"Merely getting rid of Biya won't solve our problems," says Celestin Monga.

By Martin Jumbam

In this last part of his interview, Celestin Monga , who has always been known for political and economic writing, discusses the other forms of writing he is involved in, notably creative writing, travel diaries, among others. As a parting shot, he warns that merely getting rid of Biya won't cure Cameroon of its ills. It will take much more than just a change of guards at Etoudi. The system itself must be thoroughly over-hauled and changed before the Cameroonian people can start to breathe a sigh of relief after all these years of Biya's misrule. 

Mr. Monga, you seem to be involved in much writing outside your field of politics and economics. That’s quite impressive. Where do you find so much time to write?

The day has 24 hours. If I give 9 or 10 of those hours to BICIC, I still have 14 to myself to sleep, reflect and write poetry, or something else.

Precisely about poetry, you surprised many people with your recent collection of poems, Fragments d’un crépuscle blessé. I was struck by the astonishing effect of the juxtaposition of words and images. Absolutely depressing but beautifully executed pictures in black and white from South Africa.

I should say here that it isn’t a book about South Africa. It’s a book about Africa, period. You don’t need to go to South Africa to see the scenes depicted in those pictures. Just go down to New Bell, a few miles from here, and you’ll see the police brutalizing helpless citizens the same way the police do to blacks in South Africa; you’ll see there poor, hungry people sleeping in gutters. The idea to place pictures and words face-to-face came from my Congolese friend, the novelist Sonny Labou Tansi, who wrote the “Foreword” to the book. I was happy he brought up that suggestion because I was impressed by the quality of those pictures and I wanted to add a few words to them as a way of expressing my sensitivity to the plight of the oppressed everywhere in Africa. The way we react to our Pygmy population in this country, for instance, is not any different from the way whites react to blacks in South Africa. That’s the message I wanted to get across.

You’ve published another book, this time about your travels in Djibouti entitled Un Bantou à Djibouti. I was considerably shocked by the barrenness of the land. One has the impression that the country is a massive wasteland and this depressing picture is made all the more poignant by the astonishingly revolting picture you paint of the fate of the Djiboutian woman, especially the excision of little girls, etc. Was that a deliberate attempt to shock your readers?

I believe if you want to be realistic in Africa, you’re bound to shock people. There are no two ways out of it. This book was banned in Djibouti and the government of that country has written very hostile articles against me in the press. That was really funny. How can the government of Djibouti ban a book written by a Cameroonian? I have no intention of taking over power in Djibouti. (Laughter).

Why did you go to Djibouti of all places?

I wanted to take a short holiday and travel in Africa. I have a few friends in Djibouti I’d known from my student days in Bordeaux and Paris. They invited me to their country and I went with my notebook and what you have there is the result of the entries from that notebook.

How long ago was that?

Oh, that’s just a few years ago; about three years or so ago.

You also gave a very detailed description of the role of the French, especially the French Military, who take delight in degrading Djiboutian women, some carving tattoos on prostitutes with their knives. Quite revolting.

That shows you that the French cannot be thinking of me as a good choice for the leadership of this country (laughter). We have lots of people here in Cameroon who are much better for that job.

One thing struck me when I walked in here: the absence of body-guards. I’d expected to be thoroughly frisked by no-nonsense, walkie-talkie-totting men at the door of your office. Aren’t you afraid for your life?

I’m not afraid of death; it’s a normal part of life. My job obliges me to receive many people everyday. Can you imagine a banker barricading himself behind an army of body-guards? I would look funny, won’t I?! Security doesn’t mean a THING IN THIS COUNTRY: Mr. Biya’s Mafia can use extreme measures, even hired assassins, against anybody at anytime. The only security I have is the solidarity of my fellow citizens.

Mr. Monga, I'll like to thank you for your time. Any parting words to end our interview?

What I’ll like to get across is that the problems of our country today are not only the problems of an individual. Let’s not for once imagine that once Biya is no longer ruling this nation, that that will be the end of our worries. Cameroon will not automatically become a paradise on earth simply because Biya is no longer ruling this land.  Far from it. Every Cameroonian, in short, every African today, must open their eyes and clearly assess the challenges of the moment as a way of preparing for a better tomorrow. The main challenge of the moment is to change the mentality of our people, to make them understand that Cameroon is not just one huge cake which any one can just chop up a huge chunk and walk away with; but rather that Cameroon is a place we can all prepare so our children will like to live in it. That’s the first thing I’ll like to say.

The second thing is that in the world of today, characterized by dramatic changes in the USA, Eastern and Western Europe, we, as Africans, should remember the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, who had a vision of a united Africa. That’s the only way we can survive in the world of today. I cannot boast of a developed Cameroon when next door Gabon, Central Africa or Chad are not developed. When I travel anywhere in Africa, I consider myself as a citizen of the country in which I happen to find myself. When I wrote about Djibouti, I was writing about my country, my people. I never consider, for example, a Nigerian as stranger in this country. That’s ridiculous. We are one and its only in such oneness that we can survive in the world of today.

Comments

[jameshkoler]

Your BLOGS are very nice and all the stapes also well.
But i also give a segation-
http://www.fun-reisen.de

[Lloret de Mar Reisen Abireisen]

Very interesting interview. Thank you for posting this!