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Administrative law may best be defined by describing what it encompasses: it is that branch of law which deals with the individual versus governmental or administrative power. It covers court restraint of actions or inactions of public institutions, administrative processes of central and local government, parliamentary and subordinate legislat on and the means and procedures by which the rights of individuals are protected against abuse of power by public or local authorities, public corporations, tribunals and other bodies which discharge functions of public nature entrusted to them by law for the benefit of the citizen. It is hoped that this book will act as a wake-up call to all those who have been entrusted with the duty of making decisions affecting the rights of citizens to update themselves so as to discharge their duties correctly and in spirit of good governance. Administrative Law in Tanzania: A Digest of Cases covers high profile and landmark cases in topical areas of constitutional and administrative law from colonial days to present time, names, procedures in applying for prerogative remedies, constitutional principles and human rights, separation of powers between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judicature, natural justice and the rule of law, statutory ouster of jurisdiction of courts, and the right to legal representation.
The 'Washington consensus' which ushered in neo-liberal policies in Africa is over. It was buried at the G20 meeting in London in early April, 2009. The world capitalist system is in shambles. The champions of capitalism in the global North are rewriting the rules of the game to save it. The crisis creates an opening for the global South, in particular Africa, to refuse to play the capitalist-imperialist game, whatever the rules. It is time to rethink and revisit the development direction and strategies on the continent. This is the central message of this intensely argued book. Issa Shivji demonstrates the need to go back to the basics of radical political economy and ask fundamental questions: who produces the society's surplus product, who appropriates and accumulates it and how is this done. What is the character of accumulation and what is the social agency of change? The book provides an alternative theoretical framework to help African researchers and intellectuals to understand their societies better and contribute towards changing them in the interest of the working people.
This book presents a study of the life history of Mtoro bin Mwinyi Bakari (c. 1869 - 1927). Mtoro bin Mwinyi Bakari grew up and studied Islamic Sciences in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. He became a Swahili lecturer and author in Germany and is known to have written Desturi za Wasuaheli, an important work in Swahili culture. The book introduces the wider historical context of his writings, and, in particular, reconstructs the racism and discrimination in both the colonial and metropolitan contexts, features which negatively influenced his career and his life as a whole. The study also offers insights into contributions of the colonized to the study of African languages and cultures during this same historical context.
The 2007 general elections in Kenya led to major unrest. The aim of this book is to examine and analyse the events that set the country on fire for several weeks. The situation has largely stabilised since April 2008, when the articles collected in this book were first individually published. Some political information has been updated post April 2008. The coalition government took shape with Mwai Kibaki remaining President while Raila Odinga became the Prime Minister. The country however remains in suspense, as do the donors who had made it possible for Kenya to restore a semblance of peace. But to what point will they be interested in investing in the country and to protect their place in it? The collection comprises a translation of a special issue of Les Cahiers d'Afrique de l'Est, n?37, the journal of the Institut Fran?ais de Recherche en Afrique (IFRA) and a collection of articles from Politique Africaine, n?109. On site researchers - Bernard Calas, Anne Cussac, Dominique Connan, Musambayi Katumanga, J?r?me Lafargue, and Patrick Mutahi; fieldwork carried out between December 2007 and February 2008 by Florence Brisset-Foucault, Ronan Porhel, Brice Rambaud; and in-depth country knowledge by Claire M?dard and Herv? Maupeu, combined to produce a mass of data within a short time. Whilst the tone of the book is not highly optimistic, the thrust is not intended to dampen the unanimous sense of hope in the country that the political and social situation will once more be more than just tolerable.
War and Peace in Contemporary Eritrean Poetry focuses on Eritrean written poetry from roughly the last three decades of the twentieth century. The poems appear in the anthology Who Needs a Story? Contemporary Eritrean Poetry in Tigrinya, Tigre and Arabic from which a selection is offered here in their original scripts of Ge'ez or Arabic, and in English translation. Who Needs a Story? is the first anthology of contemporary poetry from Eritrea ever published, and War and Peace in Contemporary Eritrean Poetry is the first book on the subject. Therefore, the groundbreaking effort of the former warrants a discussion of its means of cultural production. All of the poets in Who Needs a Story? participated in the Eritrean struggle for independence (1961-91) as freedom fighters and/or as supporters in the Eritrean diaspora. Thus, contemporary Eritrean poetry divides itself between experiences of war and peace, although one can contain the other as well. War and Peace in Contemporary Eritrean Poetry also includes an extended analysis of one of Eritrea's most famous contemporary poets Reesom Haile, as an example of the kind of extended analysis that many of the poets of Who Needs a Story? should stimulate and, last but not least, a meditation on how the author, a non-native speaker, personally becomes involved in Eritrean poetry translation.
