This collection is produced by a trio which in reverse order recalls the trio Senghor, Csaire, Damas; one African and two Caribbeans who were flag bearer of a protest for the recognition of fundamental rights of which Blacks were deprived of. In the same vein, the Clervoyant, Ndi and Vakunta trio: a Caribbean and two Africans in a globalised world dissect and trace, through their poetry the horrible affliction of postcolonial pain Blacks suffer from in spite of the fight put up by their predecessors for the obtainment of fundamental human rights. For this trio, the black pen will continue to bleed until the pain is buried. That will be the only way for all from English speaking Cameroon to Haiti to lead a life worthy of its name.
Using linguistic stylings as subversive as the messages nestled between the lines, Vakunta s Requiem for Ongola in Camfranglais: Cameroonian poetics presents a scathing critique of the corruption of democracy into democraziness running rampant in the Sick Man of Africa . Written in Camfranglais, this is resistance poetry at its best: tokking through the mouth of the voiceless , the author pulls no punches in condemning the country s roi fain ant, the perverted acceptance of feymania, the reduction of the national Constitution into toilet paper, and the general climate of impunity that has created an atmosphere of frustration and hopelessness. Calling upon the redeeming power of the Word Speak truth! these verses deftly navigate through the multilingual lexicon of a new, African hybrid language, providing an insider s account of the real stakes at hand in Ongola, the Ewondo word for Yaound .
Takumbeng and Other Poems from Abakwa is a tribute to the Takumbeng in Cameroon. This collection of poems celebrates the prowess of the Takembeng, a militant female secret society in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. The poems address human rights violations, rape of democracy, misgovernment, and other forms of societal ills that plague post-colonial Cameroon. It is written in impeccable Standard English. The strength of the book resides in the vastness of the thematic terrain broached.