Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

In their Own Words: Frantz Fanon on the Assassination of Felix Moumié

Tomorrow, November 3, 2007, marks the 47th anniversary of the death of Cameroonian nationalist leader, Felix Moumié. In this posting, we relive that tragic event through the eyes of Frantz Fanon (picture), the famous Caribbean essayist, psychoanalyst, and revolutionary who fought alongside the FLN in the Algerian war of independence, and whose writings inspired African anti-colonial liberation movements in the 1950s and 60s:

Moumié. On September 30th [1960] we met on the Accra airfield. He was going to Geneva for some very important meetings. In three months, he told us, we would witness a mass ebbing of colonialism in Cameroon.

Excerpts of President Biya's Interview on France 24

Click here for President Biya's interview in English

During his recent visit to Paris, the usually media-shy Paul Biya gave a rare 40-minute interview to the French international cable network France 24. He discussed a wide range of issues from the 2011 elections, to his relations with opposition leader John Fru Ndi, corruption, his successor, and the repatriation of the corpse of former President Ahmadou Ahidjo who is buried in Dakar, Senegal.

The interview which was conducted by Ulysse Gosset was broadcast this evening on Le Talk De Paris. Viewers and interested parties around the world had the opportunity to send in their questions prior to the interview.

This was President Biya's first interview in France since his stormy 1990 interview with the late Yves Mourousi on Radio Monte Carlo.

Here are choice excerpts from the interview (my unofficial translation):

In His Own Words: Revisiting Nicholas Sarkozy's University of Dakar Speech

Excerpts from speech by Nicholas Sarkozy, given at the University of Dakar, Senegal on July 26, 2007.

The speech given by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the University of Dakar on July 26, 2007 is arguably one of the most talked-about and most controversial speeches in recent times; one that has generated - and is still generating - tons of reactions from across the world, particularly from Africa. Although excerpts of the speech have appeared in many publications and websites, it has been quite difficult getting a full transcript of the speech in English. A good samaritan recently directed me to an unofficial version of the speech in English. Find below sections of the Dakar speech that generated most of the controversy. (Subtitles are mine).

The excerpts are followed by links to rebuttals by Achille Mbembe, a Cameroonian Professor of History at the University of Witswatesrand in South Africa, which have also generated widespread debate in Africanist circles.

George Ayittey: Cheetahs vs. Hippos for Africa's Future

"This grab-you-by-the-throat speech by Ghanaian economist George Ayittey unleashes an almost breathtaking torrent of controlled anger toward corrupt leaders and the complacency that allows them to thrive. These "Hippos" (lazy, slow, ornery) have ruined postcolonial Africa, he says. Why, then, does he remain optimistic? Because of the young, agile "Cheetah Generation," a "new breed of Africans" taking their futures into their own hands."

"What I Wish For Cameroon": Ginger Cooper in Her Own Words

By Ginger Cooper

A volunteer Methodist missionary from Texas talks about her vision for Cameroon as she leaves the country after a two-year stay.

This spring I’ve made many trips out of Yaounde to neighboring villages and areas. During one of these long (and bumpy) trips I began to think of how foreign it is to have a highway running through the middle of the forest. In some areas the trees have retreated a hundred yards or so to escape the violation that the roads have become. They have turned their limbs to look for nourishment further into the rainforest. In other places the vegetation has boldly moved to within feet of the pavement – I imagine in a possible attempt to reclaim the strip of land.

Louise Mbango in Her Own Words: A Meditation on Globalization & Cultural Change in Africa

Culled from Kopo and Lady B a feature documentary on the decline and revitalization of African Tradition produced by Louise Mbango and Steve Dorst

Everybody says education and the Internet are freedom and opportunity. But we're moving from a society where everything was known to one where little is believed and everyone is lost. What good are all the libraries of the world on a computer screen if our Africa changes too soon too fast?

When I was young, we kids would gather around mom and dad and other elders for stories; sometimes they were accompanied by a traditional guitar or a drum. The old lifestyle was all about community, sharing, improvisation.

Now people flee the villages for cities. At night, they go to bars or clubs. Gatherings are less spontaneous, more mediated by commerce, sex, and ambition. The conversation has changed.

Remembering October 1, 1961: Ben Muna in his Own Words

It now seems that the English-speaking Cameroonians enjoyed more freedom of expression under the colonial government than they do today after gaining their freedom and independence.

October 1, 1961 met me in London as a student of Law in Lincoln's Inn. This date is important to me because after that day, I was summoned to the British Council Offices in London. I was received by the then Director, Colonel Cook. In spite of his military background he was a very polite and friendly person, who went out of his way to make sure that overseas students in London did not confront too many problems.

‘Save My Wife’ [A Snapshot of Cameroon's Health System]

By Nicholas D. Kristof [New York Times]

YOKADOUMA, Cameroon: Prudence Lemokouno was lying motionless on a bed in the bleak hospital here, her stomach swelled with a fetus that had just died, her eyes occasionally flickering with fright but mostly dull and empty.

