Canute - Chronicles from the Heartland

Ivory Coast: We can now stand up!

By CANUTE TANGWA
 
Because they stole our creamy-white dignity?
Because they stole our yellow cocoa pods?
Because they stole our red coffee beans?
Because they smelt black gold around our shore

Willy Nfor: Bass Guitarist As If To The Manner Born

By Canute Tangwa

When he died on February 11, 1998, the gurgling rivulets cascading and tumbling down the undulated hills of Ndu in Donga Mantung did not stand still nor did the incessant drumming of the Mentchum Falls!
 
Neither did the timeless tidal hush of the Atlantic breeze on the simmering palms of Victoria were he was born in 1956! Yet, when a count down is made of bass guitar greats in Cameroon, Willy Nfor, stands head and shoulders above a good many who have a very good press stringing on the bass guitar.

2011 Presidential Election: To Register Or Not To Register

By Canute Tangwa

Apparently, when memory takes flight, we loose a huge chunk of our ‘private literature’. There was a time when registering for elections and obtaining a voter’s card was a must. In those times, you could spend some nasty time in a police/gendarmerie cell or feel the nuisance capacity of the security apparatus if you did not possess a voter’s card.

ELECAM and The Conundrum of Election Rigging in Cameroon

By Frankline C. Kimbeng*

What is being foisted on Africa is a version of liberal democracy reduced to the crude simplicity of multiparty elections. This type of democracy is not in the least emancipatory, especially in African conditions, because it offers the people rights they cannot exercise, voting that never amount to choosing, freedom which is patiently spurious, and political equality which disguises highly unequal power relations (Ake, 1996).  Cameroon’s successive history of flawed elections and our so called “advanced” democracy depicts the above assertion.  

Revisiting & Breaking Cameroon’s Flawed Electoral Past: The Challenge for Mr. Tanimou

By Frankline C. Kimbeng*

Elections do serve many useful purposes for democratic transition and consolidation.  As Handelmon (2003) has pointed out, elections are designed to give the mass of the people opportunities to have a say in who (leaders) governs them and how (policies) they are governed.   As a means of giving accountability to citizens, elections are supposed to be a constant reminder to public office holders of the limited nature of modern government. 

 

The aftermath of flawed elections

Celebrating 50 Years Of Reunification In Our Own Way

By Canute Tangwa

Should we as Anglophones celebrate in our own way fifty years of reunification come 2011? This was the question I put to Sam-Nuvala Fonkem, current Public Information Officer for ONUCI in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. He shot back: Is there cause to celebrate? No but we could showcase the best and brightest of Anglophone brains and brawn in various fields 50 years running. He retorted: but do not forget those who have brought us shame! Our collective psyche is the sum total of our good, our bad and our ugly.

Why in our own way? I have never had cause to call any newsroom in Cameroon to react to a publication. This I did when I stumbled on a copy of Les Cahiers De Mutations titled PALMARES - LES GRANDES FIGURES DU FOOTBALL CAMEROUNAIS (Février 2010). I got Emmanuel Gustave Samnick on the line and asked him whether the likes of Raymond Fobete, Mark Nibo, Peter Essoka, Zachary Nkwo, Michael Wacka and so on did not have a place in his publication. First, I was impressed with his sound knowledge of the actors in question. Then the usual you-see-we-had-to-make-do excuse because of space and…a firm promise that part two would come out soon!

Al Qaeda Suspect Was In Cameroon!

By Canute Tangwa

Apparently, in the year 2005 or thereabouts, the alleged Al Qaeda petrel, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, in the company of about ten classmates made a trip up the 4070 metre high Mount Cameroon! Probably, they were final year students at the British International School in Lomé, Togo.

I Weep For Bamenda

By Canute Tangwa

Apparently, as a Buea boy I have no business weeping for Bamenda aka Abakwa. I should not weep more than the bereaved! However, two things took me up country: one that entailed weeping, pain and sorrow - the death of one of our best and brightest, Peter Terence Awa alias Peter T (Binot) and a joyous event in far-off Fundong - the traditional and 'whiteman' wedding of my friend in need and in deed, Ivo Lysinge or simply Papin or Marvé to friends.
 
I used a stone to shoot two birds! We hit the road from Douala in the evening of Friday, October 16. It was bound to be interesting because I was in the company of friends I have known for over 35 years!

Guinea-Conakry: From Glory To Decadence

BY CANUTE TANGWA

On October 2, 1958, Ahmed Sekou Toure said ‘NON’ to General De Gaulle and wrested independence from France. “We prefer freedom in poverty than wealth in bondage”, he thundered to the face of the insufferable French and his bemused peers like Leopold Sedar Senghor and Houphouet Boigny. French reaction was swift and telling (economic sanctions) but Guineans clung to their dignity.

