Up Station Mountain Club

MAKWEREKWERE TRUMPETERS

 

 

 

By

Professor Peter Vakunta

To conjecture the hurt

And pain and havoc

that this word 'makwerekwere' 

has wreaked in South Africa,

One needs to live there!

 

As pressure mounts on the 

Azanian political elite

To fulfill the post-apartheid promises

Made to the rank and file,

The rest of world is shocked 

 

To learn that South Africans of color

Regard Africans from other climes

Not as brothers who helped them

During the Liberation Struggle,

But rather as ‘makwerekwere’.

 

This derogatory epithet connotes

Undesired ‘foreigners’ perceived by many,

Wrongly or rightly, as job-snatchers

Husband and wife thieves and

Conveyors of communicable diseases.

 

It bears stressing that we need

Not overreact to this misconception.

The ‘kwerekwere’ trumpeters

Seem to have been benighted 

By the horrors of Apartheid.

 

Many of us know a lot about them

But they don’t know us from Adam.

We must strive to bridge the gap

Between knowledge and crass ignorance

In a fraternal Global Village.

 

[1] Slang  for foreigners, and especially illegal immigrants living in South Africa. It alludes to the anti-immigrant sentiments that have made South Africa hell on earth for most immigrants living there.  

Nyamfuka Government in Kamerun

 

By 

Professor Peter Wuteh Vakunta

Introduction

Since his accession to power in 1982, the Nyamfuka residing at Etoudi has deemed it expedient to surround himself with a bulwark of nyamfuka-[i] minions culled from his own ethnic group, the Beti tribe, who have a knack for bulimia, kleptomania, nymphomania, and compulsive spending. Not content with living off the backs of the Kamerunian rank and file, these political misfits have fight tooth and nail to monopolize positions of power within the Chop Pipo Dem Moni (CPDM) ruling party[ii] that gives them the leeway to use the State apparatus for their own exploitative and wasteful ends. Quelle effronterie! The Beti modus operandi epitomizes the political philosophy described by Polzenhagen and Wolf (2007) as the “Kinship-based African Community Model” (p.131). This model has been described as a horizontal network that stretches laterally and embraces everybody who is perceived to belong to a particular social group (Mbiti, 1990, p.102).

 

The problematics of this sort of ethnocentric political philosophy is that it is exclusive, egregious, counter-productive, and inimical to nationhood.  Paul Biya’s governmental paradigm has created a system of endemic corruption that defies all attempts to eradicate. Corruption has crippled our national economy. It polluted our psyche and made Kamerunians rotten eggs in geopolitics. Writing along similar lines, Timah Njei (2005) makes heartrending remarks about the State of Cameroon and corrupt practices which I cite at length as follows:

"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]

The forgoing remarks lend credence to the consternation expressed by Cameroonian sociologist, Jean-Marc Ela who writes as follows:

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]  

Lethargy of the Proletariat

The sad truth about this disheartening Kamerunian narrative is that all of this mindboggling stuff is unfolding in full view of petrified nationals who are mired in squalor, misery and abject poverty. A visit to the Briqueterie neighborhood in the capital city of Yaoundé would drive home the point. This is an urban ghetto where human beings and animals vie for personal space. In an article titled “Sodome et Gomorrhe:  Briqueterie-Mokolo: le Texas dans la capitale,” Ismaila Djida portrays this neighborhood as the Sodom and Gomorrah of the capital city of Yaoundé. This holds true for other impoverished neighborhoods in the country such as Mokolo in Yaoundé and Nkouloulou in Doula.  While Kamerun is paradise for the oligarchy, the few brazen thieves sojourning in Yaoundé, the country is an intolerable hellhole for the majority. Part of this disenchanted majority, the so-called fonctionnaires (civil servants) suffer insurmountable constraints engendered by governmental dysfunction, despite the fact that they are assured a regular income. Their poverty-line wages are spent before they have even been received. And this vicious cycle goes on ad-infinitum with no end in sight.  Sometimes, pressure from civil servants pushes politicians to grant some concessions, such as salary increments. But these concessions are mere make-believe because the government often takes back with the right hand what it gives with the left. Thus a ten percent wage increase is announced with great fanfare in the media, only to be immediately followed by tax hikes, wiping out the expected benefits. Clearly, politics of the belly sustained by a divide and rule contraption constitute an integral part of the system put in place by politicians in Kamerun to asphyxiate indigent masses.

Part of the exploited majority in Cameroon is constituted by peasants, the well-known wretched of the earth, who are expropriated, robbed, humiliated and mistreated on a regular basis by men and women in uniform—mange-mille[iii], gendarmes and the military. Interestingly, the peasantry is the mainstay of the Cameroonian economy because they are the ones whose labor creates wealth. Thanks to their productive labor, the nation stays afloat against all odds. It is from their labor that all those Cameroonians for whom Cameroon is El Dorado line their pockets. And yet, it is the peasants who are least served by the nation. They lack road infrastructure, healthcare facilities, potable water, electricity and good schools for their children.  It is the peasants, creators of the nation’s wealth, who suffer the most in the hands of so-called élus du peuple[iv].  So much for a misnomer! It is the children of peasants who swell the ranks of Chômencam[v], the plethora of the unemployed in Cameroon. It is among the peasants that the illiteracy rate is the highest in the country. Those who most need to learn, in order to improve the output of their productive labor, are the ones who benefit the least from investments in education and technology. The peasant youth—who have the same aptitude like their urban counterparts end up in the Mboko- abodes of crime and grime.  Their initial impulse drives them to urban centers—Yaoundé, Douala,  Bamenda, Bafoussam, Nkongsamba, Buea, and Limbe to name but a few, where they hope to land jobs and enjoy, too, the advantages of modernism.

Sadly enough, lack of academic qualifications precludes these compatriots from landing gainful employment. Lack of jobs drives them into illegal activities such as drug peddling, feymenia[vi], gambling, prostitution and more. Some eke out a living by working as pedes[vii]  at the beck and call of some sexually starved katikas[viii]. Others resolve to make a pittance working as bendskinneurs[ix] and call-boxeurs.[x] As a last resort, some of them seek salvation by attempting to go abroad by any means necessary. Lately, we have seen disheartening pictures in social media of our compatriots who have perished like fish on high seas and oceans in a desperate attempt to flee from an uninhabitable homeland. The New York Times of May 29, 2016 reported that in three days, 700 deaths had occurred on the Mediterranean, some of them Cameroonians. The question that begs the asking is whether or not the Kamerunian society provides these youngsters with alternatives? Stated succinctly, such is the state of the nation-state that Mr. Nyamfuka of Etoudi will bequeath to Cameroonians when he ultimately kicks the bucket in the not too distant future. When all is said and done, Mr. Nyamfuka’s track record is one of dismal failure, shame and dishonor.

Underperformance of Political Incumbents

Students of Mr. Paul Biya’s report card make no bones about the fact that he is a monumental failure. After four decades of deconstructionist leadership and retrogressive political agendas bolstered by intrusive imperialist domination and exploitation, post-colonial Kamerun under this scallywag remains a backward nation and a sore-finger on the global map.  This hitherto great nation has been transformed into an underdeveloped heart of darkness, to borrow words from one of Africa’s compulsive denigrators, Joseph Conrad (1899), where the rural poor—employing 92 percent of the workforce—accounts for only 47 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and supplies 94 percent of the country’s total exports. It should be noted that in other African countries, notably Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana and South Africa, farmers constituting less than ten percent of the population manage not only to feed themselves adequately and satisfy the basic needs of the entire nation, but also to export enormous quantities of their agricultural produce. Paradoxically, in Kamerun more than 90 percent of the population, despite strenuous efforts, experiences deprivation and is compelled to fall back on imported food items from France, China and more.  The imbalance between exports and imports accentuates Kamerun’s dependency on foreign countries. An economy that functions on such a paralysis inevitably goes bankrupt and is headed for catastrophe.

Kamerun's Economic Doldrums

Private investors from abroad constitute a huge drain on Kamerun’s national economy. That is because an important portion of the wealth created with the help of foreign investors is siphoned off abroad, instead of being reinvested to increase the country’s productive capability. Paul Biya inherited a buoyant economy from Ahmadou Ahidjo and ran it into a recession a couple of years later not only because he does not practice what he preaches but also because he lacks the cognitive ability to conceptualize economic recovery strategies.  In the 1990s, salaries of civil servants were slashed drastically, in some cases by 60 percent. This writer worked as Senior Translator at the Presidency of the Republic at the time and endured this fiscal humiliation by keeping a stiff upper lip. In fact, this worked for an entire fiscal year without receiving a paycheck from the government of Kamerun because his dossier[xi] had gathered dust in the drawers of some numskull in the Ministère de la Fonction Publique [Ministry of Public Service] in Yaoundé. He survived on a pittance that was called prime de technicité[xii] in bygone days. Salary cuts were quickly followed by privatization gimmicks and other Bretton Woods contraptions that left a sour taste in the mouths of Kamerunians.

