication of the way they withstood the humiliations of the colonial administration.

San myths deal with the transformation of humans into birds or beasts. Scheub notes that “the majority of San myths…have to do with the origin of and differentiation between men and animals….” (49) The transformation activity occurs as one character becomes another. At the core of these stories is transmutation, the essential metaphorical movement. “That movement runs a gamut in these stories from realistic to mystical" (35), to borrow words from Scheub. In the story by Kholekile (20-24), the transition deals with the ritual movement from childhood to adulthood, with the two sisters representing the two sides of the equation. The fantasy level of this tale is the movement of Mambakamaqula from snake to human. In the story by Lydia umkaSethemba (24-31), the transformation of Mamba from snake to human is a mirror of the girl’s passage from adolescence to womanhood.

Scheub sheds ample light on the importance of historicity in the oral narratives that constitute the bull’s eye in his book. The interplay of history and story has been a pulse through time. The one informs the other; the one is composed of shards of the other and then is developed into a fictional metaphor of the other.

In a nutshell, Scheub’s The Uncoiling Python: South African Storytellers and Resistance is yet another tour de force accomplished by a literary virtuoso. Written with a certain gusto and savoir-faire, and reveling in hermeneutics and explication, Scheub’s new book offers readers new prisms through which to perceive and appreciate oral literature from Africa. What he has accomplished is unravel the mysticism that surrounds the trope of the uncoiling python in South African oral narrative. This book is a treasure trove of information for both the casual and the experienced reader.  It is undoubtedly a fascinating work to read.

About the author

Dr. Vakunta is professor of modern languages at the US Department Defense Language Institute in California. He is the author of numerous books including Cry My Beloved Africa: Essays on the Postcolonial Aura in Africa (2007), No Love Lost (2008), Ntarikon (2009) and Indigenization of Language in the Francophone Novel of Africa: A New Literary Canon (2011).  He runs a blog at http://www.vakunta.blogspot.com 

 

Communiqué from Diaspora for Modernity

Translated from French by Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

Dear Compatriots and Friends of Cameroon:

In conformity with the terms of the resolutions adopted by the Front for a United Cameroonian Diaspora  opposed to the simulacrum of presidential elections billed for Sunday October 9^th in Cameroon, our

organization code-named  Diaspora for Modernity, will be conducting a peaceful sit-in in front of the Cameroonian Embassy in Ottawa-Canada from 09:30am-  5:30 pm on October 9 ^th, 2011. The purpose of this protest is threefold:

IMF Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, held in Custody in New York for  alleged sexual harassment

Translated from French by Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

Source : http://www.rfi.fr/ameriques/20110515-le-patron-fmi-dominique-strauss-kahn-garde-vue-agression-sexuelle

 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Director of IMF was arrested on Saturday May 14 at the JFK Airport in New York on his way to France. Accused of alleged sexual harassment of a female hotel employee, he is being detained at a police station in New York at present. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is one of the political heavy weights in France viewed as a possible candidate for the Socialist Party during the upcoming 2012 presidential elections.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested aboard an Air France aircraft  bound for Paris at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Airport by  security agents in charge of the ports in New York and  New Jersey and handed over to the  Manhattan police.  

The Director of IMF is accused of sexually harassing a female employee at the Sofitel Hotel in Times Square in New York on Saturday morning. The IMF in Washingston is yet to react to this  breaking news.

Mr.Dominique Strauss-Kah was scheduled to attend a conference of Finance Ministers of the Euro Zone in Brussels, and later give a talk on Wednesday at the 12th Economic Forum organized by the European Commission in Brussels.

The next day he was going to deliver a paper titled   « International Recovery and Cooperation: Challenges to Surmount » at the Peterson Institute in Washington on the subject of international economics. Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been Director of the IMF since 2007. Though he has not announced his decision to run for elections as a candidate for the Socialist Party, opinion polls have placed him top on the list. 

Dr. vakunta

http://www.vakunta.blogspot.com

Curious Study on Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians

By Simo Bobda, University of Yaoundé I, and Innocent Fassé Mbouya, University of Douala (Translated from French by Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta)

Source: http://www.quotidienlejour.com/double-page-/opinion-/6683-anglophones-et-francophones

 

How do Anglophones and Francophones identify themselves and perceive each other in Cameroon? One of the salient aspects of Cameroon’s colonial heritage is its official languages—French and English. These two languages harbor two occidental cultures (English and French). Cameroonians who speak these languages in addition to 286 indigenous languages have two sub-identities, two personalities, and two supra-cultures (Anglo-Saxon and French) that do not always cohabitate harmoniously. Today, as Cameroonians celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the country’s independence from colonial masters, and the reunification of Anglophone and Francophone Cameroons, there is need to take a keen look at the perceptions and attitudes that Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians have toward each other.  To do this, two researchers, both professors, have carried out a socio-linguistic survey involving more than two hundred adult speakers of English and French, all students at the Universities of Yaoundé 1 and Douala. The fairly interesting results obtained from the study are striking in several respects, not least of which is the way members of one linguistic subgroup perceive members of the other subgroup.