This third volume of Tell Me, Friends collects stories and plays written by students and staff at the University of Dar es Salaam between 2006 and 2008. The stories in the collection are: 'Our Man' by Saida Yahya-Othman; 'The Window Seat' by Benjamin Branoff; 'The Concealed Project' by Zuhura Badru; 'The Total Crisis' by Simon Mlundi; and 'Testimony' by Emmanuel Lema. The plays are: 'The Monster' by Anna Chikoti; 'Love is...' by Kimberly McLeod; 'A Tanzanian Rooftop' by Benjamin Branoff; 'Judges on Trial' by Frowin Paul Nyoni; 'The Route to Success' by Yunus Ng'umbi; and 'The Mop' by Vincensia Shule. Read and share these stories and plays, and enjoy how they depict some of the social-economic and political factors that condition and shape our societies today.
Language is a tool used to express thoughts, to hide thoughts or to hide lack of thoughts. It is often a means of domination. The question is who has the power to define the world around us. This book demonstrates how language is being manipulated to form the minds of listeners or readers. Innocent words may be used to conceal a reality which people would have reacted to had the phenomena been described in a straightforward manner. The nice and innocent concept 'cost sharing', which leads our thoughts to communal sharing and solidarity, may actually imply privatization. The false belief that the best way to learn a foreign language is to have it as a language of instruction actually becomes a strategy for stupidification of African pupils. In this book 33 independent experts from 16 countries in the North and the South show how language may be used to legitimize war-making, promote Northern interests in the field of development and retain colonial speech as languages of instruction, languages of the courts and in politics. The book has been edited by two Norwegians: Birgit Brock-Utne is a professor at the University of Oslo and a consultant in education and development. From 1987 until 1992 she was a professor at the University of Dar es Salaam. Gunnar Garbo, author and journalist and former member of the Norwegian Parliament, was the Norwegian Ambassador to Tanzania from 1987 to 1992.
From Goatherd to Governor is Edwin Mtei's autobiography. It is a story of the journey a few Africans of his generation made, from humble beginnings to heights of success and power. Mr. Mtei was the first Governor of the Bank of Tanzania and the architect of Central Banking in Tanzania, Secretary General of the East African Community and Minister of Finance in Nyerere's Government. Born in 1932 in Marangu, Moshi, he was brought up in a grass-thatched conical hut by his mother, a single parent; he attended 'bush' school at Ngaruma Lutheran Parish Church, and herded goats after lessons finished; he attended Old Moshi Middle and Tabora Secondary schools and went on to Makerere University College in 1953. He graduated from there with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, History and Geography in 1957. In his own words he states: 'I have felt it worthwhile starting right at the beginning of my life. In this way, I aim to give some idea as to what it was like growing up in my birthplace, Marangu, in the tribal and colonial environment of Tanganyika in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. I touch on some of the traditions and beliefs of those days and on some colonial laws that impacted on our lives and surroundings.' But as he himself states: 'The most interesting part of my story is that relating to the events when I held senior positions in Nyerere's Government, and in the public service generally.' That includes his falling out with Mwalimu Nyerere over IMF and its policies, and his resignation from his post as Minister of Finance. For the first time he tells his side of that story. In 1992 Mr. Mtei threw himself deep into the waters of multiparty politics. He founded Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) - the Party for Democracy and Development - and worked tirelessly to see it grow and emerge as an important party in the opposition, despite his own failure to win the parliamentary seat for Arusha Urban in the 1995 election. Even at 77 Mr. Mtei does not mince his words. He says what he believes and says it with courage and conviction. This is history, spanning well over half a century, written by someone who was involved in and who observed closely the key events of his time. He is retired and works on his farm, Ogaden Estate, but still manages to ruffle feathers whenever he is asked to comment on the economy and politics of Tanzania and East Africa.
Talking Tales
(2009)
In Talking Tales a variety of women tell their stories in prose and poetry. They cast their nets wide, hauling in themes that celebrate as much as they castigate and mourn. There is the delight of discovering oneself on the cusp of womanhood, and of hearing about success in the fight for women's emancipation. There is also the wonder at the restorative power of love. However, the murkier side of human life is explored too: the failed search for love, unwanted advances, misunderstood affinities, incest, betrayal, disillusionment, unfruitful enterprise, domestic violence, corruption, brutality, injustice, the capriciousness of fortune...The realistic, the near-fantastic and the bizarre all find their place here. The themes are handled with forthrightness and humour as the writers take full advantage of the possibilities inherent in the different ways of telling tales: poetic, epistolary, expository, and straightforward narrative.
