Straddling the Mungo: A Book of Poems in English and French: A Book of Poems in English and French

Demo-Dictators

19 Straddling the Mungo Demo-Dictators I am the State, After me there will be a flood! You know the proponents of this doctrine, don’t you? They are Africa’s demo-dictators— These dim-witted puppets Who brand themselves ‘enlightened leaders of the people’! I am the State, These lame duck presidents Who gained power thanks to electoral gerrymandering. Certainly, you know them! I am the State, These neo-colonial accomplices, So-called ‘best pupils’7 of the West. Undoubtedly, you know them! I am the State, These pseudo-democrats of the Third World, Who live at the expense of the ‘wretched of the earth’. Obviously, you know them! I am the State, These dolls of maguida marabouts Who live by the lie. Kaï walahi! You sure know them! 7 In a publication released by the National Secretariat of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the writer underscores Paul Biya’s lackey mentality in the following terms: “In the retrospective analysis of the end of Mr. Biya’s reign, there will be many vignettes, like his declaration to a French journalist that he was the best pupil of Mitterrand…” (4) ...