Objectives and methodology of the study

The aim of this study was to scientifically elicit responses to several questions, notably the manner in which members of one linguistic community perceive members of the other linguistic community; how each community defines its members; and finally, the degree to which each of these communities is tolerant or intolerant toward members of the other linguistic community. To this end, questionnaires containing 22 questions were distributed to 240 Cameroonian students at the Higher Teachers’ Colleges of the University of Douala and Yaoundé 1. In total, 209 Anglophone and Francophone students of both sexes actually completed and returned their questionnaires. The results show that more Francophones than Anglophones completed the questionnaires. However, more female than male Anglophones responded to the questions.  On the Francophone side, more men than women responded. These disparities could be explicated by the fact that on the national level, there are more Francophones than Anglophones in Cameroon. Moreover, this survey was conducted in two French-speaking cities (Douala and Yaoundé). The male/female dynamics in both groups are a matter of pure coincidence. Given that the focus of this study was not gender, the disparities that were noted in each group were not given undue consideration.

Findings

An analysis of the findings engendered some noteworthy facts presented here. For the purpose of clarity, findings for both groups are presented concomitantly. Thus, for each question, the opinions and attitudes of Anglophones and Francophones will be juxtaposed followed by analyses and/or remarks made by the researchers.

 Question/s

• How do Anglophones and Francophones identify themselves?

1. Who is Anglophone in Cameroon in the opinion of Anglophones?

Response/s

•  A person whose parents originate from the North-West or South-West  regions (82.3% agreed; 13.8% disagreed, and 3.4% abstained);
• A person who has studied in the Anglophone system but whose parents are neither from the South-West nor from the North-West (47.1% agreed, 50.6 disagreed, and 2.3% abstained);
•  A person who hails from the North-West or South-West even if s/he is not proficient in English(66.7% agreed; 31.0%disagreed, and 2.3% abstained);
• A person who is from the North-West or South-West even if s/he studied in the Francophone system(52.9% agreed; 43.7% disagreed, and 3.4% abstained);
• A person who masters and utilizes English as his/her main functional tool  even if s/he is not from the North-West or South-West(32.2% agreed; 62.1% disagreed, and 5.7% abstained);

2. Who is Francophone in Cameroon in the opinion of Francophones?

• A person whose parents originate from  a region other than the North-West  or South-West (71.3% agreed; 26.21% disagreed, and 2.5% abstained);
• A person who has studied in the Francophone education system even if his parents are from  the North-West or South-West(66.4% agreed 32.8% disagreed; and 0.8% abstained);
• A person who hails from the North-West or South-West but is proficient in French and uses it as his main functional tool (37.9% agreed; 52.9% disagreed, and 9.2% abstained);
• A person who originates from a Francophone region but is not proficient in French (51.7% agreed; 36.8% disagreed, and 11.5% abstained).

From the foregoing, it could be inferred that the notion of Anglophone and Francophone is subject to different definitions depending on the linguistic group under the spotlight. However, it is clear that the definition that has gained the greatest sway is that which is based on ethnicity followed by the one that puts a premium on the fact that a person who originates from an opposite group has been schooled in the education system of the other group. Proficiency in English or French is considered third as a criterion for defining who Anglophone or Francophone Cameroonians are.  As regards Cameroonians whose ethnicity links them to one linguistic community, even though they have lived or studied in the education system of the other group, Cameroonian linguist, Eric Anchimbe, has made some interesting findings on how these people identify themselves. They are an atypical group of Cameroonians often branded “Eleventh Province Cameroonians”, or linguabrides, a term coined by Anchimbe to describe them. They are often perceived as a rather opportunistic group: Anglophone now and Francophone the next day depending on circumstances. In this light, one could draw the conclusion that the notion of Anglophone and Francophone means different things to different people. Indeed, it would be safe to talk of degree of Anglophony and Francophony, concepts that shouldn’t be based on dictionary definitions, unless recourse is made to a dictionary that acknowledges Cameroonian socio-linguistic realities. Having said this, it is important to shed light on the ways in which members of each linguistic community in Cameroon view members of the other group.

How do Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians judge each other?

To properly gauge reality, the researchers provided a scale of traits in the questionnaire in a bid to facilitate the task for respondents. For example, to respond to the question relating to “good education/civility”, respondents had to choose from the following options: “highly educated”, “well educated”, “poorly educated”, “and very poorly educated”.

On elegance

Certain stereotypes common among Francophone Cameroonians led the researchers to include this criterion. The stereotypes include: “Anglophones are always on the odd side of things or are always awkward”. This expression often refers to the general comportment, worldview and style of dress of Anglophones. Reponses to questions in the questionnaire show clearly that Anglophones have the same impression about their Francophone compatriots given that 60% of respondents from both linguistic communities believe that the others are not elegant.

On work ethics

A striking disparity was observed here: while the great majority of Francophones (69.7%) believe that Anglophones are hard-working, and up to 12.3% of Francophones consider Anglophones very hardworking, only 23.0% of Anglophones viewed Francophones as hard-working. A mere 1.1% of Anglophones considered Francophones hard-working. Given that questions in this section of the study are based essentially on stereotypes, the researchers were not particularly keen on obtaining justifications for respondents’ value judgments. 