Female genital mutilation is the excruciating and damaging experience that Beyond the Dance a lot of women in many cultures across Africa and in many other parts of the world suffer. Even when the women find themselves, for one reason or another, relocate in what should be safe havens, this practice frequently follows them like a vengeance ghost. Beyond the dance is a compilation of testimonies and poems about the humiliation of female genital mutilation, and about the resulting deprivation and loss. It encompasses accounts, factual in some cases and lyrical in others, of the experience of this practice lived or witnessed, and the visceral responses to the practice. The anger is palpable, the bafflement tangible. Beside the pain, though, is the hope borne of the voices raised by governments, organisations, institutions and individuals, urging a stop to the practice and coaxing oft-unwilling communities into abandoning it or transforming it into a meaningful ritual that builds up rather than ruins. Through the pages of this volume we share the pain, thoughts, views and feelings of the victims of female genital cutting and of people concerned about the debilitating practice. We share the hope that they hold out for a firm and final end to the practice.
The traumatised woman who dies of grief, the girl whose dream to become a doctor is thwarted, the little girl who raises a vulnerable family of little children because her parents and all her relatives have been killed by LRA rebels, and many other harrowing tales comprise this collection of Farming Ashes These are real life experiences told by women of Northern Uganda about the atrocities that they have endured for over two decades at the hands of the notorious rebel leader, Joseph Kony and his vicious lieutenants. Farming Ashes offers cogent and explosive tales of the LRA exploits that are disturbing and baffling in the extreme and leave the reader asking the question: 'Why?' and longing for 'the world of no war', as one of the storytellers puts it.
The names of those who penned the writings in this impressive collection alone tell half the story. They tell their stories in different modes. They run the whole gamut - they tell of defiance, and spin hilarious tales of elopement and wry tales of despair, loss and lovelessness. Some of the poems lift up the heart, and others peel back the blinkers that blind our eyes. There is the romantic, the macabre and the surreal. The writings never leave you indifferent - you are likely to take sides, to get angry, to laugh, to cry, and to think of a lot that goes on inside the human heart.
Creative Writing In Prose
(2009)
Creative Writing In Prose is centered on novel writing but touches on other prose forms. It covers the process from the germination of the story to the submission of the manuscript for publication. Plot, narrative methods, the recording of dialogue and the subtle relationship between story and theme are all examined.
This book is an appraisal of law and practice in light of International Human Rights Law and Best Practices book is essential reading for anyone who wants to grasp the scope of the freedom of speech for Members of Parliament and even the general populace in a democratic setting. The book provides valuable insights into why the freedom of speech for Members of Parliament is so important. One of the most important pivotal statements alluded in this book is that, freedom of speech is crucial in any democracy, because open discussions of members are essential for voters to make informed decisions during elections.
Strathmore University organised the Fifth Annual Ethics Conference on Governance, Institutions and the Human Condition. Research papers were presented in four sessions, corresponding to four key milestones in the crisis that almost tore Kenya apart in January - February 2008: Constitutional law, Institutions, Education and the Land Issue. This book compiles the papers presented at the Conference by outstanding scholars and renowned personalities.
The narratives collected by Twaweza Communications in this volume tell yet another side of the story about the violence that engulfed Kenya towards the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. The narratives are part of a Daraja Initiative involving media monitoring, reflections and documentation of the traumatic post-election violence period often associated with the contested presidential results of 2007. The goal of the project is to contribute to the protection of constitutional rights of all Kenyans and to the development of a just and democratic country. Because violent conflicts constitute ruptures and continuities and are often preceded by tensions over the uncomfortable co-existence of political, economic, social and cultural systems and relations of power as well as what is perceived as valuable, mobilisation for violence is driven by narratives of the legality and correctness of action such that notions of history, justice and memory are functions of narrative construction, power and authority. Narratives of violent conflict, such as happened in Kenya, are not absolute: they are contested, contradictory and incomplete. But they must be told so that the multiple voices from the citizens are heard.
