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  • Afrigator

Africa At the Spring Meetings of IMF/World Bank: April 18th through April 23rd 2017.

Posted on April 20, 2017 by lambom's vuvuzela

IMF

The Bretton Woods Institutions – World Bank and IMF – are this April, meeting at their Washington DC Headquarters for their annual Spring Meetings. Central Bank Governors, ministers of finance and development, academicians, journalists, civil societies gather in the capital of the world, to assess, share, consult and disseminate information with respect to the world’s economy. While many of the events are global, there are many regional issues handled in their peculiarity. The great continent of Africa will be present in many ways. Herewith some specific events to watch out for:

10a.m. – 10:45a.m. Analytical Corner: The informal Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa

4:30pm – 5:15pm: Driving Digital Financial Inclusion in Arica

5:30pm – 6:30pm: A Conversation with Phiona Mutesi (Queen of Katwe)

Related events:

11:a.m. – 12:30pm Jumpstarting the Next Revolution in Food and Agriculture

11a.m. – 12:30pm On the sidelines of this event, Center for Global Development is hosting a high panel discussion on: The Challenge and Logic of Greater Financing for Africa featuring Akinwumi Adesina, President African Development Bank, Nancy Birdsall, President emeritus and Senior fellow, Center for Global Development, Ngozi Okformer Director, Africa Department, IMF, and former Finance Minister, Liberia, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Center for Global Developmentonjo-Iweala former Managing Director, World Bank and Antoinette Sayeh, former Director, Africa Department, IMF, and former Finance Minister, Liberia, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Center for Global Development.

 

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The Unsung Heroines of the Southern Cameroons Liberation Struggle: Woman Eh! By Lambert Mbom

Posted on April 5, 2017 by lambom's vuvuzela

On Wednesday March 29th, U.S State Department honored 13 women with the International Women of Courage award as part of its celebration of March as Women’s History Month and International Women’s day.  Three of the thirteen women came from Africa – Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger. Sadly, none of the valiant women of Southern Cameroons hit the mark and it is the courage of these women I seek to celebrate.

In its tenth year now, this award has “honored women from around the world who have exhibited exceptional courage and leadership, who have drawn strength from adversity to help transform their societies,” said Thomas Shannon Jr., Under Secretary for Political Affairs.

The history of the Southern Cameroons struggle at face value seems to have been high-jacked by men. It suffices to look at those whom we would induct into the Southern Cameroons Hall of Fame and these men – Dr Akwanga, Dr. Anyangwe Justice Ebong, Ambassador Fossung, Late Chief Ayamba, Luma among others would prevail; or better still, a cursory look at the number of Southern Cameroonians languishing in La Republique’s dungeons – Justice Ayah, Dr. Agbor Balla, Dr. Fontem, Mancho Bibixy and many others! Yes these are men but not just men. They are fathers and husbands. The real value of this struggle lies in the hands of the women standing with these men.

These men are husbands. They are not just bachelors who have channeled their idleness to a political ideal. The true heroines of this struggle are the many wives standing with these men. And like First Lady Melania Trump noted during the award ceremony, courage takes different forms. It is the courage of the many women, the wives of those we hail as our heroes that truly makes this struggle worth its while. And let’s leave the sweet mothers to Mother’s day and for one second doff our hats to that special coterie of Southern Cameroonian women called wives.

Fathom the wives of the current leaders of the Southern Cameroons struggle inadvertently thrown into the woes and throes of being “father-and-mother-in-one” because their spouse is in jail for daring to challenge the system; yes, these wives bearing the emotional emptiness of lying in bed and counting the rafters on the roof as they unconsciously search and yearn for the other, constantly looking out of the window day and night hoping their loved one makes a surprise entrée; expecting a knock that never comes or even worse still the headache of wondering what their loved ones could be experiencing in that dungeon. Yes these wives are the true heroines of this struggle whose courage is often underappreciated and unsung;

This award also recognizes the wives of the many compatriots who have fled to neighboring or faraway foreign lands. These wives worry about the safety and security of their husbands and are condemned to virtual romances wondering when they would be reunited again even as they are taunted and haunted by the oppressors. Yes, these women are the true heroines whose courage beyond mere resignation to their current fate urges them on and invariably eggs on the men.

And the wives too of the different leaders in foreign capitals around the world! These men may not enjoy the luxury of having to be arrested on account of their activism. They may in fact enjoy the freedom of jetting across cities freely! Yes and their wives too are heroines for having to bear the brunt of the caustic insults especially the new form of cyber terrorism heaped against their husbands; these women have to put up with the many long hours their husbands spend on the phone for conference calls and even bear constant displacement of their husbands away from home unsure of what the nefarious machinations of the oppressor may have in store for them. And yet in spite of all these, these women nudge their husbands on. Yes these are the real heroines of this struggle.

I would be remiss if I don’t recognize the coterie of women – call them cyber warriors who have arisen and given the struggle much needed momentum and impetus since the liberation struggle cruised to its crescendo. Beyond their undisputable and impeccable fundraising prowess these women of gold who keep the male leaders in check and chide them for their egotistic temptations are the torchbearers of community engagement. They have become the livewire of the struggle and the lightening rod. Woman, eh!

With every great man there is an even greater woman. And the courage of these women cannot and will not be in vain.