The gargantuan failure of the Nyamfuka government in Kamerun has been the inability of the incumbent to pump a breath of fresh air into the economic sector. Almost a year ago, the reeky voiced charlatan posed a rhetorical question to Kamerunians when he asked the following lame question: “Why is it that Cameroon has everything in human and natural resources yet is not having the feel good effects?” Duh! Five cankers suffice to provide President Nyamfuka with a candid response:  endemic corruption, misappropriation of State funds, apartheid-style tribalism, blind-sidedness, and impunity are wreaking havoc in the moral and economic fabrics of the Kamerunian post-colony.  When President Nyamfuka took over power in 1982 he announced with pomp and fanfare that his catchwords were going to be rigor and moralization. But the Nyamfuka soon found himself surrounded by a clique of diehard ethnocentric tribesmen, cronies, as well as a coterie of myopic CPDM praise-singers that sang his glories but remained blind-sided to national issues of grave importance. Consequently, President Nyamfuka remains a myopic alien in the land that he purports to govern.  If fact, he governs this nation of 25.8 million jobajo[xiii] drinkers and makossa gyrators by remote control—six months in Switzerland and six months in Mvog-Meka! Allez dire!

Governance by Remote Control

President Nyamfuka does not live in Kamerun and, therefore, has no clue who he is governing! He does not know Kamerunians. The President is out of touch with the Kamerunian reality. The absentee Landlord of Etoudi spends several months in a calendar year in Europe touring casinos and nude beaches with no specific agenda in mind.  In 2009, he sparked global outrage after reports emerged of a 20-day holiday in France where he spent an average of £35,000 a day,  totaling $700, 000.Once back home, he retired to his million-dollar castle in his home village of Mvog-Meka  to play golf and drink whiskey and champagne.  It is for this reason that our Head of State le Roi fainéant[xiv]. President Nyamfuka does nothing to change the destiny of his country. His latest fad about les grandes réalisations[xv] is political hogwash! The man is an under-achiever, to put it bluntly. His inept governance has brought Kamerun to her knees. Three decades ago, cities like Douala, Nkongsamba, Bafoussam, Edea, Limbe, Bamenda, Buea and Yaoundé were the envy of the entire African continent! They were commercial hubs teeming with business activities and life. Nowadays, they are virtual ghost towns. Nyamfuka’s nonchalant leadership attitude has robbed Kamerun of its luster. Kamerun is no longer the Africa in miniature that was once known to be.

The Republic of Kamerun is a sore finger in the anatomy of the African continent. President Nyamfuka’s lack of political foresight has transformed Kamerun into a beggarly nation. Kamerunians are Beasts of no Nation, [xvi]to borrow words from an illustrious son of the soil who perished fighting the Kamerunian canker code-named biyaism. [xvii] Biyaism has moved Kamerun decades backwards in terms of infrastructural development. The physical environment in Yaoundé is an eyesore.  Piles of garbage litter streets here and there. Potholes left, right and center. Unfinished government buildings punctuate the already tarnished landscape of our phantom capital city. Douala does not fare any better. It is a shadow of its former self. The Doula International airport that President Nyamfuka inherited from his predecessor is now in a shambles—no running water in the restrooms, no toilet paper, broken tiles on the floor, a total mess!  What remains of the Douala Port is a nefarious abyss in the bottom of which customs officers hide to steal money from Tom, Dick and Harry. The Limbe Deep Seaport is dead, buried, and forgotten. Speaking in Yaoundé on January 15, 2015 at a meeting with a delegation of South Korean technocrats, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Emmanuel Nganou Ndjoumessi, announced that the Limbe Deep Seaport will be operational soon. Kamerunians are still waiting for Godot[xviii] to come. Accountability has been thrown to the dogs in that geographical expression nicknamed Kamerun.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, this article has taken the pulse of the post-colony code-named Kamerun. And there is incontrovertible evidence that the nation-state is malignant. This discourse serves as a pointer to the legacy that President Nyamfuka and his accessories will bequeath to millions of Kamerunians, many of whom have never known any other president. This is a legacy that truly stinks and spells nothing but doom for the young men and women that the president took the oath office on November 6, 1982 to nurture and protect. The purport of this write-up is not to provide a panacea for the myriads of ailments that plague Kamerun under President Nyamfuka; rather it is a dirge composed by a son of the soil whose heart throbs for the demise of a nation richly blessed with natural and human capital; and yet sorely lacking in strategic thinkers and leadership visionaries.

No Kamerunian who loves and honors his native-land can remain indifferent to the status quo at home. Indeed, valiant, hardworking people have never been able to tolerate such a situation. Because they understand that this is not an irreversible situation, but a question of society being organized on an unjust system for the sole benefit of a select few. They have, therefore, waged different kinds of struggles—including the ongoing Ambazonian Revolution, in an attempt to find ways and means to overthrow the old order, establish a new order capable of rehabilitating the ordinary man, and give their country a leading place within the community of free, prosperous, and respected nations. Kamerunians have a tough call. They should not expect lynchpins of the old order to change their mentality and embrace sweeping changes any time soon. The only language that dictators respond to and understand is the language of force, the revolutionary class struggle against the exploiters and oppressors of the rank and file. The people’s Revolution that I espouse in this article is the sole act by which the Ambazonian people will impose their will on the parasitic class that has hijacked the nation-state; that class which has benefited perennially from the unholy matrimony between nationalistic and imperialistic bourgeoisie in Kamerun. The Ambazonian Popular Revolution is a class struggle by which Ambazonian people seek to reassert their determination to live as free citizens in the land of their birth.

Notes

[i] Wild beasts, notably the Betis who are compulsive spendthrifts

[ii] Derogatory name for the ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement( CPDM)

[iii] Corrupt police officers in Cameroon

[iv]  People’s representatives

[v] Chronic unemployment in Cameroon

[vi] Underhand deals of conmen

[vii] French slang for homosexual

[viii] Big shots

[ix] Motor-cycle drivers

[x] People who sell air-time to mobile phone users

[xi] File

[xii] Professional honorarium

[xiii] Locally brewed beer

[xiv] Lazy king

[xv] Big achievements

[xvi]Reference a play by Bate Besong titled Beasts of no Nation(1990)

[xvii] Paul Biya’s governmental philosophy

[xviii] Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot

[1] Cited in Against the Grain (p.317)
[2] Ethnic group of the incumbent
[3] Hollow intellectuals
[4] The Social Democratic (SDF) Front is the main opposition party in Cameroon. It is led by Ni John Fru Ndi and receives significant support from the Anglophone regions of the country. The SDF was launched in Bamenda on May 26, 1990, in opposition to the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement. Following the launching rally, six people were killed by security forces.
[5] This author has fictionalized this episode in his book of poems titled Ntarikon: Poetry for the downtrodden (2008).

 

Works cited

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Retrieved July 24, 2011 fromhttp://agendia.jigsy.com/entries/cameroon/cameroon-why-participation-in-2011-presidential-
Ayittez, George. Defeating Dictators: Fighting Tyranny in Africa and Around the World.  New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Bischoff, Emil. Pre-Election Reflection: Cameroon’s 2011 Presidential Election.”  Retrieved

September 9, 2011 fromhttp://www.consultancyafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=843:pre-election-reflection-cameroons-2011-presidential-elections&catid=42:election-reflection&Itemid=270

Dibussi, Tande. “Cameroon Presidential Election: Opposition Coalitions Are Overrated.”

Retrieved September 9, 2011 fromhttp://www.dibussi.com/

Gomez, Juan. Présidentielle au Cameroun: une cinquataine de prétendants, RFI, 2011.”

Pigeaud, Fanny. Au Cameroun de Paul Biya. Paris: Karthala, 2011.

RFI. “Cameroun: Monseigneur Tumi, ancien archevêque de Douala, dresse un état des lieux du pays à la veille de la présidentielle.” Retrieved September 3,2011from http://www.rfi.fr/search/sinequa_search/%20le%20cardinal%20TUMI%20CAMEROUN%20ET%20LES%20ELECTIONS%20PRESIDENTIELLES%20AU

 

Bayart, Jean-François. L’état en A frique: la politique du ventre. Paris:  Fayard, 1989.

__________________. The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly. New York: Longman, 1993.        

Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 1989.

Besong, Bate. Beasts of No Nation. Yaounde:  Editions CLE, 2003.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York:  Dover, 1990.

Djida, Ismail. “Sodome et Gomorrhe:  Briqueterie- Mokolo: le Texas dans la capitale,”  Retrieved March 12, 2015 from  http://www.camer.be/48767/11:1/cameroun-yaounde-comme-

sodome-et-gomorrhe-briqueterie-mokolo-le-texas-dans-la-capitale-cameroon.html

Ela, Jean-Marc. Innovations sociales et renaissance de l’Afrique noire,

L’Harmattan, Paris, 1998.

Mbiti, J.  African Religions and Philosophy. Florence: Heinemann, 1990.

New York Times. “Three Days, 700 Deaths as Mediterranean Migrant Crisis Flares,” Retrieved

September 23, 2016 from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/30/world/europe/migrants-deaths-mediterranean-libya-italy.html?_r=0

Njei, M.T. “Cameroon and Corruption,” Retrieved October 15, 2016 from

                        http://www.njeitimah-outlook.com/articles/article/2076046/31946.htm

Polzenhagen, F. and Wolf, Hans-Georg. “Culture-specific Conceptualizations of Corruption in

African English.” In Sharidian, F. and Palmer, G.B. (eds.) Applied Cultural Linguistics:

Implications for Second Language Learning and Intercultural Communication,

125-168. Amsterdam: John Benjamin’s publishing Company, 2007.

