By Ako Abunaw
– Tells Mamfe DO, mayor they can’t sing a foreign anthem;
– Tabetando disgraced at Tinto, Upper Bang;
– Senator Anja Simon almost chased out of Akwa, Akwaya
Mamfe, 18 December 2016 – Representatives of the the colonial administration of La Republique in Manyu have been rudely reminded that the people of Mamfe are not to be taken for a ride.
In what is considered a major embarrassment, the Divisional Officer for Mamfe (name withheld), the Mayor and their train, tried but failed to convince Mamfe residents to sing the anthem of La Republique du Cameroun at an event attended by the colonial officials mentioned.
According to impeccable sources cited in postings uploaded Sunday on social media, these appointees of Yaounde stumbled on an event to which they had not been invited and got the shock of their lives after insisting that the event be opened by a performance of the anthem of La Republique.
This request was met with stiff resistance from the people who united like one many in rebutting that “they (Southern Cameroonians) cannot sing the anthem of a foreign country” (La Republique du Cameroun).
Our sources, including persons who attended the ceremony, say an infuriated DO left in anger and rage, cursing and swearing to “punish” whoever was responsible for speaking truth to power.
Prior to turning down of the anthem, Manyu elites in Yaounde reportedly refused to release the sum of 53 million francs CFA which they had contributed and/or pledged for sponsoring the December 2016 Manyu Cultural Festival, FESTAC.
Citing the people of Manyu Division, our sources said they informed FESTAC officials that the people of Manyu are not “cooperating” with the Government of La Republique, even on a project as important as FESTAC, unless issues of the statehood of Southern Cameroons have been sorted out.
The decision not to cooperate forced FESTAC President, Mr. Besong Michael, to garner support from elsewhere – at home and abroad – for FESTAC 2016 which held last Tuesday through Thursday.
Adding to the embarrassment, our sources report that Senator Tabetando from Mamfe Central pushed through to Tinto town, Upper Bayang Sub-Division to organize a rally of the ruling CPDM which completely failed and backfired.
A vexing turnout of less than 50 persons, who attended, informed Senator Tabetando to his face to “go do that in your Sub-Division and let your own people listen to you”.
Senator Simon Anja, in his turn, had his own dose of humiliation at Akwa village in Akwaya Sub-Division. At this stop in the rounds designed by members of the ruling CPDM in the hope of demonstrating that there is support for the colonial administration of Southern Cameroons from Yaounde, the villagers in attendance reportedly warned Senator Anja. They warned and threatened him; letting him know that they were so infuriated that he should consider himself lucky for leaving safely.
You would not have left alive were you not a son of the village, one source said.
Not happy stopping at that, the villagers instructed him to leave the village immediately or risk provoking the anger of the entire village.
Reporting from Mamfe, Ako Abunaw, notes that Senators Anja and Tabetando had no choice than to return to their masters in Yaounde with their tails between their legs and their heads dropped in shame.