 

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When your friend becomes Bishop: Hail Auxiliary Bishop-elect Michael Bibi. By Lambert Mbom

Posted on March 21, 2017 by lambom's vuvuzela

IMG-20170308-WA0023     If someone called and asked me to make an educated guess of the priest chosen from the archdiocese of Bamenda to be bishop, Auxiliary Bishop-elect Michael Bibi would not have readily come to mind. Not in the convoluted sense of the proverbial familiarity breeding contempt but rather because of traditional biases or better still, conventional wisdom.

First, Bishop-elect is not Rector of the St Thomas Aquinas’ Major Seminary (STAMS), Bambui and has not been full time faculty there. Ecclesiastical history shows us that of the five Bishops of the Bamenda ecclesiastical province, only Bishop Nkuo of Kumbo did not have any direct relation with the seminary; three former Rectors of the major seminary in Bambui (Cardinal Tumi, Bishop Bushu and Bishop Agapitus) have become Bishops with one, the lone cardinal of Cameroon. Three former lecturers (Archbishop Esua of Bamenda, Bishop Nkea of Mamfe and Retired Bishop Lysinge of Mamfe) have also become Bishops. Clearly, the path to the episcopacy in the Bamenda ecclesiastical province passes through the major seminary. My friend does not fit that mold even though he taught on a part time basis in the seminary. It is worth mentioning that Bishop-elect Michael Bibi is the fifth ex-student of STAMS, Bambui to become Bishop.

What is more, Bishop-elect Bibi did not study in Rome where he would have been steeped in the ecclesiastical accoutrements wont of the episcopacy or “Bishops-in-waiting.” Or better still, he would have been known amongst the “power-brokers” in Rome. Again, with the exception of the Bishop of Kumbo who studied in Ireland, all the others have studied in Rome. Bishop-elect Michael studied in England where he fortified the legacy of the Bamenda-Portsmouth relationship.

However, like two of his predecessors, Bishops Andrew and Agapitus, Bishop-elect Michael has “walked” the corridors of power having been chancellor of the archdiocese of Bamenda for seven years. Bishop Nkea served as Bishop’s secretary of Buea diocese during the infamous years of the “Maranatha” crises and demonstrated an uncanny expertise that helped diffuse and dissipate the growing tensions. Bishop Agapitus Nfon erstwhile auxiliary Bishop of Bamenda now Bishop of Kumba served as Bishop Esua’s secretary in Kumbo. He later on went to Rome and studied Patristics which he later taught in the seminary before becoming Rector of the seminary. One would not be wrong to opine that Bishop Awa’s legacy lives on with Bishop Nkea of Mamfe and Bishop Nkuo of Kumbo. And now Archbishop Esua’s legacy will live on through Bishop Nfon of Kumba and auxiliary Bishop-elect Bibi.

Bishop-elect’s path to the episcopacy fits the bill of Gerard Hughes’ famous book: God of Surprises! He is the product of “Abakwa” town growing up in Metta quarters of all places and attending Providence Comprehensive College, Mankon not one of those “A-list” of schools. This has been an interesting journey. The very cathedral he would be consecrated in is one he knows very well. He served there as an altar boy and would later be ordained there as a priest in the jubilee year, 2000. He returned to serve as Bishop’s secretary and now comes the icing of the cake with his election as auxiliary Bishop.  This is the work of the Lord!

The 5:30a.m. “Whatsapp” message from Fr. Maurice Akwa announcing the election of Bishop Bibi saw me leaping in joy. My “own man” is now a Bishop! Unlike in political circles whereby such an elevation would have afforded one some favors such as appointments to some high office with financial remuneration, I find my friend’s election as auxiliary Bishop an enormous responsibility to be able to help him accomplish his mission and succeed in his ministry. Chesterton’s words seem appropriate in this context when he opined in his famous work Orthodoxy, that if this was something to stand by, then this should be the norm, that we take the crown and go to the recesses of the world in search of the man who knows he is not worthy to wear it; the man who would sincerely say, like St. Augustine, “Noli me episcopare” – (Not me for Bishop).

My first apostolic assignment in the archdiocese of Bamenda was at the Youth Office. I had the honor of being chaperoned by now auxiliary Bishop-elect who was also on similar assignment. He would pick me up from our Ndamukong street home every morning and drop me off every evening. For six years, while we journeyed through the seminary, we became true friends and real brothers. Both of us were “called” to the priesthood but he was “chosen.”  It would seem odd that all of a sudden because he has become a Bishop, this relationship should fizzle out.

In his recent book, “Living the priesthood: Personal reflections on 25 years of Priesthood,” (which I highly recommend the Bishop-elect to read if he had not already done so, or to re-read within the context of his new position), the author, Rev. Dr. Joseph Awoh underscores the importance of friendship for priests. He notes: “Priests need priests. It is important that all of us have special friends of our presbyterate, religious community or whatever group God has placed us – not only as a psychosocial support system – but also as a spiritual support system. Ideally these friends should be people of our generation – classmates or age mates, people who studied with us in the seminary. (Emphasis is mine).

This is a refreshing recommendation which even though it celebrates “priest-to-priest” friendship, drives home, unintentionally albeit, the role some of us former seminarians are called to play. I belong to a special class of persons who like Bishop-elect felt called to the priesthood but unlike him fell along the way or rather off the way. The greatest tragedy for many of us in this special class is not the fact of having fallen along the way but rather our inability to sustain the relationships we cultivated while on that pilgrimage to the priesthood. Some of us have become so tainted like the biblical lepers that it is scandalous for some priests – our school and classmates- to be friends with us. While there are many reasons for this, it seems the answer lies in what true friendship means.