The Guardian Newspaper. “32 Years of Biyaism: Those Praises of Deceit,” Retrieved on August

12, 2016 from http://www.cameroonweb.com/CameroonHomePage/NewsArchive/Editorial-32-years-of-Biyaism-those-praises-of-deceit-314291

Achebe, C. (1983) An Image of Africa and the Trouble with Nigeria, London, Penguin Books
Camus, A. (1974) Resistance, Rebellion and Death (translated from the French by Justin

Obrien), New York, Vintage Books
Chomsky, N. The Common Good (1996), Tuscon, Odonian Press
Giffin F.C. and Smith D.D. (eds) (1971) Against the Grain: An Anthology of Dissent, Past and

Present, New York, New American Library Joseph, R. (1978) Gaullist Africa: Cameroon

under Ahmadou Ahidjo. Enugu, Fourth Dimension Publishers
Said, E.W. (1994) Representations of the Intellectual, New York, Pantheon Books
Vakunta, P.W. (2012) A Nation at Risk: A Personal Narrative of the Cameroonian Crisis,

Bloomington, I-Universe (2008) Ntarikon: Poetry for the Downtrodden, Bloomington, AuthorHouse.

 

The Status of Pidgin English in the Cameroonian Tower of Babel

 

 By Peter Wuteh Vakunta, Ph.D.

An overview of the linguistic landscape of Cameroon which calls for the recognition of Cameroonian Pidgin English as an official language

Introduction

The choice of an official language in a linguistically pluralistic society often poses thorny problems, not least of which is that concerning perceived threats to the linguistic rights of minority language communities. This article discusses the importance of Cameroonian Pidgin English (CPE) in relation to the two imperial languages inherited from colonial masters—English and  French. I will contend that for the purpose of socio-political integration and national unity in Cameroon, it is incumbent upon policy-makers and language planners to choose Pidgin English as one of the official languages in the country. Cameroon Pidgin English is a national lingua franca spoken by the rich and poor, men and women, educated and uneducated, young and old. Being one of the most widely spoken languages in the country, having met the communicative needs of Cameroonians for more than 500 years, and being a language that carries the identity and ecology of Cameroon, Pidgin English has the potential to be promoted to the status of an official language and made to serve as a compromise medium for socio-political integration in an ethnically pluralistic nation such as Cameroon. 

Background

Cameroon is a linguistically heterogeneous country. In addition to the two official languages—English and French, Cameroonians speak over two hundred indigenous languages.

 While this heterogeneity could be seen as a rich resource in principle, in practice it tends to function as a stumbling-block to cross-lingual and intercultural discourses. As Ayafor (2005: 124) points out, ‘ethnic diversity… threatens national unity in terms of territorial integrity more than anything else in the country.’ A similar point is made by Echu (2005: 1), who observes that ‘the policy of official language bilingualism, originally aimed at guaranteeing political integration and unity of the Cameroonian State, now seems to constitute a source of conflict and political disintegration.’  The problem with Cameroon’s brand of bilingualism is that it does not grant official status to any of its several indigenous languages. As a result of this oversight, Cameroonians are divided into splinter groups with disparate linguistic loyalties that often breed internal strife, undermine effective inter-ethnic relationships and threaten the very survival of the nation-state. Anchimbe (2006: 96) notes that in ‘promoting its bilingual language education policy, the government has largely disregarded the multilingual makeup of the country. Indigenous languages play only a secondary role…’ This is a stark contradiction of the wording of the country’s revised constitution of 1996 (Sec.1.1.3) which stipulates: ‘The official languages of the country shall be English and French, both having the same status. The state shall guarantee the promotion of bilingualism throughout the country. It shall endeavor to promote and protect national languages.’

The fundamental flaw detectable in this constitutional stipulation on official bilingualism in Cameroon is that it fails to provide a clear working definition of the notion of bilingualism. It is not clear what level of linguistic proficiency must be attained by Cameroonian citizens in order to qualify for officially sanctioned bilingualism. Worse still, the constitution simply glosses over the dichotomy that exists between individual and state bilingualism. In a linguistically pluralistic nation such as Cameroon, bilingualism could mean fluency in English and French; English and a national language; French and a national language; Pidgin English and a national language; or a national language and another national language. Besides, proficiency in any of these languages could vary from zero to near-perfection. It is in this perspective that Rosendal (2008: 25) makes the following pertinent observation: ‘The extent of bilingualism in French and English in Cameroon is hard to estimate. Bilingual proficiency varies from zero to near perfect at the universities, depending on how semi-bilingualism, functional bilingualism and passive bilingualism are defined.’ In short, there is a mismatch between bilingualism as concept and practice in a country that harbors over two hundred indigenous languages.

 

Ramifications for Choosing Pidgin English as an Official Language

Selecting an official language in an ethnically heterogeneous entity such as Cameroon has political, economic, and social implications. Tadadjeu (1985: 180) has identified two conditions that affect the conceptualization of language policy for the purpose of achieving integrative national identity. First, he suggests that Cameroonian indigenous languages, including Pidgin English, should remain vehicles for the expression of a Cameroonian national identity. Second, he contends that Cameroonian bilingualism has reached a point where it should now evolve into a trilingual status which allows Cameroonians to gain proficiency in English, French and one national language other than their mother tongue. These proposals are endorsed by Fonlon (1969: 206), who puts it thus: ‘I must confess that the expression Cameroon bilingualism is a misnomer. It would be correct to speak of Cameroon trilingualism because even before the Cameroon child comes to school to learn English and French, he should have already learnt his own native tongue.’ It should be noted, however, that given the multi-lingual make-up of Cameroon, a trilingual policy may still fall short of the expectations of some Cameroonians, who may advocate a quadrilingual educational policy where the Cameroonian child would be required to learn his/her mother tongue, a national language other than their own and the two official languages.

In the preceding paragraphs we have explored the question of official bilingualism in Cameroon with particular emphasis on its importance in the forging of an authentic national identity.  It is self-evident that the prevailing status quo where official bilingualism is confined to proficiency in the two languages handed down to Cameroonians by French and British colonialists defies logic and has proven to be counter-productive. Among its many shortcomings is the fact that Cameroon’s current bilingual policy has contributed to the unacceptable marginalization of linguistic minorities, notably the Pidgin English-speaking communities in the country. Pidgin English is a neutral language that is not endogenous to any of the ethnic groups in Cameroon. The call in this paper is directed at Cameroonian policy-makers to grant Pidgin English the status of an official language.

 

A Case for the Promotion of Pidgin English to Official Status

For the sake of socio-political cohesion and pacific inter-ethnic cohabitation in Cameroon, this paper advocates the choice of a ‘neutral’ language that would be tolerated and spoken throughout the country at all levels. Pidgin fulfills this function. Pidgin is a lingua franca that tears down ethnic boundaries. It builds communicative bridges between the hundreds of tribal groupings that exist in Cameroon, and is regarded by Cameroonians ‘as a major lingua franca… spoken by 50% of the population’ (Kouega 2008: 11). Pidgin is a medium of communication for people who have no first language in common. It functions as a vehicular language, the language of trade and the medium through which people who speak different languages are able to communicate and socialize. All inter-ethnic animosities tend to dissipate when Cameroonians communicate through the medium of Pidgin English. Most importantly, Pidgin English grammar is simple and easy to learn given the fact that its grammar is akin to that of most indigenous languages spoken in Cameroon as seen in the following examples involving the use of verbs. You will notice that Pidgin English verbs do not change to agree with the subject as illustrated in the following examples culled from Todd (1991:11):

A di go. (I’m going.)

Yu di go. (You’re going.)

I di go. (He/she/it is going.)

Wi di go. (We are going.)

Wuna di go. (You plural are going.)

Dehm di go. (They are going.)

Echu (2003: 2) has identified five different varieties of Pidgin English, also known as Kamtok (from Cameroon Talk), namely, Grafi Pidgin English (the variety spoken in the grassfields in  the Northwest Region and often referred as ‘Grafi Tok’);  Francophone Pidgin English (the variety spoken in cities such as Douala, Bafoussam, Nkongsamba and Yaoundé); Limbe Pidgin English (the variety spoken in the Southwest coastal area around the seaport);  Bororo Pidgin English (the variety spoken by Bororo cattle traders) and liturgical Pidgin English (the variety used by the Catholic Church). Ethnologue (2002) estimates the number of Pidginophones[i] in Cameroon to be about two million. It should be noted that Pidgin English has become a mother tongue in many urban communities in Cameroon. It is spoken throughout the national territory for out-group communication purposes between people from different tribes and ethnic groups. It has become a language of the media.Cameroon now has radio broadcast programs in Pidgin English in Douala (FM 105), Buea (Mount Cameroon Radio), Yaoundé (Radio Siantou) and Bamenda (Northwest Regional Radio Station). Pidgin English is a language of advertisement and musical production. Popular musicians such as Lapiro de Mbanga, Prince Nico Mbarga, John Minang, Longue Longue and Francis Ndom have adopted Pidgin as a language of show business and political militancy as illustrated in the excerpt from one of Lapiro’s tracks below:

           We no wan kick-oh

           We no wan go for ngata

           We de daso for ndengwe

           A beg mimba we-oh, yes tara.