IF THERE IS BLOOD IN MY EYES (PART I)

By CANUTE TANGWA

After three gulps of afo-fo, J. Safour smacked his lips and continued our story. The fog was quite heavy and visibility was almost nil. The cold went right into the bones. This was Buea in August of the late 70s. It was also the month of fear. The fear of the nyongo man, a senior cop who owned a beetle with license number 999.

SECURITY CONCERNS IN THE GULF OF GUINEA: AMERICAN, REGIONAL AND COUNTRY RESPONSE

By CANUTE C.N. TANGWA

According to Chester Crocker, former US assistant secretary of state for Africa, “there is more piracy in the Gulf of Guinea than anywhere else in the world”.¹ Thus, the Gulf of Guinea (GG) is as insecure as the Straits of Malacca² and the maritime domain that covers the territorial waters (12 nautical miles), contiguous zone (24 nautical miles) and exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles) from the Somalian coast.

Revisiting Pope John Paul II: A Priest Par Excellence

By Canute Tangwa (Originally published on thepostwebedition.com )

Roman Catholic history is replete with the good, the bad, the ugly and the controversial: popes, priests, religious and the laity inclusive. The spotlight would be on popes, Pope John Paul II in particular, and to a lesser extent Bishops, since they are the so-called elite or princes of the Church.

 

Pope John Paul II

Translation: Source of Dispute-Conflict and Perpetuation of Socio-Political and Political Hegemony

By CANUTE C.N. TANGWA

In trying to build bridges between cultures, the translator sometimes assists, in no small measure, in tearing them down. The upshot: disputes-conflicts ensue between parties or actors with, at times, dire consequences.

A dispute-conflict may arise from a wrongly placed comma, semi-colon to an outright mistranslation. This is quite common with legal texts.

Thus, the battle for the apt phrase, word or punctuation mark shifts from the translator to the law courts, arbitration centres or the field. Hence, belying some heated debates and disputes is a misplaced comma, colon or a mistranslation. Surely, most of us have not forgotten the translation of lettre d’intention as letter of intention over Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) when Cameroon decided to join the infamous IMF club in the early 90s.

Writing Autobiographies, Biographies And Treatises: Case Of Anglophone Cameroon Statesmen

By Canute Tangwa

The late Hon. Nerius Nemaso Mbile and Ndeh Ntumazah are exceptions to an unenviable rule unconsciously laid down by past and present Anglophone statesmen: do not leave any written document for posterity lest generations would pry into our actions! Rather let generations of Anglophones continue to quarrel, bicker, speculate and tear each other over who did what, where and when long after our deaths.
  
Dr E.M.L. Endeley (with folder), first Premier of the British Southern Cameroons, did not write his memoirs. Behind him is Nerius N Mbile (left) who wrote his.

Bate Besong And The Apparent Death Of Critical Thought At The University

By Canute Tangwa

Indeed, these are trying times. But what are the men and women in our university and intellectual circles doing to conscientize, energize, create awareness, proffer solutions and chart a course of action? The answer is not far-fetched.

It is in the very essence of a university i.e. critical thought that has been smashed to smithereens at the University.There is no longer a "revolutionary manière" at the academy. The deafening silence from a cross-section of eggheads in times as these is a cause for concern. A university is an integral part of its socio-economic and political environment.

Reminiscing about the Death of Of A Literary Baobab, Teacher And Counsellor: Bate Besong aka BB

By Canute Tangwa (Originally published in The Post after the death of BB on March 8, 2007)

Prologue: Thanks to Auntie Becky Ndive, the late Teh Che Augustine and I used to present a Literary Half Hour programme over CRTV Buea. We invited writers and freethinkers from within and without the academy. When Teh Che left, I ran the programme alone with the assistance of Edward Aminkeng.I decided to invite my teacher, friend and counsellor, Bate Besong alias BB, the Obasinjom Warrior and The Writer As Tiger! It was vintage BB.

Cameroon: The Old Guard Caught Off-Guard By Generation '90

Canute Tangwa

Most of the young men that burned, ransacked, pillaged and grounded Cameroon for almost a week (23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 February, 2008) are below voting age but are ripe enough, by our statute books, to get married.
 

In other words, our governors consider politics too serious a business for them and matrimony a social affair with no political trappings. By this, our leadership is oblivious of the fact that all actors in a society are often buffeted by internal and external forces that inevitably unleash a chain of actions and reactions that usually take on a non-partisan political coloration.

Book Review: Collection of Poems Entitled "No Turning Back" (2007)

Reviewed by Canute Tangwa

Dibussi Tande. No Turning Back. Langaa Publishers, 2007

Reading through Dibussi Tande's collection of poems NO TURNING BACK (2007), I  could not but recall Wole Soyinka's one point five billion naira question: "How did creativity survive under such arbitrary exercise of power? How did Art survive in a climate of fear?"(2004 Reith Lecture).

Dibussi Tande wrote most of his poems in an atmosphere (the turbulent and fiery 1990s; clamor for political change in Cameroon and the coming to the fore of the so called Anglophone Cameroon self-determination) of fear, uncertainty and expectation.