It might be apropos to read the great philosopher Aristotle’s enunciation of friendship. In his classical work, Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle identifies three kinds of friendship namely, friendship of utility, friendship of pleasure and friendship of the good. With friendship of utility, Aristotle surmises that friends do not love each other in themselves but in so far as some benefit accrues to them from each other. In other words, the friend is not loved for his own sake, but for the sake of some benefit received by the other.

Friendship of pleasure is based on pleasure: for instance, when one enjoys the society of witty people not because of what they are in themselves but because they are agreeable to one.

Aristotle recommends friendship of the good as the perfect form of friendship which is that between the good, and those who resemble each other in virtue. For these friends wish each alike the other’s good in respect of their goodness, and they are good in themselves; but it is those who wish the good of their friends for their friend’s sake who are friends in the fullest sense since they love each other for themselves and not accidentally. It is along such Aristotelian paradigm that I seek to deepen the friendship with the Bishop-elect. Bishops can be very lonely. Even Bishops too have and should have friends.  

          In seeking the key to unlock the contours of his ministry, I found this in the fact that Bishop-elect had a passion for soccer. Interestingly, he played with defunct Adidas Football Club – in the second division league where he guarded the goalpost before proceeding to the minor seminary in Buea.

My first encounter with the Bishop elect happened on the 11th February 1990 when I watched him defend the goalpost in an exciting “Youth Day” final, pitting Bishop Rogan College minor seminary against the vocational school OIC – a mismatch by any standards which turned out to be a repeat of the David-Goliath spectacle. Bishop Rogan College carried the day. I would move there the following year for high school studies. Michael proceeded to the Major seminary in Bambui where for all seven years remained the goalkeeper of the invincible seminary soccer team. One would not be wrong then to observe that just as Christ called Peter, the fisherman to be a fisher of men and he has called Michael the goal keeper to be the goalkeeper of the faith and the flock; in fact goalkeeper of the Kingdom. Be a keeper of your brother priests; be a keeper of catechists.

During his consecration on March 25th, the principal consecrator will address him in the following words: As a steward of the mysteries of Christ in the church entrusted to you, be a faithful overseer and guardian.  Since you are chosen by the Father to rule over his family, always be mindful of the Good Shepherd, who knows his sheep and is known by them and who did not hesitate to lay down his life for them.

The Bishop is a guardian. The French word for goalkeeper is “guardien” which shares some affinity with the English, guardian or custodian. Former goalkeeper for the United States of America soccer team Brad Friedel captures the essence of goalkeeping when he says: Being a goalkeeper gives you quite a unique perspective on things. You are part of a team yet somehow separate; there are no grey areas, with success or failure being measured in real time; and you have a physical job which you can only do well by paying attention to your mental well-being. A great goalkeeper has to have the keys to a great mindset. To be able to work well in the box, I believe you have to be able to think outside the box.”

Mundane as these words may read, they contain practical wisdom for Bishop-elect’s edification.

One cannot fail to recognize the tremendous work the Bishop-elect has already accomplished with the Maryvale Institute in the archdiocese of Bamenda. He has trained many catechists and in fact many lay persons on the rudiments of the faith. I had a feat when my dad informed me about his graduation from the Maryvale institute and told me the nice things he had learnt in Canon Law, Scripture, Liturgy and Church History. Bishop-elect is an expert in Catechetics. Every Bishop is a chief catechist. Having been engaged in the formation of catechists for the local Church, my prayer for my friend is that may the new function he embraces be (in)formed by the lives of the many catechists whose selflessness and dedication in the Lord’s vineyard is unparalleled.

The most celebrated quality of Bishop-elect Michael Bibi is his simplicity. It is the one quality that many have trumpeted since this news broke. The temptation with such a position is its corruptibility. It presents an enhancing environment for the probable and possible to become reality. And as wisdom teaches, “corruption optimi pessima est” – the corruption of the best is the worst. Hence, the virtue could become a vice as a result of the new function. If I could preach a retreat to the auxiliary Bishop-elect (something we recently joked about), I would focus on the words the principal consecrator on the day of consecration would proclaim inter alia:

You, dear brother, have been chosen by the Lord.  Remember that you are chosen from among men and appointed to act for men and women in relation to God.  The title of bishop is not one of honor but of function, and therefore a bishop should strive to serve rather than to rule.  Such is the counsel of the Master: the greater should behave as if he were the least, and the leader as if he were the one who serves. 

To God be the Glory! May the “Yes” you will profess and proclaim on March 25th mirror the “Yes” of the Virgin Mary as you ascend to the high office of auxiliary Bishop on the solemn feast of the annunciation.

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“Alternative Facts” of Cameroon Journal on MoRISC. By Lambert Mbom

Posted on February 10, 2017 by lambom's vuvuzela

The publisher of Cameroon Journal, Christopher Anu Fobeneh, has done it again. Out of his hat, he has pulled more dubious claims. Reeling from being fired from the Communications Sub-committee, he is doubling down on his crusade against the Movement for the Restoration of the Independence of Southern Cameroons (MoRISC) peppering this with a collection of half-truths, outright lies, fake news and shenanigans. Probably more aware than anyone else about the lies, he proclaims: “We are about providing all the FACTS to all THE SIDES of every story.” Gee me a break!