           We no wan problem para

           We no wan go for Ndengui

           We di fain daso garri

            For helep we own famili-oh![ii]

Lapiro sings mostly in Pidgin English because this language enables him to reach out to the downtrodden in Cameroon. The importance of Pidgin English as an integrative communicative medium in Cameroon has been underscored in several substantive research studies (Mbangwana, 1983, 1987; Menang, 1979; Ngefac, 2008; Ngome, 1986; Sala, 2009; Schneider, 1966; Todd 1969; Schröder 2003. Mbangwana (1983:87) underscores the importance of Pidgin English as a potent communicative tool as follows:

Pidgin English is very crucial as a communication bridge, for it links an anglophone to a francophone. It also links an anglophone to another anglophone, an educated Cameroonian to another educated one, a non-educated Cameroonian to another non-educated one, and more importantly an educated Cameroonian to a non-educated one.

This integrative function of Pidgin English has been highlighted in works by a number of linguists (e.g. Baetens, 1982; Ayafor, 2004; Neba et al., 2006; Sala, 2009). These researchers perceive Pidgin English as a viable local language for standardization and eventual elevation to the status of an official language, given that it is spoken by Cameroonians across different ethnic divides, geographic settings and educational levels. According to Ngefac (2012: 166), ‘Given the neutrality of the language, selecting it for standardization and adopting it for official transactions will not easily lead to regional and ethnic conflicts, as is likely to be the case if a tribal language were chosen.’  A handful of Cameroonian linguists have even argued in a favor of adopting Pidgin English as an official language of instruction throughout the national territory. Ngefac (2012: 167) puts the case for this as follows:

Being one of the most widely spoken languages in Cameroon, having served the communicative needs of Cameroonians for more than 500 years, being a language that carries the identity and ecology of Cameroon and being a language that significantly unites Cameroonians as it transcends most social boundaries, one should normally expect a language with such potentials to be one of the languages of education.  

The potential drawback associated with the adoption of Pidgin English as an official language stems from the fact that there is a sizeable number of so-called linguistic purists in Cameroon who have no tolerance for the indigenization process that the English language has undergone in Cameroon. Bobda (2004: 19), for example, abhors the proliferation of English-based pidgins and creoles, perceiving them as impediments to ‘the development of British-based standard forms of English’ in Cameroon. Such attitudes are also reflected in the fact that the campus of the University of Buea is littered with signboards openly banning the use of the language (Ngefac 2012).

Regrettably, malcontents such as Bobda (2004) are oblivious of the fact that English is no longer just a language of the Metropolis; it is a global language that has acquired regional specificities. Pidgin English is now widely regarded as an African language that has undergone the process of indigenization (Kwachu, 1986; Mufwene, 2001; Schneider, 2007). Like all other global Englishes, Cameroonian Pidgin English harbors local realities and dynamics—namely worldview and cultural sensibilities. Through the process of reterritorialization, English in the Cameroonian context has acquired new norms and usages peculiar to the local context. This reterritorialized English language is marked by context-specific patterns that give Pidgin English a peculiar local color and flavor. These in turn make Pidgin an ideal language for promoting cross-ethnic communication and thus for fostering a truly pan-ethnic national identity.

 

Conclusion

It is the closing contention of this paper that Cameroonian Pidgin English is a language in its own right, distinct from other global pidgins such as the pidgin spoken in Nigeria, Ghana,  Papua New Guinea, Jamaica and Hawaii among others. It has its own system, with a distinctive structure and should not be treated as a bastardized version of British or American English. It is not a dialect of Cameroonian English or any other local language. Pidgin English is more serviceable to Cameroonians than European-based standard forms of English.  It is clear from this discussion that Cameroonian Pidgin English is a carrier of the national identity, culture and worldview of the Cameroonian people. It is more emblematic of the identity and ecology of Cameroon than British English. Most importantly, Cameroonian Pidgin English is a significant carrier of the historical, ecological, and multicultural narratives of the inhabitants of the post-colony. A rejection of Pidgin English by Cameroonians would be tantamount to self-abnegation because this language speaks volumes about the historical and linguistic evolutions that distinguish Cameroonians from other Africans.

The multiplicity of languages spoken in Cameroon with the attendant difficulty of choosing an indigenous official language sheds light on the phenomenon that I have described in the title of this paper as the ‘Cameroonian Tower of Babel’. Fonlon (1969: 9) alludes to this concept when he writes:

"It is in Cameroon that the African confusion of tongues is worse confounded, and it has become absolutely impossible to achieve, through an African language, that oneness of thought and feeling and will that is the heart’s core and the soul of a nation."

Fonlon’s stance underscores the need for Cameroonian language policy-makers to take off their blinkers and raise Pidgin English to the status of an official language. No language indigenous to Cameroon plays a more phatic communicative role than Pidgin English. It is the language of customary law in some parts of the country. Most importantly, Pidgin English is the language of social intercourse and neutralizer of linguistic apartheid tendencies. It is the language of business throughout the national territory. Given the fact that the majority of Cameroonian tradesmen and tradeswomen are illiterate, they often communicate in Pidgin English. The language is used as a medium of communication during social events such as sporting events, notably soccer. In the literary domain, Pidgin English has become a medium for the exteriorization of creative genius. Nowadays, there is a proliferation of literary works written entirely in Pidginized English by Cameroonians and foreigners in Cameroon. A few titles would drive home the point: Some Day Been Dey (Todd, 1979); Man no be God (Lemke, 2001); Sunday Lectionary in Pidgin English (Awa, 1984);  (Tori Shweet for Cameroon Pidgin English (Vakunta, 2015a); Poems from Abakwa in Cameroon Pidgin English (Vakunta,  2015b); Majunga Tok: Poems in Pidgin English (Vakunta,  2008), African Time and Pidgin Verses (Vakunta,  2001); and Stories from Abakwa  (Nyamnjoh,  2007). Pidgin English has become the language of the mass media in Cameroon as discussed in the preceding paragraphs. Most importantly, Pidgin English constitutes a powerful political tool in the lyrics of anti-establishment musicians. Noteworthy examples include the following songs composed in Pidgin by Lapiro de Mbanga: Lefsam so (Live and let live), No make erreur (Make no mistake), Na You (You’re to blame), Nak Pasi (Kick and pass) Mimba wi (Remember us) and Dem se (Hearsay). Unlike the other Cameroonian languages, Pidgin English has many speakers in all the ten regions that constitute the Republic of Cameroon.

Throughout this paper, I have argued that it necessary to elevate Pidgin English to the status of a national language in order to contribute to the task of nation-building. Failure to so would stall the evolution of the nation as a linguistic kaleidoscope. Like other Cameroonian indigenous languages, Pidgin English serves as conduit of the ecology, identity and cultural artefacts of Cameroonians. This paper is intended to be an added voice to the many Cameroonian voices that have lent their support to the linguistic decolonization process that is underway in Cameroon. The future of Cameroon as a nation-state resides not in embracing cultural imperialism, but rather in the willingness of Cameroonians to be at home with linguistic and cultural realities that identify them as a people apart.

 

NOTES

 

[i] Speakers of Pidgin English

[ii]We don’t want to steal

We don’t want to go to jail

 We just need to work

 We beg you to think about us, boss

 We are not looking for trouble

 We don’t want to go to  Kondengui

 We are only looking for a means

To help our family-oh![v]

 

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Seven Effective Vocabulary Mastery Strategies for Second Language Learners

 

By

Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

Introduction

Seasoned linguists have pointed out that poor mastery of grammar may not necessarily break down communication but ineffective mastery of vocabulary in the second language that one is learning would result in communication breakdown. As I revisit the travails of the hundreds of students to whom I have taught foreign languages (French, Hausa, Cameroonian Creole and Ngiemeukokeuh) over the years, this truism becomes real. Seven Effective Vocabulary Mastery Strategies provides some dependable tips that would help foreign language learners grapple with vocabulary retention.

Strategy 1: Spaced Repetition of Vocabulary

Proficiency in a foreign language is attainable through interaction with words over time. Vocabulary retention has to be taken seriously by second language learners.  To retain new words, learners must make a conscious effort to recycle words learned in a classroom setting. Learning new words in class and not studying them later is counterproductive for second language acquisition. Learners should study vocabulary throughout the day in short 10-minute intervals, using the spiraling or spaced repetition modus operandi. During school days, this vocabulary retention process should be accomplished before class starts, between classes, during breaks, during lunch, and during other time-frames throughout the school day when students have small amounts of free time. The merits of this strategy are threefold: 1) It increases learners’ retention of the vocabulary learned, 2) It frees up study time at the end of the day for review rather than learning, and 3) It reduces stress levels that comes with the need to learn large  chunks of vocabulary.

Strategy 2:  Vocabulary Preview

Vocabulary preview is an effective language learning technique that second language learners must prioritize. Learners should get into the habit of previewing vocabulary in each unit before the instructor teaches the lesson in class. The rationale behind this practice is that it familiarizes learners with the terminology the instructor will be using in class the following day. More importantly, vocabulary preview empowers learners with a lexical bank that would eventually come in handy in the language learning process. More often than not, I require my students to wet their feet by previewing the vocabulary of upcoming lessons. My experience shows that learners are better off for the reasons adumbrated above.