To the Budding Creative Writer: A Handbook is designed to help young writers come to grips with questions and problems relative to their creative efforts. The authors discuss a range of topics, providing guidelines on such issues as style, technique, point of view, characterization, poetic diction, figurative language, denotation and connotation, etc. They equally offer useful critical comments on some of the works of accomplished African writers whom they cite as models for beginning writers, fusing literary creativity with literary criticism. All along the co-authors stress the centrality, in imaginative writing, of both the 'what' and the 'how' or matter and manner, and how to combine both to good effect.
The Lord of Anomy
(2009)
In 1875 the Rozvi Kingdom, now in present day Zimbabwe, is indistinctly besieged from within by the convergence of a missionary, Rev. Holbrook, a militant British bourgeoisie aspiring for knighthood, Sir Crowler, and an immorally amorous war emissary allegedly from King Cetshwayo of the feared Zulu Kingdom. The 'Zulu' ambassador uncompromisingly makes painstaking demands. While Rev. Holbrook is earnest in his endeavours, Sir Crowler is adamant the natives are enemies of both God and Britain meant for annihilation. The elders cannot consult the oracles; all diviners having fled before the arrival of the foreigners. An enigmatic and malicious hermit comes to the fore in the calamitous confusion that ensues. But nobody can tell with certainty if the hermit is messianic or anarchical.
The Wages of Corruption
(2009)
Corruption is endemic in Cameroon. Twice, Transparency International have accorded the country the infamous first place in corruption. As one of many concerned Cameroonians, Sammy Oke Akombi was moved and they realized that something was in fact wrong somewhere and something had to be done somehow. This collection of short stories is his contribution to the collective resolve by concerned Cameroonians to wage a war against this most unusual friend of fairness. The stories seek to elicit awareness about a social ill that is ironically championed by the very politicians, functionaries, educator, leaders and power elite whose duty it is to keep society healthy and on the rails. The stories are on corruption in different segments of society and about the people who perpetrate it. Almost everyone is immersed in it and so must make every effort to resurface from it. It takes only the will to stay alive because the wages of corruption like any other sin can only be death.
This meticulous and comprehensive documentation of Cameroonian Youth Day Messages and leadership discourse on youth from 1949 - 2009 is a gold mine for researchers, historians and anyone interested in studying youth, politics and society in Africa. The book presents and explores themes and content of Youth Day Messages: how these messages tied in with, or veered away from, key events and issues of the time; how they served as a platform for West Cameroon governments, and the Ahidjo and Biya regimes to articulate their political vision, justify their policies, sell their respective ideologies to the youth; and what lessons could be drawn from them on competing, conflicting and complementary perspectives on youth agency in Cameroon and Africa. Churchill links the Youth Day to ongoing discussions in Africa about the role and place of youths as agents of development in Africa. Most significantly, he finally puts Cameroon's controversial Youth Day in its appropriate historical context - not as a political device created by the Francophone politicians to distort Cameroonian history and erase 'plebiscite day' from the collective memory as Anglophone nationalists claim, but as a British Cameroons colonial legacy, successfully sold to the Ahidjo regime as a day to be commemorated throughout the federation, by leaders of the federated state of West Cameroon. Churchill Ewumbue-Monono, a senior career diplomat, is Minister Counsellor in the Cameroon Embassy in Moscow. A graduate of the International Higher School of Journalism, and the International Relations Institute of Cameroon in the University of Yaounde, he was a 1991-92 Fellow in Public Diplomacy in Boston University, USA. He has served in Cameroon in various professional capacities. Ewumbue-Monono has written extensively on Cameroon's political history, and his books include Men of Courage, published in 2005.
Wading the Tide
(2009)
Wading the Tide is an expression of profound emotions touching on a wide range of issues-personal and political-from the birth of the Cameroon nation, her political meandering, until the state of emergency declared on the North West Province in 1992. Accordingly, Doh complains, ridicules, and pays tribute, even as he instructs and guides on timeless matters of life, all in an effort to draw attention to his country's gradual, downward spiral into anomy.
Twelve-year-old Bridget and her friends are excited when they get admitted into one of the most prestigious boarding secondary schools in Kumba, Cameroon. Passing exams is the least of their worries. But surviving the new academic and social culture with hormone driven adolescent boys and unscrupulous seniors remain a challenge. Can the ground rules for survival Bridget and her new girlfriends adopt protect them from the threats they face constantly from the seniors, teachers and the adults in the local community? Can they handle all the distractions in addition to the changes their pubescent bodies are undergoing?