In an earlier posting on my blog, www.lambomsvuvuzela.com, I debunked Christopher Anu Fobeneh’s reportage that misinformed the so called Editorial of his journal, as an affront to the ethos of journalism. While everyone welcomes the veritable “watchdog” character and “gatekeeper” role wont of journalism, Cameroon Journal’s pretentious attempt at it, is disgraceful and quite off the mark with respect to MoRISC. So far off the truth is everything Christopher Anu Fobeneh publishes that it would be appropriate to preface every article with the warning: “and now lies from the Cameroon Journal…”.

In its new batch of rumblings against MoRISC, Fobeneh harps on the relationship between the Advisory Council and MoRISC. First of all, let us be clear: no Advisory Council was nominated like Fobeneh claims. This “drive-by” reporting can only yield the kind of calumny, Chris has indulged in. It would be helpful to get the facts right and report without bias: When the general Assembly deadlocked over how to proceed during the June 21st confab, MoRISC’s Steering Committee invited leaders of the different groups present in the hall to come together and concert. This group was made up of the Chair of SCNC NA – Elvis Kometa, Chairperson of SCYL – Dr. Ebenezar Akwanga, Chair of the Ambazonia Liberation Movement – Edwin Ngang, representative of the Confederation of British Southern Cameroonians NA – Jonathan Awasom, representative of South East delegation from Dallas, whose name I cannot recall, Valentine Gana – representative of the Midwest, Sebastien Epah – representative of South West Elite Association (SWELA), Fako Washington DC President: Nathaniel Mosaso and a representative of Houston Delegation whose name I cannot recall. Even Theodore Ngomba, who took the roll call of those present, identified himself as representing his lone self, as an independent. Note that the draft Constitution which was not debated and, therefore, not adopted set out this group to bring together only the leaders of liberation movements. The General Assembly resolved to nominate Boh Herbert as Spokesperson for MoRISC and cleared the leaders of the liberation movements, who were discussing the setting up of the Advisory Council, to work with the MoRISC Steering Committee ahead of the February 11th 2017 conference. These were the two resolutions which were presented to the general assembly and voted by unanimous acclamation. 

If that group arrogated to itself the task of reviewing the draft constitution, they did not inform the noble assembly gathered. The cry on the floor was that many people had not had the opportunity to read the draft constitution and needed more time. This is why those present at that meeting agreed to discuss and adopt the draft constitution at the Feb. 11 conference. Every participant was encouraged to read the draft and send in proposed amendments to the legal team ahead of the meeting in Hagerstown. 

Also uninformed, dishonest and laughable is Fobeneh’s claim that an advisory council was charged to take over management of MoRISC. Does that not fall flat in the face of the council’s own nomenclature: Whom will they be advising then? Nevertheless, that did not happen and even at face value defies any rationale standard. That notwithstanding this can only be rated as “pants-on-fire” in the “Truth-o-meter” to borrow from Politifact’s classification.

I find it ludicrous to imagine that MoRISC organized a conference and mortgaged the responsibilities of taking the meetings’ proceedings to an advisory body. If that had truly happened you would have been crying foul and accusing MoRISC of dereliction of duties. Hearken to your earlier post!

The other resolution that came up from the General Assembly called for the issuance of a declaration at the end of the conference. This suggestion was made on the floor while the conference was in session. Nobody needed to have been consulted thereafter, except, of course, the General Assembly which reconvened during the night session, adopted and disseminated the declaration under the title Washington Declaration. 

MoRISC has a vibrant, dynamic and competent communications team into which Fobeneh was briefly coopted before being fired. It is a shameful lie to claim, as he does, that he was never part of any committee while at the same time claiming that he was one of the founders of MoRISC. Fobeneh participated in conference calls, seating as a member of the same committee he claims he never served on. When you proposed to reach out to Prof. Kofele Kale to be the keynote speaker at the January 21st conference, on what basis were you offering to do that? Is it a matter of selective amnesia? One would forgive that but clearly there are desperate attempts at sabotaging MoRISC.

This is amply borne out in your critique of MoRISC as a “personality cult” even though what you meant to say is that MoRISC is a North Western cult. Spewing this kind of garbage is eloquent testimony of your sworn commitment to kill MoRISC even though hiding behind the cloak of serving as a watchdog. Your acrimonious charge is alarming on three levels. First, the clumsy grammatical construction of that statement evident in your odd mixture of Kom, (a tribe), Ndop and Nkambe (names of towns in the North West Region) and Donga Mantung axis (a division of the NWR) speaks volumes. The lack of parallelism in that sentence structure exacerbates the issue.

Secondly, it is factually incorrect for you to make such a claim. Please be informed that there are many persons from the South West region in MoRISC’s steering committee. How comes you failed to notice that of all the leaders who came out to speak on the floor, only one cultural group leader was present and thank God from Fako. Let me paraphrase the words of Mavis Staples and say “In MoRISC, there is no South West or North West but one Southern Cameroons, one Ambazonia.”

Thirdly, if anyone doubts where your allegiance is, this paragraph clears this out. You are drawing exactly from the playbook of La Republique that has played this tribal, ethnic and regional card for too long. They have used this to divide and rule us. They have played us against each other and successfully held us in bondage and servitude with this philosophy. We have grown accustomed to see things in shades of North West and South West. This is unfortunate. While I regret that you could play this card, I understand why. When you engage in desperate acts of smearing, you end up with such puerile philosophies that feed xenophobia. And you claim to be reporting facts? No, Sir! It passes the smell test of hate speech. This stinks!