Strategy 3:  Vocabulary Review

Vocabulary review is a rite of passage in the second language acquisition process. Language learners should review vocabulary that they have learned previously. Vocabulary review enables learners to develop retention skills; it enhances receptive skills (listening and reading) and productive skills (speaking and writing) in the course of time.  Second language learners should consider the possibility of planning vocabulary review sessions in 15-20 minute intervals. They should work on vocabulary tasks for 15-20 minutes, and then take a short break before starting a new task.

Strategy 4: Repetition Cycle

Another strategy that is akin to vocabulary review is vocabulary recycling. One effective way to gain confidence in oneself and be able to listen and comprehend native speakers of any language is to recycle one’s vocabulary bank. This is attainable by having recourse to the technique of the Repetition Cycle.  The Repetition Cycle strategy enables second language learners to practice listening, speaking and reading and writing the target language in the form of a cycle: listen, read and write, or read, write and listen. Regardless of where learners want to start, they should immerse themselves in all four language acquisition skills at the same time. Global Language Online Support System (GLOSS), is an online resource that provides an excellent opportunity for language learners to put the Repetition Cycle technique into practice.

Strategy 5:  Vocabulary Recycling

Re-using new words over time facilitates vocabulary retention. Second language learners should make a conscious effort to re-use vocabulary on a daily basis. In other words, rather than stop at the level of rote memorization of words, learners should use words in constructing meaningful sentences and then eventually transform these sentences into short paragraphs.  Ultimately, learners should be able to dip into their lexical banks and craft stories that pertain to self, family members and circle of friends. Learners could begin by writing sentences that relate to their lived experiences, and daily routine. 

 

Strategy 6: Lexical Categorization

For ease of memorization, language learners should re-arrange news words into lexical banks. For example, they could arrange words into the following lexical families: professions, sports, healthcare, food and nutrition, media, information technology and more. Words could also be categorized according to whether they are easy, very easy, moderately easy, difficult or very difficult to memorize. Finally yet importantly, learners could categorize words based on text typology or register, namely generic, specialized, or technical words. Over time, the technique of lexical categorization alleviates the pangs of vocabulary retention.

Strategy 7: Semantic Organizer

A graphic organizer is a teaching and learning tool used to organize information and ideas in a way that is easy to comprehend and internalize. By integrating text and visuals, graphic organizers show relationships and connections between concepts, terms, and facts. Graphic organizers can be used at all grade levels, and have proven to be effective learning tools for both children and adult learners. Graphic organizers enable the connection between what students already know and newly acquired knowledge. 

Foreign language learners stand to gain from using the semantic organizer as a vocabulary retention strategy. Semantics is the study of meaning in a language. It can be applied to entire texts or to single words. For example, "destination" and "last stop" technically mean the same thing, but students of semantics analyze their subtle shades of meaning. A semantic organizer alternatively called graphic organizer is a method used to organize information garnered from reading passages or other sources. Graphic organizers can be categorized in many ways according to the way they arrange information: hierarchical, conceptual, sequential, or cyclical (Bromley, Irwin-DeVitis, & Modlo, 1995). The merit of this technique is that it provides learners with a visual representation of the ideas they have read about. Graphic organizers integrate both text and visuals. This has been scientifically proven to be an effective way of teaching and learning languages. Using them can be extremely beneficial for both teachers and students. They make  language classes more engaging as well as easily comprehensible.  Instructors can use this tool to assess the vocabulary acquisition process of students. They can create graphic organizers that enable learners to integrate lower-order and higher-order learning tasks  to help students learn master new words. 

 

Conclusion

Briefly, retention of vocabulary seems to be the bugbear of most language learners, the more so because the new language being learned may belong in a linguistic family that is at variance with the mother tongue of the language learner.  In this light, one cannot overstate the importance of dependable vocabulary retention paradigms such as the ones adumbrated above. A rich word bank is a boon in the learning process. Foreign language learners should to do their level best to enrich their lexical banks using the techniques we have discussed in this article.

JUST PUBLISHED!

APORIA: LAMENT OF AN AMBAZONIAN REVOLUTIONARY

By Professor Peter Wuteh Vakunta

Aporia is a long prose poem that makes a case for the Ambazonian Revolution. It is my conviction that the task of the genuine intellectual is to speak up when no one dares to speak. When we draw a blank and cannot make sense of the events that have deeply perturbed our lives, we have recourse to the plume in a bid to externalize pent-up emotions. The impetus to write Aporia stemmed from the ongoing genocide in Cameroon; a civil war viewed by domestic and international observers as a by-product of the linguistic genocide, dysfunctional governance, lethal tribalism, brazen kleptomania and the deleterious governmental ineptitude that epitomize the body politic of the Republic of Cameroon. Each verse in the poem is an expression of the poet's frustration and anger in face of injustice that Anglophone Cameroonians have been the bullseye for decades.

 

Ces poèmes sont plus dits que lus, plus criés que psalmodiés,
plus proférés et c’est cela leur beauté. De livre en livre, Peter
Vakunta s’est inventé un langage qui lui est propre, entre le
français et l’anglais, entre le camfranglais et le majunga talk,
pour décrire et expliquer en des poèmes bilingues, la réalité de
ce pays qui, enfant déjà, dans son premier cours de français, l’a
mis au dernier banc et qui, aujourd’hui encore ne s’est pas sorti de cette injustice multiforme qu’il commet sur ceux qu’il appelle ‘les Anglophones’.

(Dr. Patrice Nganang, Professor of Cultural Studies &
Comparative Literature, Stony Brook University, New York,
USA)

 

 

ONTOLOGICAL PARADOXES

 

 

By Professor Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

Human beings/

And nature/

Are on a collision course /

Man’s activities inflict/

Irreparable harm on Mother Earth/

Earth’s endangered species/

A-plenty near extinction/

It’s mind-boggling!/

Four-legged animals are endowed/

With more wisdom than humans! /

There are great words/

In the animal kingdom /

One of such words is “Thanks”/

There are awesome words/

In animal lingo/

Two of such words are “Forgive me”/

There are awe-inspiring words/

In animal tongue/

Three of such words are “I love you”/

One wonders if human beings/

Will ever learn to think and speak /

Like animal beings/

Sometimes it feels like/

The life of humans is but a paradox/

            We have very tall buildings/

But very short tempers/

We have extremely broad freeways/

But terribly narrow viewpoints/

We spend more but earn less/

We buy more but enjoy less/

More degrees we’ve amassed/

Not a modicum of common sense/

More savvy but less judgment/

More experts we have/

But a myriad problems unresolved /

            Our possessions we have multiplied/

            Yet less value we derive/

We talk too much/

And lie too often/

            A living we’ve learnt to make /

But not to live our lives/

All the way to the moon we have been/

But have trouble crossing the street/

To say hello to our neighbors/

Outer space we’ve conquered/

But not inner space/

            The atom we’ve split/

But not our prejudices/

We read too often but learn too little/

We’ve learned to rush but not to wait/

More haste less speed/

Higher incomes we have/

But lower morals have we/

More acquaintances/

But fewer friends/

            These are the days of huge incomes/

But bigger debts/

Of glamorous weddings/

But more divorces/

            These are the times of fancier houses/

But broken homes/

We go to church/

But have sent God/

On vacation in our social lives!/

Lord have Mercy!

NOMENCLATURE

 

 By Professor Vakunta

 

 

 

 

What’s in a name?/

A name is everything!/

There’s nothing more important/

Than a person’s name./

A name bears an identity/

A culture and a worldview/

Why then do we toy with the names of folks?/

People no longer bear their real names!/

We take liberties with other people’s nomenclature,/

Thereby rendering them hunchbacks  of sorts/

Elizabeth has become Beth or Lisa,/

Jennifer has been re-christened Jenny,/

Susan has metamorphosed into Sue,/

Patricia has been reborn Pat or Patti,/

Christopher has been transformed into Chris;/

Michael is Mike,/

Charles is Chuck,/

James is Jimmy,/

Henry is Hank,/

Lawrence now passes for Larry/

How about Jerome?/

He has been rechristened Jerry!/

Holy Cow!/

Robert is Bob,/

Emmanuel is Manu,/

Samuel is Sammy,/

Joseph is Joe,/

Thomas is Tom,/

Bonaventure is Bon/

The list is not exhaustive./

Why are we doing this to own own?/

We make people feel like/

Human counterfeits!/

Dogs don't call dogs doggy/

Humans do that!/

Pigs don't call one another piggy/

Humans do that!/

And do you know what they do /

To folks who have tongue-twisters/

Like tchokolokobangoshia?/

Or Shosholoza i-Afrika?/

They ignore them altogether?

Isn’t that cool?

Listen, people’s names are their most

Treasured gifts from birth.

We have zero leeway to

Trifle with nomenclature.

 

Vakunta 2020

 

Acephalous IG: Termites of Ambazonian Revolution

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Professor Vakunta

 

When did torrential rains

Start to fall on Ambazonians?

Where did rain clouds gather?

Was it at Foumban

Or at Ntarikon Park?