The Wooden Bicycle and Other Stories is a compilation of eight compelling short stories which immediately engage the reader, regardless of which story is selected for reading. Just like the author's other collection of short stories, Cup Man and Other Stories, the book is a depiction of the joys and pains of everyday life in the typical African country or even in the West Indies. This dimension includes an in-depth look at life within the African community in the West - an experience which is, of course daunting as the immigrant struggles to adjust to the new dispensation. Azonga once again shows outstanding skill in narrative techniques by adopting a style that is at once simple and intricate, entertaining and instructive.
Tussles : Collected Plays
(2009)
This collection groups together four plays - The Bite, Things Fall in Place, The Will and The Imprisonment of Sende Ghandi - written between 1995 and 2006. The plays in this volume dramatize a comprehensive world view. Through characters and themes chosen for their power to articulate the intended message, the plays paint a convincing and at times funny picture of human beings tussling with daily life. With clearly non-reductionist purpose, the actions all eschew the narrow minority questions so dominant in Cameroon Anglophone drama and instead reach out to concerns of a broader nature. In these plays Nyamndi does more than entertain. He reaches into the psychology of human relations and individual drives, and intimates responses to occasioned challenges. His wide, penetrating mind meanders in society: detecting the drunk before he takes his first drop; uncovering the embezzler even before he lays his hands on the collective holding; steeling the masses before the calamities of misrule descend on them; hoisting the flag of freedom long before revolutionaries come anywhere near the mast. He uses the play for healing purposes.
In Cameroon and Africa, lakes are sacred and often secret places. They fascinate curiosity and have often served as repositories of local histories, memories and dreams. In Mystique, Bime offers the reader a rich and seductive menu of reflection on the significance of legends and myths on and around lakes in Cameroon, Ghana, Benin and Tanzania. She tells her stories with the talent and elegance of a writer who does not only have an ear for what others tell her but who also has the ability to transform what she hears into something uniquely hers and truly universal. Mystique is a must-read and an opportunity for progeny to keep alive a tested and cherished heritage of story-telling. This is truly innovative and culturally relevant entertainment that invites the reader to unchain her spirit to explore. Beatrice Fri Bime, an international management consultant, who enjoys humanitarian affairs, holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, USA. A Cameroonian, she has worked in Banking, government, national and international organizations and is author of Some Place, Some Where. She lives with her family in Yaounde.
Second Engagement
(2009)
Second Engagement is an enthralling tale of triangular love and the quest for fulfillment. Framed around Gabby and Lizzy, the narrative unravels the secrets surrounding relationships of love. Susan Nde explores the pleasures and tensions of how two individuals in love handle the obstacles on their path to being together. In an exceptionally lucid and graceful style, she weaves an enduring tapestry of great human interest, from divergent dreams, which converge at the point of acceptance and tolerance.
Oriki'badan
(2009)
ORIKI'BADAN, is an entertaining, revealing, and equally didactic poem in which Doh, through an enchanting metaphorical backdrop, recaptures a memorable era-rich, diverse, challenging, yet gratifying-in the life of a distinguished institution-the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Characteristically bitter about those in power and the socio-political state of affairs on the African continent, this is a rare shot of Doh paying glaring tribute to his alma mater along with the distinguished faculty and student body that gave Ibadan its character during his days there as a student.
The Crown of Thorns
(2009)
Chief Nchindia held the Elders of his Council in total contempt, inwardly vowing to disagree with them at every point where disagreement was possible. What starts like a big joke develops into grim tragedy: the statue of the god of Nkokonoko Small Monje is discovered to have been stolen and sold to a white man! The tradition demands instant execution of the culprits. Was their Chief involved in the theft? What was worse, the crime or the punishment? Linus Asong was born in the South West Region of Cameroon in 1947. With a combined B.A honours in Education, in 1980 he entered the University of Windsor in Canada whence he graduated with a terminal degree in Creative Writing. He holds an M.A and a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Alberta, in Edmonton Canada, and is presently Associate Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at Ecole Normale Superieure Bambili (University of Yaounde 1). Asong is a stand-up humorist, a consummate portrait painter, an accomplished literary scholar, and a celebrated prolific writer with over a dozen novels to his credit.
A literary monument erected by a poet for poets with a vision for poetry as a special annunciation and the poet as a seer, spokesperson, recorder, analyst, adjudicator and advocate with poetic vision and poetic understanding. Bill Ndi, the poet has the rare gift of slipping into the self and psyche of his society to empty the dark depths where the treasures of burden and sadness are hidden. He empties and exposes them to the world to see how even personal repression of feelings by far outweighs those imposed throughout History by tyrants. It is above all, his greatest task of filling these depths with the joys and expectations of the society. This objective stance by the poet places him above the fanatic whose subjectivity pushes the world adrift and makes of the poet a universal man of peace.