One understands you have a personal axe to grind with a distinguished colleague, Herbert Boh! He called you out for propagating violence which is anathema to the mission and goal of MoRISC. Are you trying to get back at him? Good luck and try harder!

Lastly, your reference to MoRISC re-inventing the wheels is shallow and pretentious. Isn’t it outlandish for you to make such claims? It betrays the impression that you get a status report about MoRISC and its contacts with the different leaders at home. There is a lot happening in the background of which you are clueless. Tread carefully, my friend. MoRISC remains highly indebted to the giants who have blazed the trail of the liberation struggle. It recognized them and will continue to build with them. I provided you a list of those giants who are present here in the United States with whom MoRISC made contact. One of MoRISC’s subcommittee is Strategy and Policy which includes some of the persons you referenced and as MoRISC gathers steam and momentum, and becomes functional, more visibility would be afforded this committee.

MoRISC is also not oblivious of the fact that to continue doing the same thing and expect different results is a recipe for madness. This struggle is not at its initial stages and outreach is not something to be accomplished in a day. Consensus building takes time and hard work. Your penchant for hackneyed strategies that have not panned out is just a straw man. Imagine the role social media is playing to further the cause. Is the consortium not new? Is it not serving a purpose? It is counterintuitive to limit engagement of the struggle to the past. Riding on the coattails of the current momentum, there are many who have come from the fringes and have a right to chart a new way. This is not a zero-sum game of “Either…Or” but rather “Both…And.”

We live in the age of “alternative facts” wherein opinions are glorified and facts relegated to the background in pursuit of an agenda. Like I recommended in my last rebuttal, Christ encourages us to let the weed and the wheat grow together. At harvest time, they shall be known by their fruits. Why is Fobeneh fiddling while Southern Cameroons burns?

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ANU’s Recriminations against MoRISC: A Rejoinder. By Lambert Mbom.

Posted on February 7, 2017 by lambom's vuvuzela

Dear Mr. Anu:

Thanks for dedicating the Editorial of Feb. 2nd, 2017 on your coveted online platform, Cameroon  Journal, to denigrate, deride and lambast the Movement for the Restoration of the Independence of Southern Cameroons, aka MoRISC. As one who claims “to have pioneered the initiative that led to the birth of MoRISC,” one would have expected these views to have been expressed in some shape or form while you enjoyed membership with MoRISC but helas. I would grant you the privilege that the scales suddenly fell off your eyes when you were given six months’ leave twice every year from MoRISC Communications Team.

I have struggled to decipher the rationale for your missive but find it hard to put aside the fact that this smells of the sour grapes phenomenon. One would have expected you to preface your remarks with the fact that “You were thrown out of MoRISC Communication subcommittee for proclaiming violence, antithetical to the ethos and philosophy of the movement.” That alone would have given your ranting some credibility.

Your opening salvo, “we have listened to the arguments for and against the group…” sets you up on a high horse as an arbiter and one cannot but wonder whether given the recent brush you had with the group, you could be impartial.

Against that backdrop, I have also toyed with applying the biblical parable to MoRISC of the man who sowed good seeds but while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weed among the wheat. Matthew 13:25 And this “weed” some are already smoking and trying to choke the wheat. Just remember that after the weed dissipates, you will need the wheat! In that parable, Christ asks that the weed be allowed to grow alongside the wheat until harvest time.

The foregoing notwithstanding, I have taken the liberty in my personal name to respond to your charges against MoRISC in the true spirit that brothers fight with elbows and not with fists.

By way of general comments, notice that in your opening paragraph, you set up any initiative for the liberation struggle on an impossible mission when you opine that – “the mission and modus operandi be made for the purpose of unanimity and acceptability among a majority of Southern Cameroonians” Think about it again! No one expects unanimity. We can have unity without unanimity. Unity is not the absence of conflict. In fact, when conflict is handled well, it leads to unity. And by the way, the different groups mushrooming on the Southern Cameroons agenda do not seek unanimity and a majority of Southern Cameroonians.

It is overly overzealous to imagine and expect that unity would have been achieved between November 2016 and now. MoRISC seeks to forge a long lasting unity between the different groups while creating space for those who do not want to be affiliated to the different groups and yet want to be a part of the liberation struggle.

All I offer in response are the words of the revered Englishman Henry Cardinal Newman who said: “Nothing would be done at all, if a man waited till he could do it so well, that no one could find fault with it.” Desperate times call for desperate measures. The “tour de force” that MoRISC is, is clearly evident in the virulent attacks it has engendered. I just hope you were not insinuating that those opposed to the budding MoRISC are in the majority and even if they were just be reminded that the problem we are decrying in our country borders on the fallacy of numbers.

Let me focus now on the five charges you leveled against MoRISC and attempt an answer. I do so with the firm understanding that your attitude is one of a MoRISC atheist than an agnostic. While the agnostic harbors doubts and is open to understanding, you have already adjudicated and condemned MoRISC. Yet for the sake of information, it is important to clarify.

On MoRISC’s Place as an umbrella organization of all Southern Cameroons Nationalist Movements in the Diaspora: There have been many recriminations against MoRISC with respect to its claim of being an umbrella organization. When the revolutionary volcano exploded in Southern Cameroons last November, many in the Diaspora cried out for concerted effort. There were online appeals for some coordinated leadership and the need for different groups to coalesce and form a united front. That was a tall order and given the rapid turn of events, there was need to make hay while the sun shines.