On corruption

The trend of responses in this rubric is similar to the aforementioned. In other words, Francophones have a strong tendency to perceive Anglophones in a positive light whereas Anglophones perceive Francophones negatively.  Furthermore, the researchers noted one other point of divergence in favor of Anglophones. While a significantly large majority of Anglophones(87.4%) regard Francophones as  corrupt, in fact, 58.9% consider them very corrupt, and 27.6% corrupt, more than half the number of Francophone respondents (54 out of 91)view Anglophones as honest people.

On competence

Members of the two linguistic communities also passed value judgments on each other based on the criterion of competence at work. The results obtained confirmed the negative perception that Anglophones have of Francophones in Cameroon. The contrary remains true regarding the perception of Anglophones by Francophone Cameroonians.

In fact, as the figures indicate, while half the number of Francophones considers Anglophones competent (53.3%), up to 70.1% of Anglophones consider Francophones incompetent.

Dr.Vakunta is professor of Modern Languages at the Defense Language Institute, California-USA http://www.vakunta.blogspot.com

 

The Cameroonian Conundrum: Autopsy of a Moribund Nation

By Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

Introduction

The ailing polity code-named Cameroon seems to be afflicted with a medley of ailments that have earned it a myriad of sobriquets: Clando Republic, Mimboland, Animal Farm, Gaullist Africa, Ghost Nation, and more. The purport of this write-up is to diagnose the illnesses with which our nation is afflicted. The end game is to be able to prescribe some dependable medicaments efficacious enough to resuscitate a nation from its death throes.

Chronic inebriation

Alcohol is the opium of the Cameroonian people.  In other climes, people drink alcohol on very special occasions, if at all. In Cameroon, booze is our national drug of choice. A meeting without item eleven[i] is considered an abortive meeting. Little wonder, some of the talk shops [ii]that pass for meetings in Mimboland often result in drunken revelries.  I was brainstorming the fate of Cameroon with a friend lately and here is what he said: “Try to get two or three Cameroonians at a round table to brainstorm about some matter of substance and you will come away disappointed, but get them to put on their traditional regalia and come for alcohol or to dance ndombolo and you will be humbled by their vibrancy!” [iii] With this irresistible penchant for alcohol, does it surprise anyone that we have become numbskulls, bereft of cognitive ability? The brain that is filled with bubbles of alcohol cannot think. Bacchus[iv] must be rubbing his hands in mock glee wherever he is lurking in Cameroon. Come to think of it, what are we really celebrating? The uncertain fate of thousands of University graduates who have been driven by Chomencan[v] to become sauveteurs[vi], taxi drivers, bendskinneurs[vii] and wolowoss[viii]?  Or is it our once beautiful roads that have degenerated into death traps that we are celebrating? The question begs to be asked again: what are Cameroonians actually celebrating on a daily basis in circuits[ix] and off-licenses? The sale of our fatherland to foreigners? When Longue Longue oralizes the auctioning of our natural resources, including crude-oil and forest products to the French, we simply scoff at him and scurry back to our booze as promptly as possible. Some sagacious man once observed that Paul Biya is governing a nation of nineteen million drunkards!  Is there a dissenting voice? I urge my fellow countrymen and women to stay sober at all times. You snooze you lose, an expression which insinuates that we will miss out on a great many opportunities if we don't remain aware or open to the goings-on in our country. How can we afford to numb our brains with alcohol when this nation is on the brink of an abyss? There is a vendetta around the corner. We cannot afford to snooze or booze!

 

Endemic paranoia

Fear has crippled Cameroonians. Behind the semblance of bravado that punctuates our daily discourse, Cameroonians are inwardly compulsive cowards.  Despite all the brouhaha: catcham! beat’am! catcham! killam! If Mr. Paul Biya were to walk down the streets of any Cameroonian city today without a bodyguard, you would be surprised to see how many people would simply take to their heels after identifying the nation’s ennemi numéro 1[x] This explains why the man is unfazed by the raving and ranting of his many detractors. Internally, he knows Cameroonians are a bunch of paranoid big babies. Who would have believed that Mr. Biya would go to Bamenda in 2011 and be hailed as Fon of Fons after all the trauma to which he has subjected the people of Abakwa? Our Ntarikon landlord even granted him audience! The legendary Bamenda man known for his tenacity and alacrity to chop fire has suddenly became melo.  What is the genesis of this paralysis? Or dare I say hypnotizing fear? What become of the likes of Fon Mbinglo of Nso who, we are told, once declined to shake the hand of the Queen of England because in Nsoland, women do not shake hands with men.  As we brace ourselves for the pending battle ahead, it is critical that we kill fear, like the Egyptians who buried their fear at Tahrir Square.[xi] We must bury own fear here and now.  The 32^nd president of the United States of America, Franklin D. Roosevelt, is reputed to have said: “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.”[xii] We cannot subject ourselves to slow death each day on account of fear. That is what William Shakespeare meant when he observed that “Cowards die many times before their deaths.”(Julius Caesar, Act 1, Sc1). This quote suggests rationally that man should not fear death but instead confront it boldly. To fear death is to die already.

