I Spit on their Graves: Testimony Relevant to the Democratization Struggle in Cameroon

A People Fit to Be Slaves

183 A People Fit to Be Slaves T hat is not the title of a novel or anything of the sort. The son of Gobata is not about to start trying his hand at fiction writing. I am talking about Cameroonians and Cameroon. “Cameroon is Cameroon,” as you very well know. What you may not have known yet is that Cameroonians are fit to be slaves. Quote me. The son of Gobata has never been known to engage in nasty jokes or to delight in mere play with words. The rulers of Cameroon are slaves of the devil (akwaabvera satan) and the rest of Cameroonians are slaves of these slaves of the devil. A person who doesn’t know his own endowments and strength, who cannot distinguish between his own real, permanent interest and ephemeral palliatives and shibboleths; a person who rushes out like a chicken every time grains of corn are thrown on the turf by the very person who will soon ring its miserable neck, is fit to be a slave. With the GCE saga now behind us, it is really baffling, as the complete list of pirate markers is made available, to realize the number of otherwise decent Anglophones who were secretly involved in that nefarious exercise for filthy lucre’s sake. I even discovered that a distant relation of the Gobatas was secretly involved in the despicable exercise! As he is not well known around Yaounde and can manage French fairly well, he pretended being a Francophone. I felt like strangling him with my own hands when I realized his treachery. He pleaded poverty as the cause of his involvement. Anyone who doesn’t realize that it is much better to be poor in freedom and dignity than to be rich in bondage is fit to be slave. 184 Godfrey B. Tangwa (Rotcod Gobata) One of the pretty ladies who was also secretly involved in the contemptible affair has been ostracized by her friends and acquaintances. She is reported to have recently attempted suicide by taking an overdose of valium. Of course, she was only seeking sympathy. Do you think anybody who really wants to die doesn’t know what to do? Another pretender who deceived us into thinking that he was solidly with us but who was Mbella Mbappe’s hireling has since been rewarded with a big post. All the unemployed graduate traitors have been rewarded with admission into ENS, Yauounde. Did you hear anything again about “studying files” before the list of admissions into ENS came out this year? All those admitted this year are children, relations and wards of members of the Presidential Majority and the GCE pirate markers. A person who cannot stand up for himself at a crucial moment and who subverts his own long-term interests on the altar of momentary palliatives is fit to be a slave. A person who cannot bear present inconveniences for a better tomorrow will remain a slave forever. A person who, because of personal interest, is ready and willing to sacrifice the interest and well-being of a whole group of people of which he is a part is not only immoral but fit to be a slave. There is one of these young upstarts who was very friendly towards me until the day I severely criticized one of these yeye chiefs who, precisely at a time they were preparing to deal the final death blow to the GCE, went to congratulate Paul Biya for the marvels he had done for the GCE. The yeye chief’ is related to my had-been “friend.” Ever since, his smile towards me is no longer as warm or his handshake as firm as before. For some time, this fellow has been successfully running with the hare and pursuing with the hunters. What he failed to realize about the son of Gobata is that I will not hesitate to denounce my own twin brother if I am convinced he is a traitor. 185 I Spit on their Graves: Testimony Relevant to the Democratization Struggle Since 1987, the wreckers of our economy have never stopped talking about “relance de l’economie.” (Don’t blame Hon. S.K Nyoh for saying that we need to “Relance” our economy or Hon. John Tatah for saying that Aids is a terrible “Philomena”). But our economy has continued sinking until today when it is lying flat on its flat belly...