Chris, for a publisher of your caliber to peddle in half-truths and outright lies is befuddling. Your sourcing for this was poor and worse still biased.

In the United States of America, the three well known groups fighting for the liberation of Southern Cameroons are the SCNC, Ambazonia-related groups most prominent of which is the Ambazonia Liberation Movement (ALIM) and the SCYL.  Each of the leaders of these groups was contacted. There was even a new group created in New Jersey called Confederation of British Southern Cameroons in the US CBSCNA; And many others have sprung up! During the January 21st conference, these groups were welcomed and given the opportunity to introduce themselves.

Let us be clear that this talk of outreach is a smokescreen used to give the impression that MoRISC is not representative. It would be nice to be specific. And here, I like to talk about the Chairman of the SCYL.

As far as I know, the Chairman of the SCYL was contacted and invited to the very foundation meeting of MoRISC. Dr. Ebenezar Akwanga has taken part in a steering committee meeting of MoRISC and even spoke during the town hall meeting organized last December by MoRISC. He is not in support of MoRISC and that is his right and prerogative but that does not mean he has not been contacted and briefed on the goals and mission of MoRISC.

Edwin Ngang, the poster child of Ambazonia Liberation Movement (ALIM) was contacted and you know, he and his ilk have serious reservations against the rest of the groups that call themselves “Southern Cameroons…” They believe any group that labels itself that way is part of the problem. Edwin, has repeated ad nauseam, that pan-Cameroonianism is the major stumbling block. You can imagine the herculean task it is to get them on the table. He graciously accepted to be a part of the conference and was present.

MoRISC does not seek to reinvent the wheel and believes in the trail blazed by giants on whose shoulders it stands. Hence, efforts were made to recognize these. Be informed that Chief Alexander Taku was invited to the conference and he took part in the conference in DC.

Ambassador Fossung originally accepted to be part of the conference on condition that somebody would pick him up. Entre-temps he changed his mind. You wonder why? Folks of your ilk poisoned the swamp.

Retired Justice Alobwede Ebong was also invited and agreed to be a part of the conference and some confusion on transportation prevented him from showing up.

Be informed too that MoRISC in the planning for the conference that took place last January reached out to Fon Gorji Dinka who is currently in London. He was given the opportunity to record a message and send to the group and he originally declined and said MoRISC could use one of the many messages he had sent out. With hindsight, he changed his mind and sent a message which was played in the evening during the “cry-die.”

It is also worth noting that outreach efforts were made to other groups that were known such as the AAG that believes in federalism as the way out of the current quagmire.

As a good reporter, one would have expected that having taken part in the preparations towards the conference, you should have reported that outreach attempts to women and stalwarts of the struggle were made. You even volunteered during the planning of the conference, to reach out to Prof Kofele Kale and get him to be a keynote speaker and we are still awaiting your feedback.

You claim that leaders show up at protest rallies not as organizers but as any other Southern Cameroonian would. This grandstanding must end! Tell those leaders to organize their own demonstrations and invite others. They come to a rally and are recognized and given the opportunity to address the people and it becomes an issue. If they had shown up and not given that attention, they would have cried foul.

I would suggest that those leaders pray this famous prayer of St Francis of Assisi:

Lord Make me an instrument of your peace Lord: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where   there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

May they seek not so much to be understood as to understand!

“The Draft Constitution that Surfaced in DC” is your next charge. MoRISC has a legal team that drafted that Constitution. Again your sourcing was wrong, poor and prejudiced. It is so easy to give a dog a bad name and hang it. Chris, it is shameful that members of MoRISC’s own steering committee did not read the draft constitution. This is the problem with us all. That document was circulated at least 24 hours to the conference. Do not forget that the only way to hide information from a black man is to write it in a book.

I hope you are not insinuating that a constitution is only worthwhile when written by a team. You worked on hearsay and concluded that the constitution was done by one person. There were at least eight fine legal minds that worked on that document. Now that a team prepared that document, you still have issues with it. Every constitution is a working document.

I would agree that may be more time should have been given for people to read through the document. Hopefully, many have had the opportunity to read the draft document and are prepared to send forth proposed amendments for the 11th Feb conference in Hagerstown.

On MoRISC as a political organization – It would be instructive to research on the various ways of registering an organization in the US and the implications not just for donors but for those running it. It is very easy to stoke the flames of sentiments and make outlandish claims. What do you understand by a political organization? Please school yourself on what the options are, the implications of each and the advantages/disadvantages of registering groups in the United States.  How do you for proper tax purposes constitute an organization in the US and blend that with the activism and diplomacy needed to achieve the goal of the independence of Southern Cameroons. What do you suggest as an alternative? How is the SCNC for example registered in the United States? FYI, SCAPO at the recommendation of the African Union Court deposited registration forms as a political party in Cameroon. How about the SCYL? How is it registered if at all in the United States? Be informed too that it took years for the SCNC to be cleared off the State department’s list as state sponsor of terrorism. We must walk a fine line and not just throw words around?

Your insinuation that MoRISC is a monolithic cabal high jacked by Boh Herbert is a cheap shot. Try again! Why is it that of the over 24 persons on the steering committee of MoRISC, you have singled out Boh Herbert and claim he has “vehemently challenged revision of the group’s status?” You ridicule the rest of us members of the steering committee and make us look like dunces being led by the nostrils. The interim leader of MoRISC’s steering committee has been the Chairman of SCNC. The fact that Herbert has been the public face of MoRISC should not invite this kind of vitriolic attack. To use an editorial page to settle personal vendetta against one with whom one harbors differences in opinion is definitely a cardinal sin in journalism.