Who created the Infamous

Interim Government (IG)?

Is it Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe

Or Deacon Wilfred Tassang?

Where does Agbor Felix Balla Nkongho

Feature in all this hullabaloo?

Take the pulse of the Revolution—

A War of Attrition

Or Liberation Struggle?

Moving TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse)

Or Sinking Titanic in need of S.O.S?

Man no run!

Man no die man no rotten!

In this day and age,

Who heads the Amba Revolution?

Is it Nitwit Samuel Ikome Sako

Or Ninety-Nine Sense Christopher Anu?

Or is it bird of ill omen

Lucas Ayaba Cho?

What does the acronym SOCADEF stand for?

Southern Cameroons Defense Force!

Who is Commander-in-Chief of SOCADEF?

Is it Ayaba Cho Lucas or

Or the Maquisard,[ii]

Kondengui prisoner without a crime,

Ebenezer Derek Mbongo Akwanga?

These are Termites,

Not bona fide leaders

Hell-bent on crippling the struggle

By double dipping in

La mangeoire de la revolution[iii],

Wheeling and dealing

Through kleptomania

Termites/

These nefarious insects do not build

They destroy!

They dilapidate!

Crogg/crogg/crogg/

They have destroyed the Revolution!—

They have demoralized

Our fighters on GZ!

Termites/

Cragg/cragg/cragg/

Bastards! Assholes!

Emasculators of justice!

These hoodlums don’t nurture/

They devastate with impunity!

They don’t lead;

They mislead!

They don’t build;

They self-destruct!

Ambazonia’s gravediggers!

They have destroyed our struggle!

Crigg/crigg/crigg

Termites,

These insects are hard

At work destroying

The legacy bequeathed

To Us by Forebears

Termites are in charge of

Our Collective Dream.

Shall they make or mar?

That is the question!

It’s a trap/

A REAL booby-trap/

For unsuspecting insects of prey/

An insidious entanglement/

For unwary human beings/

Our Battle is locked/

In a multitude of cobwebs/

Caught we are/

In ego consciousness,

In our web of intrigues.

Nonetheless…/

I have a dream that one day/

Southern Cameroonians will bounce /

Back to sanity/

On that day/

Ambazonians will know

Who the real leaders were/

I have a dream…/

That though the blows may be hard

On Ambazonians/

They shall pull the punches/

Stay the course/

And see light at the

End of the tunnel

I have a dream…/

That one day Ambazonia/

Will be free…free at last! /

I shed tears for Ambazonia/

You know why merciful Lord/

Tears of muteness/

Frustration/

Sorrow/

Despondency/

Angst/

Melancholy/

Trauma…/

 

 

Vakunta 2020

Notes

[i]  Headless

[ii] Someone who lives underground

[iii] Public coffers

 

 

 

 

 

Poésie sous l'arbre à palabres est un recueil poétique qui se veut être à la fois engagé et didactique. Son chant poétique incarne une conscience et une identité propre au bercail qui l'a enfanté. C'est grâces aux chants mélancholiques que le poète parvient à quitter son terroir d'adoption pour élire domicile au ciel de son enfance perdue; au règne de la civilisation autochtone. Grâce à ses chants inspiratoires le poète réussit à revivre la vie primitive de jadis. Il situe son âge d'or à califourchon entre le passé et le présent. Au sein de ce recueil, chaque strophe et chaque verset vibre au rythme d'une nouvelle bouffée d'oxgyène.

Lament of an Ambazonian Revolutionary

 

 By Professor Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

 

Weep not child![i]/

My heart bleeds for you!/

I weep for all the/

Lost souls of Ambazonia!/

Strangers in their homeland/

Beasts of no Nation/

I lament for the unborn kids/

Of the Republic of Ambazonia/

Hijacked kith and kindred/

I mourn for the Six School/

Kids murdered in Kumba/

Decimated by the vampires of Paul Biya/

On October 24, 2020 in the restive/

Town of Kumba in a school/

Sandwiched in Fiango neighborhood/

The Infamous Mother Francisca/

International Bilingual Academy/

We shall never know/

The real motives behind/

This gruesome murder but be it/

Known that this infamy was not/

The handiwork of Ambazonian/

Freedom fighters; rather it was a/

Machination by the Biya Regime/

To baptize Ambazonian

Freedom Fighters as Terrorists/

Hogwash! Baloney!

 

I HAVE A DREAM…

That one day Ambazonia/

Will be free. Utterly free/

Free! Free! Free at last!/

From the rubble of decay/

And of decrepitude/

Will rise a New Nation/

Rejuvenated Republic of Amba!/

Not by thunderstorm/

Not by tornado/

Not by hailstone/

Nor by neck-lacing/

Not by house-torching/

Nor by manslaughter/

Not by kangaroo courts/

But by the mettle and bravado/

Of diehard Ambazonians/

Armed with the resolve to be free!/

We’re birds of passage/

Of good omen/

Of bad omen/

Of mixed omens.

 

Peter Wuteh Vakunta, Ph.D.

Endnotes

-----------

[i] Title of a novel by Ngugi wa Thiong’o

African Renaissance:Lessons for Cameroon

Talk Show Host: Professor Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dK8aHhP19jLRTr_um4GBG4quIaFyTeq9/view?ts=5f4af178

Compulsive-Addictive Behaviors in the Christian Family

By

 Professor Peter Wuteh Vakunta, Ph.D.

 

 

 

I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptural texts used in the crafting of this discourse is chosen from Ephesians 5:3-5:

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." [NIV]

The word ‘addict’ stems from the Latin word ‘addictus’  which means a debtor awarded as a slave to his creditor. An addict is virtually enslaved to his addiction. In contemporary society, we are aware of folks who are unrepentant addicts. Millions in our society are alcoholics. The same is true for nicotine and other drug addictions. Our society is replete with workaholics who are unable to draw a line between work and family life. Others are controlled by gambling and/or sex. Many more are couch potatoes. Some cannot stop eating. These are bulimics. It is easy to come up with a list longer that this one. But if I gloss over the numerous compulsive-addictive behaviors that plague our society today, I would be doing a disservice to families where these are real problems. Their plight is too deep to be taken lightly. They are living in real pain.

Consider the case of the head of a household who comes home drunk every day.  His slurred words are crude and abusive. Imagine the fear in the eyes of his spouse and kids. Ponder the sadness of parents whose son or daughter is hooked on drugs. You can almost feel their despair. They are facing a monster they don’t know how to combat. Pay a visit to a patient in the final stages of lung cancer. You know that this person deserves a longer life and a more dignified death.  You cannot argue with the spouse who prays for the day when cigarettes would be banned. Imagine the tears welling in the eyes of a person whose spouse is a workaholic. Gambling and pornography are wreaking irreparable havoc in our families, even churchgoing families. This list suffices.

I just wanted to be certain that we are in touch with the pain that is caused by compulsive-addictive behaviors in our families. Oftentimes, it’s hard to differentiate between the two terms. As I see it, it is helpful to perceive addiction as a behavior that enslaves the individual to something. His or her monster may be alcohol, drugs, sex, food, cigarettes, pornography, television, job, gambling or spending. The individual is controlled by such a monster and submits to its push. By contrast, compulsive behavior is an irresistible impulse to perform irrational acts. For instance, a person may become compulsive about hand-washing or cleaning the house time and again. There’s nothing wrong with washing one’s hands or cleaning one’s house unless these things are done mindlessly and incessantly. In the same vein, there’s nothing wrong with talking unless someone can’t stop talking; which means that the person is a compulsive talker. I am sure you know people like that. Compulsive behavior is probably not as dire as addictive patterns, but at times the two categories nudge up against each other.

As with all addictions, compulsive behavior engenders frustration and may constitute a factor that occasions sin as we shall see below. Someone who is a compulsive complainer, who finds fault with everyone and everything, who becomes a pro at spotting the flaws of everyone else but themselves can drive everyone nuts, even those in their immediate family. The same holds true for a compulsive talker. It is not infrequent that such flaws are passed on from one generation to the next. In this vein, addiction to criticism, gossip, backstabbing, negativity and workaholism are repeated. The Bible harbors irrefutable truths about the impact of compulsive-addictive behaviors on the lives of Christians. Remember the Biblical accounts of Abram’s habit of lying about his wife Sarai when they traveled in unfamiliar settings? (Genesis 12:11-20). Abram lied twice about his wife. What is worse, Isaac, Abram’s son copied his father’s behavior and also lied. Lies also marked the lives of Isaac’s twin sons—Jacob and Esau. And would you believe that this habit of telling half-truths also characterized Jacob’s sons who broke his heart by telling him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal when in fact they had sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:12-36). How often do we see this pattern of inter-generational sin in our secular and Christian families?

Sadly enough, when compulsive-addictive people become church members, they import the same problematic behaviors into the church. People who are always late to school or work, have an even greater problem arriving at church on time. In subsequent years, their children would probably become later-comers to church as well. And most likely so will their grandchildren. The person who compulsively bad-mouths others will not desist from this misconduct whether or not s/he is talking about the pastor, the music director or any other member of the church family. To put this simply, an individual who is prone to gossip will bring that addiction from home right into the church unless a major healing (deliverance) occurs. The compulsive urge to be a control freak will mark a person’s life whether that person is at work or at church. Simply stated, compulsive-addictive behavior doesn’t mysteriously disappear as soon as someone drives into the parking lot of a church.The question that begs to be asked at this juncture is what should be done to eradicate these addictive behaviors.