Lethal ethnocentrism

One of the cankers eating deep into the Cameroonian social fabric is ethnocentrism, alternatively labeled tribalism. Tribalism engenders corruption, influence peddling, self-interest, abuse of power and dereliction of duty. This hydra has killed meritocracy in our country! Our nation has been reduced to ethnocentric concaves locked in lethal battles. The Beti want to fend for the Beti; the Bamileke attend to the needs of the Bamileke; the Bassa would do everything necessary to look after the Bassa, even if this means flouting the laws of the land and hurting other tribes.  Politics has been given an ethnic bent across the board. And that is why nothing seems to work in Cameroon.  Until we begin to see ourselves as Cameroonians first this quagmire will persist for a very long time.  Ethnocentrism permeates all the nooks and crannies of Cameroon, including academic circles. William Ndi fictionalizes this predicament in his play Gods in the Ivory Tower (2009). Gods in the Ivory Tower depicts the University of Ngoa as a glorified secondary school where the credo of ethnicity determines who succeeds and who drops out as evident in the caustic remarks of Professor Guignol: “This is a place for smart civilized people! Not primitive non-natives like you!”(44) Clearly, ethnophobia and xenophobia are cankerworms that eat deep into the very fabric of what the protagonist christens “the village college” (2) where meritocracy has been put on the back burner.  Professor Guignol does not veil his preference for students from his own ethnic group as his question illustrates:   “Did I not ask you from the very first day whether he was from your neighborhood, Mvog-Akum? Again, whether his parents were friends of some kind?”(40) Professor Guignol is openly spiteful of Anglophone students: “These English speakers…! Do you think it is for nothing that we label them in our tongue, I mean French as ‘les gauchers?’”(40) As it were, Ndi barely scratches the surface of the now well-known Anglophone question in Cameroon. The cohabitation between Anglos and Frogs[xiii] is depicted in Gods in the Ivory Tower as a marriage of convenience. This play is a lampoon on the notorious Francophone-Anglophone animosity in Cameroon.

 

The Anglophone Question

You may remember Animal Farm, the 1945 classic written by George Orwell. Many in my generation had to read this book in order to pass the London General Certificate of Education (GCE) ordinary level examination. Over the years I have come to see the relevance of the message contained in this novel even more as I ponder the Cameroon Anglophone Question. The plot of Orwell’s book is centered on the dissatisfaction of farm animals who felt they’re being mistreated by Farmer Jones. Led by the pigs, the animals revolted against their oppressive master, and after their victory, they decided to run the farm themselves on egalitarian principles. However, the pigs became corrupted by power and a new tyranny took root. The famous line: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” (92) still rings true to date. The novel is a replica of what has come to be branded the Cameroon Anglophone Problem.

 

After fighting together to decolonize Cameroon, French-speaking Cameroonians now tend to lord it over their English-speaking compatriots. There exists a generation of English-speaking Cameroonians who now find themselves at a crossroads and would like to know where they really belong. Many Anglophone Cameroonians are now asking themselves why they are condemned to play second fiddle in the land of their birth. The unfair treatment meted out to English-speaking Cameroonians by cocky, condescending Francophone compatriots in positions of power is a time bomb that needs to be defused before it explodes to do irreparable damage.  As Alfred Matumamboh puts it, “Anglophone Cameroonians still feel themselves a colonized people trapped in the clutches of horizontal colonization. Francophone Cameroonians keep on reminding them by their political word and deed that they are the masters while the deprived Anglophone is the trapped helpless servant to be maltreated and molested”(Online article).  Unfair discrimination against Anglophones sows seeds of discord. The cohabitation between Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians has been likened to a marriage of convenience by scholars and students of post-colonial Africa. In fact, some critics have compared the uneasy co-existence between these two distinct linguistic communities in Cameroon to the attitude of two travelers who met by chance in a roadside shelter and are merely waiting for the rain to cease before they continue their separate journeys in different directions. No other metaphor better depicts the frictional coexistence between Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians.

 

More often than not, the perpetrators of this macabre game of divide and rule are French-speaking political leaders who take delight in fishing in troubled waters. In doing so, Francophone leaders indulge in stoking the flames of animosity and whipping up sentiments of mutual suspicion on both sides of the Mungo River at the expense of nation-building. Many of them have been heard making abrasive statements intended not only to cow Anglophones into submission but also to make them feel unwanted at home. Yet these self-styled leaders would mount the podium to chant to the entire world that there is no Anglophone Problem in Cameroon. This is utter hogwash, it seems to me. The plain truth is that there is a palpable feeling of discontent and unease among Anglophone Cameroonians. Questions that remain unanswered are numerous: Are Anglophone Cameroonians enjoying equal treatment with their Francophone counterparts in the workplace? Are Anglophone Cameroonians having their fair share of the national cake? Do they feel at home in Cameroon? These and many other unanswered questions constitute what has been dubbed the Cameroon Anglophone Question.