On the relationship between MoRISC and the Consortium: For the last couple of months, the name on every lip in Southern Cameroons is the consortium. Thanks to this representative body of lawyers, teachers and drivers which took the country as by a storm, the liberation struggle of Southern Cameroons has been reenergized. Given the reality on the ground and with the sound legal minds that led the consortium, they strategically argued for federation as the ultimate solution to the Southern Cameroons conundrum. While MoRISC unapologetically convened on the sole agenda item of restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons, it recognized the leadership of the consortium and paid allegiance to it. There is no doubt that given its reality on the ground, the consortium could only do that much. Many of us had sustained conversations with members of the consortium. As a body, MoRISC recognized its role as a diaspora organ working with external options and exploring international options.

Ivo Tapang, has been invited many times to join the Communications committee and he has elected not to. There were attempts made to have him be a keynote speaker at the last convention. That too fell through.

It is not for want of trying. Do you know the relationship the consortium had with the political leaders of the different groups in the struggle back at home? It would be nice for you to read, re-read and understand where the Consortium was going to and why they did what they did.

Structures on the Ground: Again this charge against MoRISC while valid is premature and presumptuous. Concretely, the only organization that has structures on the ground in Southern Cameroons is SCNC. It would be nice to find out what you mean by structures? Office space? Or did you mean human resources/boots on the ground? If it is about human resources, MoRISC is barely two months old today. It is work in progress. Yet, it is gathering momentum in South Africa, in Europe, in Africa and even here in the United States of America. MoRISC is designed to provide the convening power to galvanize the efforts of SCAPO at the African Union, Ambazonia Liberation Movement at the United Nations and the SCNC. It seeks to serve as a lubricant while at the same time creating space for non-aligned members of any of the current outfits to also participate. This is where the rubber meets the road.

Your reference of Hon. Wirba is yet another desperate attempt at legitimizing baseless claims and sanitizing half-truths. Hon. Wirba has received more phone calls since his courageous speech in Parliament than all his life put together. Yes, MoRISC reached out to him to invite him to the conference last January 21st and he explained that there are too many groups inviting him all around the world and he thinks this is not the opportune moment for him to travel. He clearly indicated that he thinks it is premature and more coordination needs to be done.

You can see how much time one has wasted responding to these gripes that could have been settled inter nos. We must make no mistake: La Republique is not the only enemy Southern Cameroons has. We too, the people of Southern Cameroons are out best enemies. Your editorial was an epic betrayal of journalism, laden with innuendoes, half-truths or rather “alternative facts” I urge you to tighten your role as a watchdog. Just be careful that the dog does not turn and bite its master while the enemy is pillaging and plundering the master’s property. It would be an overstatement to claim MoRISC as it stands is a perfect gem. It is work in progress and we can either let it blossom or at our own peril seek to choke it.

 

 

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Who is thankful for me? By Lambert Mbom

Posted on November 25, 2016 by lambom's vuvuzela

It is yet another celebration of “Thanksgiving” in the United States arguably the most American of all holidays. It is an eminently “familial” event. Family reunions are the staple and in fact the highest common factor that characterize the celebration. It is food, family and friends. An intrinsic part of this tradition is the annual presidential pardon of two turkeys. While it sounds perfunctory, this presidential act draws an inner connection between forgiveness and gratitude. One is here reminded of Pope Francis’ recommendation for couples to learn to say, Please, thank you and I am sorry.

In my random musings of the significance of this annual event, I could not help but notice that it comes towards the end of both the calendar year and the liturgical year of the Catholic Church. Hence, it seems thanksgiving is always a celebration of the past. It is always in the rearview.

Looking back in retrospect there is a lot to be grateful for. The many crises moments that one weathered thanks to the many Good Samaritans. One is reminded daily of Ola Rotimi’s words: “The struggles of man begin at birth.” If gold is tested in fire, then life’s storms and vicissitudes present golden moments of growth. Being a Catholic emboldens me to be grateful for the many precious moments life has “tortured” me on this earthly pilgrimage. This is not an impertinent penchant for suffering but an acknowledgement that such is life and to be grateful for these moments. After all, there is a silver lining to every cloud.

In this school of gratitude, the experience of gratitude propels one to be grateful. Hence, on this day, it seems appropriate to reflect on not just being grateful but also of being the subject of gratitude. I remember the protest somebody registered with respect to the bland response “Do not mention” when someone says thank you. One appreciates gratitude better when one is being appreciated. No matter how much we pretend, we feel slighted and hurt when we don’t get those words of appreciation. Conversely, there is a deep sense of motivation when those words “thank you” come our way. Hence, today, the question for me is more, who is grateful for and/or to me? Thanksgiving presents a dual challenge namely: to learn to be grateful but also to learn to provide opportunities for others to be grateful to us.

St. Paul captures this very beautifully when he exhorts the Corinthians: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. (2 Cor.1:3-4) Gratitude calls us to action.

One of the areas of growth is in forgiveness. If the Turkey that lacks the capacity for either crime or sin is receiving forgiveness, then we who have the capacity, ask for forgiveness from and grant forgiveness to others. Opray Winfrey expresses this more poignantly when she says: “When we learn to say thank you and mean it, then we also learn to say, I am sorry. True forgiveness is when you can say, thank you for that experience.” Our celebration of thanksgiving then carries more meaning today when we can say also “I am sorry” and “You are forgiven.” A common denominator between gratitude and forgiveness is humility. Gratitude is an acknowledgement of one’s insufficiency and indication of dependency. To be able to say “I am sorry” and “You are forgiven” requires a certain modicum of humility. Gratitude and forgiveness are twin sisters to the parent, humility.