First and foremost, the church as to be proactive in graciously helping compulsive-addictive members to regain their freedom from the chains of addictive behavior. To do so, the church has to fall back on the Word of God. In Ephesians 5: 5; 8:11-14, Paul discusses the remedies needed to eradicate these sorts of problems within the church family. The church must play a proactive role in ensuring that positive attitudes remain the hallmarks of the comportment of its members.  The Bible teaches unconditional love (Luke 6: 27-28; 1 Corinthians 13: 4-5; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 4:9 and 1 John 4:16).It also teaches humility (Mark 9: 35; Romans 12: 16; Philippians 2:3 and James 3: 13).Christ’s truth must be the moral yard-stick that we use to measure our performance as followers of Christ.  God is truth. It goes without the saying that as followers of Christ, it behooves us to adopt Christ’s model of truthful existence. The Bible provides numerous references to this effect (John 14:6; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 2:15; Psalm 25:5; Ephesians 6:14; Ephesians 4:21, Romans 1:25 and Proverbs 12:22).

Secondly, the onus is on the church to help congregants effect a paradigm shift. This should begin with a deliberate attempt to effect lifestyle changes—a quest for a new mindset. To this end, members of the church should be willing to trade off their coat of perfectionism to one of contentment. It has to reckon with the fact that the family will not change unless individuals within the family change.  Church families are not an exception. Church families improve only to the extent to which nuclear families within the church have gotten better.

Thirdly, as Christians our call is to acknowledge and accept the sovereignty of God. Understanding the omnipotence of God is something that will flow naturally from a person’s faith. When you have faith in God and all that He is, praising Him becomes something that just seems right. We serve a God that created the universe, that brought us from dirt, that freed slaves, that rained fire that parted seas, that gave us His son, that had Him die on the cross for our sins, that defeated death, that rose again, and will one day return. When we know these truths about God Almighty, faith comes into us and we are humbled (Psalm 135:6; Proverbs 16:9; Romans 9:14-18 and Romans 8:28).

Last but not least, we must nurse the spirit of brotherhood within the Church family. If we’d do this, then mutual hatred, condescension, backstabbing and petty gossips would dissipate. Fortunately, when there is a spirit of breakthrough, in a Christian’s life, it produces a positive effect on the lives of other members of the church family. As Christians, we must strive to be the light for others to follow.  If we adopt these attitudes and ask God through prayer and supplication to relieve us of our compulsive-addictive behaviors, He would do it. In conclusion, I invite you to accompany me in saying the following prayer:

O God,

We praise you for your power to make all things new.

Empower us to break free from compulsive patterns that inhibit us,

So that we can enjoy the wholeness of life you offer us.

Thank you for often surprising us by the miraculous

Ways you bring healing to our lives. Amen.

Abuse of Power

 

 

Professor Vakunta's Pedagogic Discourse on False News & COVID-19

 

 

Ethnocracy in African Politics

 Professor Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

Penya-Penya!

 

 Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

 

 

When I dined with Lucifer,

Sarcasm was my apparel.

Not anymore; in communion with Christ,

I adorn a cloak of lexical prudence.

 

When I supped with the Devil,

Prevarication was my modus operandi.

To the chagrin of friends and foes.

At present candor is my hallmark.

 

When I feasted with Beelzebub,

Conceit was my accoutrement.

In Christ’s company,

Humility is my stock-in-trade.

 

When I peregrinated with Mammon,

Levity was my badge.

In the abode of the Lord,

Compunction is my insignia.

 

When I hung out

With the offspring of Evil,

Sorcery was my armor.

In deliverance I shun fetishism.

 

When I sojourned with Satan,

Inebriety was my opium.

In the wake of redemption,

Sobriety is my new opiate.

 

When the Demon and I

Were bedfellows well met,

I was unabashedly mercurial.

Today I am phlegmatic.

 

When I was Iscariot’s room-mate,

I loathed the Scriptures.

Today morphed into penya-penya,

I gobble from the Biblical gourd.

 

Lord God Almighty

Has shredded all existential fluff

And rendered me invulnerable

To human machinations-Hallelujah!

On Building A Robust Christian Family

 

 

 

 

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                      

                                                                By 

                                                  Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

1.Introduction

I greet you all in the name of our Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. The text of this discourse can be found in 1Corinthians 12:14-26:

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body where an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand,” I don’t need you! And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable we treat with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it [NIV]

I will commence this write-up with two simple, straightforward questions: what constitutes a healthy family? What are the traits of a functional family? As I see it, a healthy family exhibits the following salient characteristics which will be discussed at length in this paper.

2.Traits of a Functional Family

A family that is deemed functional is all sheds of the meaning exhibits the following characteristics:

2.1 Unconditional Love

In a healthy family, love is not given or withheld on the basis of achievement.  If you’re born in a functional family, you should sense your parents’ or relatives’ love regardless of what you have achieved or failed to achieve in life. Healthy families are not perfectionistic. To put this differently, in a healthy functional family, people are given the freedom to make mistakes. They are confident that they can make mistakes and learn from them without chastisement. In this sort of family, people tend to be true to themselves.

2.2. Truth and Honesty

Truth is an indispensable constituent of Christ-like love in a functional family. This fact of life is buttressed in Matthew 5: 37: “But let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.”[NIV] One of the fastest ways to destroy a family relationship is dishonesty. You cannot have a fruitful relationship with lies (Psalms 34:12; Proverbs 19:1; 2 Corinthians 8:21 and Colossians 3:9). Your family members need to know that they can rely on your word, and know that you speak truth. It can feel easier to lie to protect yourself from others by covering yourself with deceit, but this will only lead to heartbreak and destruction. Complete honesty is not possible without the Holy Spirit leading your words and actions.

2.3. No Naming and Shaming

In a healthy family, there is no naming and shaming when trouble arises. In healthy families, members talk realistically about misunderstandings. They discuss tensions and troubles. The emphasis is always on: what can we do to help improve the situation? Members of a functional family openly confront problematic situations without naming and blaming the source of the problem. This attitude is derived from the Christ-like concept of acceptance. Sometimes it can feel like everything is going wrong, and we are trapped in our circumstances. We become overwhelmed by worries about the future. In functional families, members are cognizant of the fact that our eternal reassurance in the face of conflict is the fact that God’s love for us is constant (Romans 8:31; Acts 10:34-35; John 6:37 and 1 Samuel 16:7). In a functional family, no one is quarantined on the basis of dissenting views.

2.4. Zero Family Doghouse

Not everyone reading this essay may be familiar with the notion of ‘doghouse.’ The concept of ‘doghouse’ is used here figuratively. It translates the notion of rejection by family members. In a dysfunctional family, a member who fails to conform to family norms is sent to the doghouse or excluded from the family. For instance, a parent may not talk to the child for days because s/he failed a test or performed poorly at a sporting event. Or, a wife may not talk to her husband for a week and vice versa on account of a disagreement on the choice of the color of a family car. Being in the doghouse is painful and we know it! The family doghouse is not only awful; it is unchristian. Regardless of the circumstances, members of a functional family endeavor to comfort each other because they are confident that the Lord will comfort them all. The concept of Christian love is buttressed by Biblical references (Psalm 23:4; Psalm 119: 49-50; Isaiah 66:13, Matthew 5:4 and 2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

The question that begs to be posed at this juncture is how to apply these principles to building a robust church family. Having identified some of the major problems that tend to give birth to dysfunctionality in biological families, how do we ensure that this never happens in our Christian families? What follows are my antidotes to the likelihood of dysfunctionality in religious families.

• Forgiveness

Forgiving someone who has hurt us can be a tough call but as Christians, we are called to forgive one another regardless of the degree to which we have been hurt by their words or actions. And we must be frank about forgiveness. In a book titled No Future without Forgiveness (1999), Desmond Mpilo Tutu observes that forgiveness and reconciliation are not something that we enter into facilely. Forgiving someone who has hurt you means that you no longer call to mind their faults or errors. Total forgiveness extends grace to the forgiven and freedom to the forgiver.  But this is not something that comes naturally or easily, especially when the hurt has been caused by someone you trusted or loved. This level of forgiveness is only possible by leaning on the Holy Spirit within you, and allowing Him to take control of cleaning your heart. To do this effectively, we must know the Word, because the Word is your ammunition and armor against the machinations of the devil. The comforting news is that the Bible arms us against the principalities of evil (Ephesians 6:12-14). Unconditional love makes total forgiveness feasible.

• Unconditional Love

As devout Christians, our calling is to love unconditionally. In the Bible we are told that God is love (1 John 4:16). We’re reminded of God’s boundless love in several scriptural readings (Luke 6: 27-28; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; 1 Peter 4:8, and 1 John 4:9). In a seminal work titled Eight Habits of Love: Open Your Heart, Open Your Mind (2012), Ed Bacon notes that “When we open our hearts and minds to love’s abundance, we can transform not only our own lives, but also the lives of those around us, making the world a more just, peaceful, and caring place.”(ix) During His ministry on earth Jesus encountered people who didn’t seem appreciative— like the nine people healed of leprosy who never said thank you to Jesus. Jesus encountered people out to get Him, to trick Him, to trap Him, to accuse Him, and even to kill Him! But, Jesus didn’t say ‘Forget it! I’ll exclude you from my love. No!  He just kept on extending His love to them. When we in the Christian family imitate Christ, people wouldn’t have to earn our love. We must love and accept one another just as Christ has loved and accepted us (Romans 15:7).