 

The Cameroon Anglophone Problem manifests itself in the form of complaints from English-speaking Cameroonians about the absence of transparency and accountability in matters relating to appointments in the civil service, the military, the police force, the gendarmerie[xiv][i] and the judiciary. In short, the Anglophone Question raises interrogations about participation in decision-making and power-sharing in the country. This is not a figment of anyone’s imagination! It is real and tangible. The Anglophone Problem is the cry of an oppressed people, lamenting over the ultra-centralization of political power in the hands of a rapacious oligarchy based in Yaoundé, the nation’s capital, where Anglophones with limited proficiency in the French language are made to go through all kinds of odds in the hands of gloating Francophone bureaucrats who see English-speakers as anathema.  The Anglophone Problem stems from the obnoxious attitude of French-speaking Cameroonians who believe that their Anglophone compatriots are unpatriotic, and therefore, should be asked to seek refuge in another country. This bigotry compounded by conceit has given rise to the rampant use of derogatory slurs such as “les Anglophones sont gauches” [xv][ii], “c’est des ennemis dans la maison” [xvi][iii], “ce sont les biafrais [xvii][iv] and so on.

 

The consequence of this anti-Anglophone sentiment is the birth of the misconception that Anglophone Cameroonians are unreliable, untrustworthy, and therefore, undeserving of positions of leadership in the country. This explains why key ministerial positions in Cameroon are the exclusive preserve of French-speaking Cameroonians. Anglophobia has also led to the appointment of Francophones with no working knowledge of the English language to ambassadorial positions in strategic countries like the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany, Nigeria and South Africa where they wind up making a complete fool of themselves linguistically and culturally speaking.

 

The corollary of this frictional co-existence is mutual distrust, a phenomenon that has been exploited maximally by Cameroonian politicians, including the Head of State himself. One only needs to ponder the manner in which the president has used the position of Prime Minister as an effective tool to play North-westerners against South-westerners beginning from Simon Achidi Achu to date. Who says nurturing ethnocentrism is not politically expedient? Undoubtedly, avaricious self-interest is at the root of all this rigmarole. We are not asking anyone to repudiate his ethnic origin.  We can choose our friends; we cannot choose our parents. At the same time, Cameroonians must guard against balkanizing the nation along tribal lines.

 

Conclusion

In this essay, I have attempted to lay bare the anatomy of a malignant Nation-State. Cameroon is sick, very sick indeed. In 29 years we have gone from the posture of a buoyant Africa in miniature to that of a skeletal nation in decrepitude. Yet, our leaders continue to wine, dine and tango at the expense of the proverbial man in the street. The call is ours to halt this dementia by all means necessary. This task is ours. No outsider can do it on our behalf.

© Vakunta 2011

http://www.vakunta.blogspot.com

 Notes

---

[i]  Drinks served at the end of a meeting

[ii] Meetings characterized by futile deliberations that engender no action plan

[iii]  John Dinga, email communication, May 6, 2011.

[iv] Bacchus was the Roman god of partying and wine.

[v] Chronic employment in Cameroon

[vi] Hawkers

[vii] Bendskin drivers

[viii] Prostitutes

[ix] Beer parlors

[x] Number one enemy

[xi] Liberation Square) is a major public town square in Downtown Cairo.

[xii] http://thinkexist.com/quotation/there_is_nothing_to_fear_but_fear_itself/205789.html

[xiii] Pejorative name for Francophones

 

 

 

 

Pause for Thought on the Mentality of the Slave Driver -- and Their Agents.

Louis Egbe Mbua (Originally published in Living Lights)

A people are hardly enslaved without the support of a segment of the same people who are in bondage. A  slave master who enters into another man’s house will never know where all the keys are concealed unless he has been tipped by the house owner; and an unsuspecting or unwitting brother may not be friends to the thief and slave-master unless he is also part of the conspiracy to subjugate -- and with vile subterfuge. Thus, if the slave master decides to come and buy more slaves, he can only do so if those vested with the power in the slave region will accept to carry his message to the people – the message disguised and sweetened by cheap bribes.

 

Continue reading Pause for Thought on the Mentality of the Slave Driver -- And Their Agents  in   http://louis-mbua.blogspot.com

 

 

 

A Bamenda Date with Destiny (Part 2): Calleth the Scared Lion Man, Cometh the Jilted Yes! Men

Louis Egbe Mbua (originally published in Living Lights)

When a man begins to have illusions as being constituted of a lion incarnate, there are great chances that his animal instincts and spirit may begin to transform from that of humanity into that of a deluded and encapsulated lion skin. That man or woman -- whoever he is and wherever they abode -- starts having bouts of behavioural traits profoundly similar to a man living in the wild untamed savannah of Africa where animals consume other animals for food in the wildest anticipation and the most ferocious hunts.

The trouble with man, in comparison with wild animals, is that he consumes similar animals; and goes further to consume his own type with unpredictably disastrous consequences. The reason for this strange phenomenon in human beings may be attributed to intuitive survival on the one hand, and corruption of the mind in the immediate instance. In a system where this philosophy of animalism is entrenched – and practised without Ndolo l’Amour, people begin to copy the original lion, joining him at the feast; on the exultingly flowery pretext of dancing for survival in the ballet of greed. But in the real sense, it is a matter of the corruption of the flesh: for only through the flesh can a man be destroyed.