At the time something apparently of import but that went without much notice happened; the manhandling and belittling of the much heralded and celebrated writer Mongo Beti in the streets of Yaounde by policemen as the prince was moving out of town. Thus, the line between ART as vision cum commitment and ART as emotion and spectacle was drawn.

NO TURNING BACK encapsulates the Christian eschatological trinity of Vision, Tribulation and Hope; all these subsumed into the quest for freedom and political space that the poet skilfully handles as if to the manner born.

And If Obama Doesn't Go After African Tyrants?

By Canute Tangwa

We would not say he merely blew hot air on January 20. We must look at our backyard, wrack our brains, examine our consciences and ascertain whether we said yes, we can or depended on Barack Obama to work miracles for us or spent precious time blaming our ills on the West.

Indeed, we have acted out the victim for too long and thus played into the hands of our distasteful, bloodthirsty, visionless leaders and intellectuals who speak with both sides of their mouth.

"Why Don't you Go After the Big Man?”: Reminiscences on the Kenyan Crisis

BY CANUTE TANGWA (Originally published on African Path in February 2008)

“Why don’t you go after the big man?” were the last words of Nahashon Njenga Njoroge, the Kikuyu alleged assassin of the celebrated but unsung Kenyan foremost nationalist icon Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya a.k.a Tom Mboya, as he supposedly went to the gallows.

Tom Mboya, a Luo, was shot to dead in a Nairobi street on July 5, 1969. His death ripped open latent ethnic rivalries and bitterness between the Kikuyus and the Luos. The bloody clashes that ensued did not spare the revered Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu. He was pelted with stones as he alighted from his presidential limousine to attend Mboya’s requiem mass. Yet, from all indications Kenyatta had earmarked the charismatic Mboya as his successor. However, a big man thought otherwise.

The Two Bueas: Buea North (Then) Buea South (Now)

By Canute Tangwa (Originally published in The Post, June 2, 2005)

I spent the long 20th May weekend in Buea. It was both exciting and chilling. Exciting because every time I visit Buea, the town and land of my birth, I go down memory lane. I always look forward to meeting good old friends; savour the warmth and hospitality of the indigenous people (the Bakweri); think about or visit the prestigious schools we attended, popular joints (Holiday Inn, Cybel, Olivia, Mobutu) where we used to sit and crack jokes over bottles of beer; envelope myself in the refreshing mountain climate; take in the beautiful landscape and drink copiously the sparkling and tasteless water (Buea wata); gulp fresh palm wine at Bweku (a hamlet tucked away on the western fringe of the mountain); enjoy black soup, bush meat and cocoa yam around Moli. 

Notes from Douala

By Canute Tangwa

Douala-Mbeng also has a number of historical monuments. For obvious reasons, I do not mean German or French monuments. I mean authentic visible and invisible Cameroonian historical monuments.

Though Douala-Mbeng saw the Portuguese, English, Germans and French, it witnessed over and above all the real fight for our independence! I do not know how many Cameroonians or Doualans, especially, bother to ask the right questions. Really, if you ask the right questions, as they say, you will get the right answers: questions about who we are, where we come from and where we are heading to.

Cameroon: The Fear of China Should Be the Beginning of Wisdom

By Canute Tangwa (The Post, 26 November 2007)

Today, the Chinese economy is growing too fast for Western and to a greater extent African comfort.

There are several reasons to feel uneasy about China: the sheer size of its population, a billion and more people; the fourth largest economy in the world; a remarkable economic growth rate, from 3.8 percent in 1990 to 10 percent in 2007; its economic output for 2006 stood at $ 2.6 trillion; a trade surplus with the USA of $170 billion in 2004; China graduates 300,000 engineers per year compared with America's 80,000; three-quarters of all Chinese Bachelors degrees are in Mathematics, the Sciences and engineering fields.

Psychological Barrier In The Arab-Israeli Conflict Resolution

By Canute Tangwa (The Post 24 August, 2006)

In a November 20, 1977 address to the Israeli Knesset (parliament), the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat said, "we should have the courage to make determining decisions that are consonant with the magnitude of the circumstances".

Apparently, the Arab and Jewish world is presently bereft of bold statesmen like Sadat "known for their wisdom and clarity of vision to survey (a) problem, with all its complexities, in a bold drive towards new horizons".

Zimbabwe Shoes And School Blues

By Canute Tangwa (The Post, 25 July 2008)

I do not know of anyone who still has a pair of Zimbabwe shoes. Since Zimbabwe is on the spotlight, a pair of Zimbabwe for auction at say Lloyds (Bob Mugabe would for sure clinch his fist and curse) would fetch billions of worthless Zimbabwean dollars.

Worthless indeed, because Zimbabwe is the home of the world's poorest billionaires! The top bidder would go home with a pair of Zimbabwe shoes that even at the height of its popularity was a source of derision.