The Life and Times of a Cameroonian Icon: Tribute to Lapiro De Mbanga Ngata Man

Chapter 3 - Entertaining Political Dissent in Cameroon

41 Chapter 3 Entertaining Political Dissent in Cameroon Introduction Recourse to oral literature as a medium for self-expression and tool of resistance has made gigantic strides in its evolution over the years. In the Republic of Cameroon this transformation manifests itself in the form of musical productivity and scholarship on the subject matter. Among those who have contributed significantly to emerging perspectives on the discipline are musicians themselves. Cameroonian songwriters are township griots who double as entertainers and freedom fighters. Orality is the tool they wield skilfully in an unrelenting war against governmental dysfunction, human rights violations, endemic corruption, bad governance, abuse of power, influence peddling, impunity, misappropriation of public funds and other forms of dereliction of duty that plague postcolonial Cameroon. Of all the musicians that have dedicated their songwriting to the defense of the socially oppressed, Lapiro de Mbanga is the most valiant. His lyrics are telling. He has carved out a niche for himself as the voice of the voiceless. Songwriting as a creative art in Cameroon has evolved over time. Several factors account for this transformation. The most salient dynamic is the shift in political dispensation. The dictatorial regime of Ahmadou Ahidjo (1960-1982) brooked neither dissidence nor defiance. Consequently, musicians, young and old, confined their art to mere entertainment. Veteran musicians like Eboa Lotin, Salle John, Manu Dibango, Francis Bébé, Ekambi Brilliant, Anne-Marie 42 Nzié, André-Marie Tala and many others who were in the limelight of Cameroonian musical industry in the 1960s and 1970s steered clear of political commentary. If they did, it was guarded praise for the Head of State, popularly referred to as “Grand Camarade” or “Senior comrade” in those days. The 1980s saw the emergence of talented singers like Sam Fan Thomas, Moni Bile, Ben Decca, Petit Pays, Ndedi Eyango, Guy Lobe, and Dina Bell among others. These songwriters, probably still suffering from the hangover of the Ahidjo era, were wary of political commitment. The status quo took a dramatic turn in the early 1990s when under duress from international role-players President Paul Biya reluctantly gave his green light to multiparty politics in Cameroon following the troubled launch of Ni John Fru Ndi’s Social Democratic Front party at Ntarikon Park in Bamenda on May 26, 1990. The advent of political pluralism in Cameroon has given birth to a new crop of songwriters who are unafraid to satirize the shortcomings of the powers-that-be. Topping the list of protest musicians is Cameroon’s maverick songwriter, Lapiro de Mbanga alias Ndinga man. Others include Longué Longué, Kotto Bass, Valsero a.k.a Le Général, and Donny Elwood to name but a few. These protest singers have simply refused to be cowed into submission. As Campbell (2001) would have it, “instead of becoming pawns in the political game, they have used the medium of the song…to mobilize the people” (5). Lapiro, Valsero and Elwood are unfazed by threats from Paul Biya’s dictatorial government. They tell it like it is. This chapter discusses the political commitment of Lapiro de Mbanga and what the singer’s political bravado portends for the democratization process in Cameroon. We contend that unlike his peers, Lapiro goes the extra mile in his relentless war against all forms of human and political 43 rights abuses in Cameroon. He is not contented with entertaining by means of his ndinga6 ; he takes the regime head-on by blowing the whistle on its innumerable flaws— corruption, dereliction of duty, impunity, influence peddling, tribalism, witch-hunting, and more. Like his South African counterpart, Mzwakhe Mbuli (1992), who argues that resistance is defense, Lapiro perceives his musical art as a weapon with which he continues to wage a vendetta against Biya’s lame duck government. It is noteworthy that Lapiro is not merely an observer of the political scene in his homeland; he actually identifies with the political opposition in Cameroon. In fact, he is a card-carrying member of the most powerful opposition party in Cameroon—the Social Democratic Front (SDF). In July 2007, he ran for the position of mayor in his hometown of Mbanga under the banner of the SDF but lost to his opponent of the ruling CPDM party. Lapiro de Mbanga’s music inspires hope for the millions of hopeless Cameroonians who have lost faith in their government. He symbolizes the power of the powerless. In song after song...