The oppressor having sensed victory, avoids the main complaint -- out of fear -- and then co-opts another perceived strong man who will do his bidding; and the cycle of oppression continues unabated for yet a very long time until a bold David arrives to attack the bullying and deluded lion as to snatch the sheep from the jaws of the cunning and ruthless beast. This and only this alone, will end the feast of “The slaughter of the lamb” and "The Silence of the Lamb" terrifying movie show.

Continue reading  A Bamenda Date with Destiny (Part 2): Calleth the Scared Lion Man, Cometh the Jilted Yes! Men in louis-mbua.blogspot.com

Devastation in Japan 1: Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Nuclear Explosions

 

  

Louis Egbe Mbua* (Originally published in Living Lights)

In the realm of the functioning of the universe, man has no direct control. On natural disasters, when the universe choose to renew itself, we actually have no say at all. On the other hand, man has the ability to create what is good for him – and what can actually destroy him. No scenario exposes this vulnerability and the sheer helplessness of man as to when the natural and the artificial embrace in a deadly love-hate match made from the depths of the earth. The earth is a mysterious planet. From above its firmament come light and energy – all of its light and energy from the sun. Again, there is no guarantee that this energy and light would always be beneficial. It can -- dependent upon other circumstances that one may not be able to fully explain and the sparsely known cosmological cycles -- turn against the earth and its components in inexplicably savage rage.

Continue Reading Devastation in Japan 1: Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Nuclear Explosions in

louis-mbua.blogspot.com

Mubarak resigns: International community rejoices

By Radio France International, February 11, 2011

Source: http://www.rfi.fr/print/422311?print=now

Translated from French by Dr. Peter Vakunta

 

President Hosni Mubarak decided today, Friday February 11, 2011 to resign. In power since 1981, the Egyptian leader bowed to pressure from the Egyptian people and the international community, relinquishing power and ceding leadership of the country to the military. The United Nations, European Union, United States and several chancelleries have welcomed the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

The official announcement of his resignation came from Vice-President Omar Suleiman at 6:00pm local time. Pressure from the streets got the better of Hosni Mubarak. This Friday evening, February 11, 2011, after eighteen days of mass protests the Egyptian opposition finally got what they have been clamoring for: Mubarak’s departure from power.   Tahrir Square is in a jubilant mood.  With one voice, the West has welcomed the departure of ex-President Mubarak.” The voice of the Egyptian people has been heard, “says gleeful UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

American President, Barack Obama, has added his voice by calling upon the military now at the helm in Egypt to lift the state of emergency and lay the ground work for a peaceful transition to democracy through free and fair elections.  Speaking from the White House, the president reiterated the fact that his country remains a friend and partner to Egypt and would provide the help necessary for transition to democracy. “It’s a historic day today,” Vice President Joe Biden said.

Nicolas Sarkozy lauded the courageous and much desired decision taken by Hosni Mubarak, and called for free and fair elections in Egypt. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, talked of “a historic change.”

British Prime Minister, David Cameron, called for a democratic civilian government. “Mubarak has heard the cry of the Egyptian people,” said Catherine Ashton, head of the European Diplomatic Mission.

The European Union: the voice of the Egyptian people has been heard

For Catherine Ashton, the voice of the people of Egypt has been heard. In her view, this event opens doors for more rapid and profound reforms. On his part, European Union’s representative for external relations observes that it is desirable to accelerate dialogue leading to a broad-based representative government that respects the aspirations of protesters. Over and above, Catherine Ashton has called upon Egyptian leaders to respect fundamental freedoms and human rights and expressed the wish that people who engage in unlawful acts will be investigated and brought to book.

On his part, President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, expresses concern about the long-term ramifications of recent happenings in Egypt.  He wishes that this would be the beginning of sustainable change in the country. He further expresses his conviction that the evolution of events would remain peaceful and democratic. With perceptible lyricism, Jerzy Buzek urges Egyptians to “water and tend the tree of liberty they have just planted.”  It goes without saying that Europeans are now trying to speak in unison. What the world wants to see at this juncture is how they contribute to the realization of the change they desire for Egypt.

Switzerland makes an unprecedented first move

Shortly after the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, the Swiss government took the decision to freeze all funds that the president might have placed in its banks. All financial institutions in Switzerland have been asked to disclose all monies placed in their coffers by the former president and to freeze the funds.  Attempts will be made to distinguish funds belonging to the Egyptian government from those owned by the Mubarak family. The goal is to stop the president from transferring the loot, if there has been looting, elsewhere thereby making the task of restitution onerous. For several days now, information that could not be confirmed at this stage has been circulating about the misappropriation of sums of money ranging from $40 to $70 billion.  Numerous publications, including The Guardian of London and the Geneva Tribune have cited these astronomical amounts in the course of this week.  A good portion of these sums might have been placed in Swiss bank UBS and banks in England and Scotland.