• Acceptance

Acceptance is favorable reception; or approval. It is the state of being recognized or acknowledged. In our religious family, we must accept one another unconditionally, just as God accepts us with all our sins (Acts 10:34-35). Sometimes, church members may be made to feel that people who give big donations to the church are more important than those who give little. Far from it! Jesus makes it clear that this is not true. Remember the widow’s offering? (Mark 12:41-44) But the illusion persists in many churches across the globe today. In some churches around the world, the temptation is great to reward those who already have a decided advantage— those who were born beautiful, or intelligent, or wealthy or inherited a last name that everyone respects.  But this is not Christ-like. The Bible enjoins us to accept people for who they are (1 Samuel 16:7; Romans 5: 8; Romans 8:31 and Acts 10: 34-35). As bona fide Christians, our call is to emulate Jesus.

• Christ-like Demeanor

As members of the family of Christ Jesus, we are enjoined to be Christ-like in our demeanor and comportment. The way we treat people must reflect our respect for humans as part of God’s creation.  This presupposes mutual respect and boundless love for fellow Christians in our congregation. These truths are expressed succinctly in the Scriptures (Romans 12: 3-6; Romans 12:16; Mark 9:35; Philippians 2:3; and James 3:13). It is our Christian calling to show compassion to one another as Christ did. Last but not least, Christians are expected to embrace fair competition.

• Healthy Competition

The truth of the matter is that we are competitive creatures. Look around you, you’ll perceive all sorts of competitive attitudes—some healthy; others not so healthy. As practicing Christians, it behooves us to steer clear of cut-throat competition. We have seen some great leaders fall from grace to grass on account of odious competition. We have seen brothers and sisters at daggers drawn as a result of deleterious competition. The story about the sale of Joseph into slavery by his competitive and jealous brothers in the Bible lends credence to my observation (Genesis 37:18-36). Integrity is not something that is suddenly acquired; we have to work hard at acquiring it. As church members, Godly integrity is expected of us at all times. It dictates that we be consistent in our values, decisions, attitudes and speech day in day out (Proverbs 10:19; Proverbs 28:6; 2 Corinthians 8:21; Colossians 3:23-24 and 1Peter 3:16). These attitudes are biblically endorsed and should constitute the bedrock of our Christian values.

Conclusion

           In a nutshell, in this essay I have shed ample light on the attitudes that we need to adopt as we strive toward building a stronger and extensive Christian community at home and in the diaspora. We are many parts of the same body as succinctly explicated in the 1 Corinthians text cited above. The crux of my discourse has been the attributes of a functional Christian family. As the family of Christ, we need to pray fervently and incessantly for continued solidarity among our members. Most importantly, we need to pray for the growth of our churches at home and in the diaspora. Matthew the Evangelist said in his scriptures: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37). I will round off this discussion by extending an invitation to all Christian brethren to join me in the following prayer:

Lord God,

We praise You for the tenderness of Your mercy.

Your nature is not to point a harsh finger,

Of blame or to shame us when we sin.

But You surprise us with Your kindness

And gently call us to Your better way. Amen.

 

Professor Peter Wuteh Vakunta, Ph.D.

The Ambazonian Question

 

 

The Ambazonian Question

 

 

Barrel of the Gun

 

 By Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

 

It’s no light comment on our country,

To say that we openly and consciously

Condone a system in which race 

Determines who breathes

And who should not breathe.

 

Whom we execute and

Whom we set free!

Take a walk down memory lane—

Revisit the slaying of the black boy named

Trayvon Martin in Sanford Florida.

 

Recall the killing of yet another black boy

By the name of Michael Brown

By a trigger-happy cop

In Ferguson in the State of Missouri,

In broad day light.

 

Remember the murder

Of the black man,

Eric Garner of Staten Island

By choke-hold tactics

By the police in New York.

 

Don’t forget the assassination

Of twelve-year old boy,

Tamir Rice wielding

A plastic gun by a vampire

In police uniform in Cleveland!

 

Our hearts still bleed

With anguish over the callous

Murder of George Floyd

In Minneapolis by police officers

Emboldened by institutionalized racism.

 

It's now crystal clear as it has been

In the past that race makes

Or mars in this land of the free!

Supreme Court  acknowledges

That race plays a role in death penalties.

 

Yet has decided to gloss over it,

To all intents and purposes.

This form of selective amnesia

Has become the stock-in-trade of

White folks the world over.

 

A black person killing a white

Person in Oklahoma, Mississippi,

Virginia, Arkansas or North Carolina

Is more likely to get a death sentence

Than a white man killing a black man.

 

Racism has become so deep-rooted

In our psyche that it has now acquired

The veneer of normalcy!

Racism is enmeshed in daily parlance—

Niggers! Shit-holes! Illegal aliens!

 

It's everywhere in commercials,

It's buried in institutional practices,

School system has been re-segregated,

Racism is pervasive in the workplace,

Who's fooling who in these climes?

 

In social circles and everywhere,

Veiled racism is visible to the color-blind

Yesterday, Civil Rights Icon,

Rosa Parks said, ‘I’m tired.’

Today, she'd say 'Fuck y'all, I’m fed up!’

 

 

Rogue Cops

 

By Dr. Peter Vakunta

 

 

Multifaceted nomenclature--

Copper,

Gumshoe,

Flat foot,

Poulet,

Mange-mille,

Mbéré-Khaki,[i]

We buy the fatigues for you,

We buy the guns for you

To protect us day and night;

You take the guns and shoot us!

Rogue cop,

You kill our kids,

You rob our banks,

And deflower our daughters,

You harass the innocent.

Racial profiling your stock-in-trade.

We’re sick and tired of cop roguery!

Notes

[i] Police man

Securing the Linguistic Base

By Professor Peter Vakunta

 

https://www.facebook.com/peter.vakunta/videos/10223212780210449/UzpfSTEzMTE3NjkwNzg6MTAyMjMyMTMwMjc4OTY2NDE/

New Publication

BByBDr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

Poetry has the potential to serve as a double-edged weapon. In Tragedy of the Commons Vakunta stirs the hornet’s nest, calls a spade a spade and throws gibes at emasculators of social justice. The poet refuses to sit on the fence and watch the world go by.  Strong in the conviction that poets must adjudicate upon the affairs of men, the poet picks up the cudgels to do battle with forces of evil the world over. He gives to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.  Widely traveled and seasoned by his global experience, the poet serves the reader with a bitter-sweet menu of mind-boggling aphorisms reflective of the ontological labyrinth to which he has been exposed in the course of his peregrinations around the globe. In this anthology of poems spanning a quarter century, the poet bemoans the fate of a world where miscreants pass for angels; wherein scoundrels speak for the voiceless; and mammon dines with God. The portrait painted in this book is that of a world where moral bankrupts proceed with nauseating callousness to trample on the rights of lesser beings. Tragedy of the Commons is the poet’s stentorian cry against the rape of social justice and the endemic moral crisis that has blighted our planet.

 

Tragedy of the Commons is a seminal piece of fictional writing that delves into the crevices of contemporary society. Divided into thematic realms, this book of poems is an awakening call for humanity to waken from slumber and pay heed to seemingly trivial issues of our times. The poet skillfully weaves into poetic form existential matters that human beings tend to gloss over. Readers will be at ease with the commonplace lexical choices that seem to be the poet's stock-in-trade. [Dr. Peter Ngwafu Ajongwa, Albany State University]

Kwenane

 

 

 

 

By Dr. Peter Wuteh Vakunta

 

They came severally,

They came collectively,

To the Holy city of Moria,

Abode of religious stamina.

 

Congregated at Kwenane gingerly,

They sang humbly and softly,

Mpoho-o! Mopho-o! Holy hymn-o!

Eyes glued to the sky-o!

 

In their midst there I was,

Between and betwixt,

Staring rather meekly,

As shepherds enjoined calmly.

 

Thou shall love your neighbor,

Thou shall forgive each other,

Thou shall not eat mopane worms,

Nor shall thou eat swine meat.

 

Kwenane not just a shout,

River that never dries out,

Come rain come drought,

Cradle of Zionist cry out.

 

Kwenane serpentine font

Revered baptismal fief.

Kgotso a ebe le lena!

Peace be upon you!

 

On that blissful day,

On 24 December 2019,

I plunged into Kwenane,

And emerged born again!

 

Cleansed of earthly travails,

Adulated by Z.C.C kith and kin,

Singing adulatory songs,

In honor of Modimo.

 

They were legion,

Of same religion,

Female and male dancers,

Outdoing each other in mokhukhu.

 

Z.C.C Brass Band—spectacle on its own.

Thanks to His Grace, the Right Reverend,

Bishop Dr. E. B. Lekganyane,

Tumiso a e ye go Modimo!

 

Emil Mondoa

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Emil

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