Prudence at the Yokadouma hospital (c) N. Kristof

Dr. Pascal Pipi, the lone doctor in the public hospital, said she had a few more hours to live, and then she would join the half-million women a year who die around the world in pregnancy and childbirth.

Martin Nkemngu: I Was the First Journalist to Visit Lake Nyos after the Disaster

Culled from Cameroon Tribune

On August 21, 1986 when the Lake Nyos disaster occurred, I was serving in Bamenda as Provincial Chief of SOPECAM for the North West. I heard the news on Friday August 22, 1986 from one Mr. Titang Richard who was at the time the Superintendent in charge of the Bamenda Prison. Although on annual leave, I had to cut short and rush to the Governor’s Office where initial reports indicated that 40 persons had lost their lives in a strange gas disaster in Nyos, Menchum Division.

Mbella Sonne Dipoko in His Own Words: The Luxury of Memory

Cameroon Life Magazine (May 1990)

So let them be scared of my look, of my beard, of my head of hair. They are just philistines who are afraid of originality. They wish to be caricatures of Europeans. When they are scared of a mere beard, what would these people do when war comes, when the horizon suddenly begins to sneeze smoke and spit flames? Who will save the nation? For only the courageous can defend the colors of a country.

I did two stints at the university. First, it was when I imagined I could become a lawyer. So for a couple of years I studied law and economics at Paris University. But I gave this up when I began to work on my first novel, A few nights and Days. I really could not reconcile the drudgery of law school studies with the flamboyance of compulsive creative information. And also, what news was coming out of Africa, spoke of the death of freedom, and I thought it would be spiritually stultifying to try to function as a lawyer in a totalitarian environment.

Justice Samuel Lifafa Endeley: " Proud of The Image of Cameroon "

By Chief SML Endeley (Retired Chief Justice)

In the English -speaking part of Cameroon between independence and reunification,the administration provided education, health, order and the political atmosphere was liberal. The young administration was moving well. Before reunification, the people felt divided in the two separate administrations of Cameroon that had been one under the Germans. For example, we had two stars on our national flag. I wonder why Britain who defeated the Germans in the First World War did not get all of Cameroon. In the 1972 referendum, we were certainly coming back to what we were under the Germans — that is oneness. Cameroonians longed to live more closely with their brothers as justified by the referendum results. That was natural.

Ngala Nfor: May 20th - "The Soul of the Nation and Ancestors in Mourning"

By Nfor N. Nfor (National Vice Chairman, SCNC)

Southern Cameroons is a different and distinct nation.  With its own international boundaries defined by international treaties, it is not an integral part of La Republique du Cameroun. Southern Cameroonians are Not citizens of La Republique du Cameroun. They are by culture, history and international law citizens of SOUTHERN CAMEROONS. They are not français Camerounais.

But on May 20, 1972 President Ahmadou Ahidjo by Presidential decree annexed Southern Cameroons (West Cameroon), abolished the federation, divided Southern Cameroons into two provinces of his country and appointed francophone governors (proconsuls) to rule in Buea and Bamenda.

Pius Njawe in His Own Words: "Never a Prisoner"

One of Africa’s utmost press freedom heroes, Cameroonian journalist Pius Njawe has faced relentless harassment by theauthorities throughout his career. In the past thirty years he has been arrested 126 times and served prison time on three different occasions. Despite ongoing adversities, Njawe continues to publish his newspaper Le Messager. In 1993, he was awarded the WAN Golden Pen of Freedom in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the independent press in his country. Pius wrote this article for the World Association of Newspapers on the Occasion of the World Press Freedom Day.

Prof. Anomah Ngu: If I Were a Younger Man, I Won't be in Cameroon Today

Culled from an Interview from L'Effort Camerounais

I thank God from the bottom of my heart that he has allowed me to spend these 80 years working on sick people. I have been a doctor for over 53 years and during this time I have done many things, including surgery, cancer work in Nigeria and Cameroon. Some have been failures, some have been successes. I thank God for those successes and hope that I will still be able to get more patients treated of cancer, especially.

This government is taxing people so heavily. That doesn't help people to grow. Instead, it makes them want to close up and go away.

Celestin Monga in His Own Words: The Price of Political Activism

"Like many other Cameroonians, I was shocked by the outrageously condescending, paternalistic, and pretentious tone that you used in the National Assembly on December 3 when addressing the Cameroonian people. How could you allow yourself to say to 11 million Cameroonians: 'I have brought you democracy ... ' This is a country where every day, the most fundamental human rights are ridiculed and where the majority of the people do not have enough to live on, while a small number of opportunists share the riches of the country with impunity?"
Celestin Monga in his famous open letter to Paul Biya which landed him in Jail - Le Messager #209 of December 27, 1990.

Mboua Massok in his Own Words: "Why I Want to Destroy Leclerc's Monument"

The idea to destroy General Leclerc's statue (which some refer to as a monument) first came to me in 2001. At that time, I thought the statue was made of concrete. I tried to destroy it back then with a chisel. Unfortunately this was not possible. I was arrested and later released...

Mboua Massok's Masterpiece: General Leclerc Defaced...