While I say thank you to the many persons that graced and laced my paths over the past 12 months, that is, since the last thanksgiving, I invariably jump to ask myself: who is grateful today that I have forgiven them or that I have apologized to them for some wrong done? Without brooding over the fact of having done something and not being recognized for it, I would rather forgive for the explicit neglect and oversight. Thanksgiving invariably takes on an added dimension within the background of forgiveness.

May families that gather around the dinner table share the meal and not just eat. Josef Pieper reminds us that the meal has a “spiritual or even a religious character.” And like Scruton adds: “That is to say, it is an offering, a sacrifice, and also – in the highest instance – a sacrament, something offered to us from on high, by the very Being to whom we offer it. Animals eat, but there is nothing in their lives to correspond to this experience of the “meal” as a celebration and endorsement of our life here on earth. When we sit down to eat, we are consciously removing ourselves from the world of work and means and industry, and facing outwards, to the Kingdom of ends. Feast, festival and faith lift us from idleness, and endow our lives with sense.” Happy Thanksgiving!

 

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Rev Fr. Celestine Diang: My Forgotten Mentor – Happy Silver Jubilee! By Lambert Mbom

Posted on May 4, 2016 by lambom's vuvuzela

The month of April and the liturgical season of Easter which often coincide mark important moments in the lives of most priests of the ecclesiastical province of Bamenda(archdiocese of Bamenda, dioceses of Buea, Kumbo, Mamfe and Kumba). Priestly ordinations often take place during the Easter Octave. Many priests thus celebrate the anniversaries of their ordination in April.

Two and half decades ago, I witnessed the ordination of Rev Fr. Celestine Diang and Rev. Fr. Joseph Awoh both of the diocese of Buea who recently celebrated their silver jubilee with their classmate of the diocese of Kumbo, Bishop Agapitus Fon now Bishop of newly erected diocese of Kumba. Each of them played an important part in my life: Fr Celestine guided me on the labyrinthine journey to the Catholic priesthood which ended prematurely albeit; Fr. Awoh provided a much needed “pillow” when I crashed out of the race and began teaching in CCAS Kumba while Bishop Agapitus remained close to my family and afforded them the necessary support. To each of them I want to use this medium to express my gratitude for all they provided me.

I particularly dedicate these lines to Fr. Celestine Diang who provided me a much needed lens into the exigencies of parish life. St. Joseph’s parish, Muyuka became my pastoral lab even before I went to the major seminary.

First, I watched Fr Celestine enjoy his priestly life as he burnt with zeal for his father’s house. He took me to the many outstations of Muyuka and thus prepared especially for the experience I would later on live out in St Gabriel’s parish Bafmeng while on pastoral experience. I remember vividly the pastoral visit to Bavenga and the very warm welcome all the Christians afforded you. The many times “going to the bush” became a priority rather than sitting in the comfort of the office of the main parish would become instrumental when I had to spend time in the resettlement camp of Lake Nyos victims in Buabua.

In the words of Pope Francis, the pastor must smell of his sheep and I find an apt instantiation of these words in your ministry. Particularly striking to me is the fact that Fr. Celestine introduced me to the Daiga’s in Muyuka not one of those rich families of the parish but simple, dedicated Catholics who attended mass daily and struggled to eke out a living but graciously welcomed me as their oldest son. It could have been easy to let me enjoy the cozy comforts of the parish but Fr. Celestine afforded me the opportunity to learn that the family as domestic Church is a strong foundation for building one’s vocation. He not only expanded my world view but also extended my family.

Fr Celestine has an unrivaled passion for liturgical music. He infected me with this and while many people wrote some us off as being “tone deaf,” I invariably developed a passion for liturgical music. I remember exploiting Fr. Celestine’s impressive library of tapes of music from the seminary choir which I “ravished” daily. In addition, I admired Fr. Making the time to teach the choir and prepare for the liturgy and taught me the value of good music for worship.

Fr. Celestine also impressed upon me the value of enjoying a good meal. I learnt basic table manners and the value of a meal as an act of worship. I relish the flashbacks of those trips to BOTA with the occasional lunch at the Procure, the stop overs at different parish houses sharing in priestly camaraderie and above all the finesse with which Fr. Celestine consumed corn fufu and roasted chicken, staple meal of the Kom people. I am reminded of my dad’s friend of blessed memory, Pa David Teh who had a healthy appetite for corn fufu and vegetables. In this Fr exemplified one of the best ways of staying true to his Kom identity out of Kom without the parochial entrapments wont of such cultural affiliations.

It warmed my heart when your Bishop decided to send you to Rome to study Spirituality and I found this definitely apropos. The two books you offered me to read while under your tutelage were Teresa Avila’s book on mental prayer and the biography of Cure D’Ars. These left an indelible imprint on my mind.

For these and more others mention of which would be superfluous, I would like to say Thank you! My formative years might not have yielded the desired intention namely ascending to the altar as a priest but they impacted my life in a real way and that is why the experience has remained evergreen in my mind. They remain invaluable lessons and you continue to inspire me even to be a good person and a saintly one too.

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