Ako-Aya: A Cameroorian Pioneer in Daring Journalism and Social Commentary

6. Ako-Aya and Women: Personal Experiences

79 Chapter Six Ako-Aya and Women: Personal Experiences T he intense illustration of certain events narrated by AkoAya can only be explained by the fact that he was an eyewitness to them and so could give direct evidence. This is especially so in his personal experiences with women. Was Ako-Aya merely indulging in vivid journalism in order to sell his paper or was he truly making confessions as to his promiscuous proclivities? These are difficult questions to which answers can only be surmised, a fortiori, with a lot of hesitation. Maybe he was just telling us of the incidental advantages, albeit immoral, that flowed from his duty post as Leader of al! Prostitutes. He wrote: i) ‘WEDNESDAY AUGUST 4, 1971: GOING TO OKU ‘‘I got a telegram from Victoria and how can I help reproducing it here. ‘‘‘Ako Care Sammy Mukete, ‘‘‘Outlook Office, ‘‘‘KUMBA. ‘‘‘Return immediately wonderful tribalistic doings in Buea proceed immediately. ‘‘PUBLISHER.’’ ‘‘As with some employers of Labour, only one’s services are valued and not the person himself and how can I go back to Buea when I am on my way to cure myself at Oku. 80 Ako-Aya: A Cameroonian Pioneer in Daring Journalism and Social Commentary ‘‘So with an aching back due to my imprisonment on top of the banda, I started on my way to this land. ‘‘With my big coat I sat near the driver who insisted that payment be done before we moved. My big coat fooled him and he didn’t ask me. Then we took off, this time with another driver on the steering. The mud from Bafoussam past Mbouda to Bamenda is one which needs no description. ‘‘We reached Bamenda, and I walked away cooly as if I had paid but this time not to the Highland whose Proprietor has turned to second hand car sales but to the Ringway. ‘‘Came the evening and came these fat Bamenda beauties. There were the big stut drinking coffee Bang fen ones from Nso and the big Kiravi plus Chuku chuku beef eating ones from Wum. I settled on the Wum one and munched chuku-chuku beef like a corn grinder grinds corn. ‘‘Mark you the Kiravi and the beef were taken on signature. Was I not wearing a coat and did I not look like a person from Buea? ‘‘As a guest I was supposed to pay all the next morning before I left. The morning brought problems - payment for services enclosed to the person from Wum and payment to the Hotel but I paid nothing to either party and what more, both the Hotel and woman were compelled to pay me money which enabled me leave next day to Oku. ii) ‘‘FRIDAY JULY 30, 1971: IMPRISONED ‘‘Like last time I left this sea-port without a franc in my pocket. One of these big men from overseas who tie head-ties around their heads gave me a lift to Kumba. 81 Chapter Six: Ako-Aya and Women - Personal Experiences ‘‘The place is cleaned of its grass and several people in this bustling town connecting elec-tricity to their houses. So my last visit to this town brought some improvement. ‘‘Well, I had to sleep in this town in order to continue my journey the next day. The deadly disease is all over me and I lived on fluids rather than on solid food. No wonder Europeans were dying like rats when malaria struck. I taxied to see a friend near the G.T.C. in Fiango, when by the side a girl selling oranges caught my fancy. ‘‘Though dressed, she was a pearl of beauty. She told me that she stays with her father but that the man comes home drunk every night and will not notice us. But as is usual with me, this is the one night the man came home sober. He had been refused credit for this time. ‘‘He pounded on the door and there was no ‘Bottom bed’ because I was lying on a mat; as there were no way to hide my last resort was to climb up the ‘Banda’, this is where he dries his corn. The whole place up there was very dark and I was virtually imprisoned in a dungeon. ‘‘He walked in with a snarl on his face -its the local one room type of house, the room serving as kitchen, sleeping room, eating room...