Israel hopes to see a peaceful transition

“One can anticipate a peaceful transition to democracy in Egypt and neighboring countries,” said an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday in the evening. The Jewish State is, undoubtedly, reassured, for the time being, of the success of the transition process in Egypt: continuity via the military and vice-president Suleiman; a continuity that leaves intact the 1979 peace accord between Israel and Egypt. This state of affairs does not entirely allay the fears of the Jewish State which dreads the possibility of seeing a country that was, hitherto, a friend turn into an enemy.  This is what happened when Iran, Israel’s ally became an enemy in the wake of the Islamic Revolution. If history were to repeat itself with Egypt, nothing would ever be the same again, militarily, politically, economically…

On the Palestinian side:

News about Mubarak’s resignation was greeted with shouts of joy in Ramallah in Cisjordania as well as the Gaza Strip. In Gaza where Hamas controls the territory, there is talk about the “beginning of victory.” Palestinian Hamas, which is affiliated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, is already calling for the immediate raising of the siege in the Gaza Strip. This Islamist group does not veil its satisfaction to see Hosni Mubarak depart.  For them, Mubarak symbolizes peace with Israel, proximity with the West, and participation in the blockade of Gaza.

 

Tunisians, who arrogate to themselves the role of precursors in the struggle for liberty, share the joy of Egyptian protesters.  

PRESS RELEASE CAMEROON: THE BAKWERI LANDS AND THE ABUSE OF A PEOPLE

 

PRESS RELEASE CAMEROON: THE BAKWERI LANDS AND THE ABUSE OF A PEOPLE

Louis Egbe Mbua, Ph.D.

The BLCC (Bakweri Land Claims Committee) Easter Resolutions : passed by the BLCC (The Bakweri Land Claims Committee) Council in Victoria (Limbe) Friday, 17th April 2009, following an Extraordinary Conference attended by all shades of the the Bakweri People in Cameroon and the Diaspora; meeting held at the BLCC Head quarters, Buea, Cameroon, Tuesday, 14th April 2009: Mola Njoh Litumbe, Secretary General of the BLCC  presiding; resolutions adopted in Victoria (Limbe), Cameroon at the Palace of HRM Chief Epupa Ekum of Dikolo, and revised in London, 30 January 2011.


The BLCC (The Bakweri Land Claims Committee) intends to bring a land expropriation dating back more than a century to an abrupt end.

Continue reading  PRESS RELEASE CAMEROON: THE BAKWERI LANDS AND THE ABUSE OF A PEOPLE at  louis-mbua.blogspot.com

 

A Bamenda Date with Destiny (Part 1): The Day Cometh, The Man Runneth

 

Louis Egbe Mbua (originally published in Living Lights)

 

Not since the spectacular no-show of one of my friend’s first date with a London sophisticate has one witnessed another incident of such magnanimous ignominy. The much-hyped visit to Bamenda by President Paul Biya of The Republic of Cameroon was turned into the main event of the year, transformed into a speculative event of the month, and finally into an outstanding non-event of the day. That it has descended into a colourless fiasco is an understatement. The unexpected confusion began when the government of The Republic of Cameroon decided to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Cameroon’s independence this year, 2010. While there is nothing wrong in celebrating the year of a nation's independence, it becomes a conundrum that needs to be addressed with tact and wisdom if that particular nation is comprised of two independent nation states complete with two different and separate independence dates. Let the reader understand:

 

Continue reading A Bamenda Date with Destiny (Part 1): The Day Cometh, The Man Runneth in louis-mbua.blogspot.com

 

 

The Raging GCE Debate (Part3): Denouement and Practicalities of the System

Cameroon Finance Minister, Essimi-Menye: boasted that oil producing Ndian division of Cameroon does not need roads. Bad roads have affected educational performance, totally impoverished Ndian and almost irreversibly set back other social advancement in the oil and fish-rich division.

 

Louis Egbe Mbua (Originally published in Living Lights)

 

The recent outstanding performance of students in the Cameroon GCE as analysed in the Fako UK website is commendable. Standards have definitely improved. However, the writer firmly believes, amongst other factors, that one of the important aspects of education is that a student receives the qualification; and that the total number who pass should be reasonably large, thus reflecting the total population of a particular region where those institutions are located. On this line of thought therefore, one is surprised to note that the Manyu division of Cameroon, and one of the regions that is famed for producing some of the brightest minds in that country could only present 703 students to sit the A Levels in 2010 of which only 486 of them passed as portrayed in Table 4 in Fako UK News Centre . From population estimates of the NW and SW Regions of Cameroon (Southern Cameroons) obtained from Scribbles From the Den, one had the impression – possibly a disputable assumption -- that the Manyu division may be one of the most populated in the Anglophone region of Cameroon and so rendering the small number of A Level entry very disturbing.

Continue reading:

 

The Raging GCE Debate (Part3): Denouement and Practicalities of the System 

louis-mbua.blogspot.com

The Raging GCE Exam Debate (Part 2): Conscientious Intellect and UnConscious Elitism

 

Sasse College Students

From L'Effort Camerounais



Louis Egbe Mbua (Originally published in Living Lights)

 Most established educational institutions in Cameroon may not accept a child who may not be able to read and answer questions on very difficult literature; not having financially viable guardians and parents; and have no profound grounding in mathematical principles. Added to that, the child must be able to write comprehensively at a very high level. The writer understands that all institutions have the right to set their entry requirements, rules and regulations. However, if the main criteria for selection are limited to a small group of individuals who are sure to pass examinations at the high end, then it is obvious that the purported normal distribution and spread would not hold.

 

Continue reading The Raging GCE Exam Debate (Part 2): Conscientious Intellect and UnConscious Elitism in louis-mbua.blogspot.com

The Raging GCE Exam Debate (Part 1): An Anomalous Controversy

 

Louis Egbe Mbua (Originally Published in Living Lights) 

I heard the piercing sound penetrate the room, picked up the receiver and answered. It was my friend and classmate who resides in Saudi; questioning the authenticity and validity of what he termed “totally unrealistic GCE results in Cameroon” that defied well-known natural laws; and a complete violation of the much celebrated or berated; and hotly disputed Bell-Curve invention in inexplicability. In certain quarters, the Bell-Curve is considered the Holy Grail of statistical analysis while other radical thinkers have dismissed it as a great intellectual fraud. It is unclear as to who is right or wrong here. On the other hand, the incessant complaints by the older generation of GCE "Grade Inflation"; and the increasing percentage pass rate in the Anglo-Saxon educational world appears to create an atmosphere of suspicion as to the authenticity of this well-tested qualification – what the British call the “Gold Standard” of qualifications. Some posit that GCE has become easier while others explain that younger people have more learning facilities than the previous generation. Again, who is right or who is wrong is highly debatable and has been the source of vexed acrimony here in England and Cameroon.

Continue reading The Raging GCE Exam Debate (Part 1): An Anomalous Controversy  in:

 

  louis-mbua.blogspot.com

Ghana is the New Brazil

Louis Egbe Mbua (Originally published in Living Lights)    

Not since we all watched the classic Cameroon-England quarter finals confrontation in Italia’90, has a match stirred so much passion, fascination and controversy as that between Ghana and Uruguay last Friday, 2 July 2010 in Johannesburg. Ghana has a pedigree in football that many fail or refuse to realise or recognise. In the days of the invincible Goal Keeper Mensah of Ghana to the of legend of Asante Kotoko FC and Hearts of Oak FC, Ghana has always had football talents in graceful abundance. The supremely talented Karim Abdul Razak, Samuel Opoku Nti and Abedi Pele are names that have instilled tremendous panic and fright in opposing teams in Africa and international world football.

Continue reading Ghana is the New Brazil in louis-mbua.blogspot.com

Gulf Oil Spill: The Genesis of BP’s Special Relationship and Complacency (Part 2)

 

Louis Egbe Mbua (Originally published in Living Lights)

BP, being one of the largest companies in the world, looked invincible until the Black Swan appeared, without the remotest warning, straight from thin air. In her Britannic House Head Office in St James’, London, it is not quite clear as to what is their exact position on the momentous Gulf gush disaster, as it appears BP is run in a typically bureaucratic style: like a government department.

 

BP paid £6 billion of corporate tax last financial year to the UK Treasury; meaning a turnover of about £50 billion. This, alone, counts for at least twice the Cameroon government GDP. Furthermore, £1 in every seven of dividend paid in the UK is given out by BP. To further emphasise her influence on British daily life, most of the biggest pension funds in the UK are tied to BP. It is also a fact that the company is about 40 percent owned by American shareholders.

So, whatever side we may wish to look at the effects of this oil disaster, the possible fall or breaking up of the oil giant is bound to create financial chaos on both sides of the Atlantic. In this precarious background, why then is President Obama taking a hard-line stance on the company? Obama has stressed several times over that he was going to hold BP accountable; and that they “must” pay huge compensations of up to £20 billion and rising for the cleanup and lost businesses and lives on the gulf coasts: most fishing businesses, hotels, holiday resorts and tourist attraction; entertainment, shipping, state and local conservation organisations as well as other industries and manufacturing businesses that are affected; and those that would be affected well in the not foreseeable future. More importantly, the 11 people who sadly perished during the explosion have to be compensated.

While we have to agree that accidents do happen, it would seem that giant oil companies -- and possibly mining corporations, appear to put profit before people and the environment, and that they seem to have completely lost focus on the inherent risks involved in deep sea oil drilling. It is rumoured that BP reaps a mind-blowing £61 million profit per day. Consequently, it is almost certainly unforgivable for BP not to put enough safety in place to prevent such a simple capping of a blowout which would have been automatic in case of an explosion of an upper rig -- albeit at a re-soundly prohibitive drilling depth below sea level .

 

Furthermore, it is again unacceptable that such a company, with enormous resources and investment in man power, cutting-edge technology and access to finance could not have become an industry leader in the manufacture of oil rig platforms. And why did they hire the vessel from Transocean if they could actually buy it straight up from the manufacturer? A hired vehicle means that BP might have been trying to by-pass technical and safety responsibilities in case of a liability.  If this were the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate technological failure, then this clearly was a regrettable error of judgement possibly designed to save money for yet more profits. Now, if BP had owned the rig, it is abundantly evident that they would have attempted to apply the highest standards of health and safety in line with the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO); inspecting the rig and the well head themselves rather than depend on the second or third party company, Transocean.

 

Read the full article;
Gulf Oil Spill: The Genesis of BP’s Special Relationship and Complacency (Part 2)  in

 

louis-mbua.blogspot.com