Salvation Colony
(2009)
Dennis Nunqam Ndendemajem, the spectral social misfit of No Way To Die, having failed to die by suicide, is pursued by the hatred of friends and family relations. He seeks refuge in The Salvation Colony of the Angels of Limbo Church of Africa - a veritable paradise for all whom society has sidelined and whom chance or choice have led thereto. Refuge Dennis finds at the Salvation Colony, thanks to the kindly founding spiritual and material patron, the highly reputable but extremely devilish Pastor Sixtus Shrapnell, fondly referred to as Our Father. At the Colony, though completely dehumanized, Dennis maintains self-value and something to live for in life - God. In dispensing so completely and successfully with any authorial presence in this extremely rare but deeply psychological novel, Asong pushes the art of African fiction to a great new height. The novel shows his intellectual and perhaps formal vortex. His iridescent flushes of exquisite know-how in art, philosophy and psychology make the work worth a thinker's time.
Son of the Native Soil
(2009)
Son of the Native Soil is a work whose quiet maturity glows in both subject and style. Here, love heals but the force of hate is very real. The hero, Lucas Achamba, by charisma and love undertakes to unite Dudum clan which politicking and egotism have split. His quick success stirs bitter rivalry and heartless cruelty that decide his fate. Nature is jumpy and even hysterical at this, and Ambanasom exposes it with fine evocative mastery. The style is refined and honeyed by sonal devices and visual tropes that half conceal subtle slashes at human foibles.
The Bad Samaritan
(2009)
The Bad Samaritan is set in a kleptomaniac and highly corrupt imaginary African country called Ewawa. Due to mismanagement, financial institutions collapse. Salaries are slashed and there is unprecedented unemployment leading to country exodus. Professor Esole and his wife are not only aggrieved by the salary slashes, but also by the dubious closure of the Post Office Savings Bank with their savings. Desperate for money, they resort to borrowing from private sources at exorbitant interest rates. Esole toddles into politics with the aim of righting things. Will his nai͏̈ve approach to politics make or mar?
Perspectives on Translation and Interpretation in Cameroon is the first volume of a book series of the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI) of the University of Buea. It opens a window into the wide dynamic and interesting area of translation and interpretation in a multilingual Cameroon that had on the eve of independence and unification opted for official bilingualism in French and English. The book comprises contributions from scholars of translation in the broad area of translation, comprising: the concept of translation and its pedagogy, the history of translation and, the state of the art of translation as a discipline, profession and practice. The book also focuses on acquisition of translation competences through training, and chronicles the history of translation in Cameroon through the contributions of both Cameroonian and European actors from the German through the French and English colonial periods to the postcolonial present in their minutia. Rich, original and comprehensive, the book is a timely and invaluable contribution to the growing community of translators and interpreters in Africa and globally.
Civil society and empowerment have become buzz words in neoliberal development discourse. Yet many unanswered questions remain on the actual nature and configuration assumed by civil society in specific contexts. Typically, while neoliberals perceive civil-society organisations as vital intermediary channels for the successful implementation of desired economic and political reforms, they are inclined to blame the current resurgence of the politics of belonging for the poor record of these reforms in Africa and elsewhere. This book rejects such notions and argues that the relationship between civil society and the politics of belonging is more complex in Africa than western donors and scholars are willing to admit. Konings argues that ethno-regional associations and movements are even more significant constituents of civil society in Africa than the conventional civil-society organisations that are often uncritically imposed or endorsed. He convincingly shows how the politics of belonging, so pervasive in Cameroon, and indeed much of Africa, during the current neoliberal economic and political reforms, has tended to penetrate the entire range of associational life. This calls for a critical re-appraisal of prevalent notions and assumptions about civil society in the interest of African reality. Hence the importance of this book!
Doughty human rights crusader, Albert Mukong was incarcerated for six years in some of Cameroon's worst detention centres under the despotic regime of late President Amadou Ahidjo. This book details his personal account of the discipline and punishment that the Cameroonian state has systematically dished out to dissidents who have dared to stand their ground. Until his death in 2004, Albert Mukong was without doubt, Anglophone Cameroon's most conspicuous political prisoner, spokesperson and champion human rights advocate. The particular detention he recounts in this book is evidence of how nationalists such as Ruben Um Nyobe, Ernest Ouandie, Bishop Ndongmo and others, have in their struggles sacrificed enormously so that freedom and democracy might see the light of day in their reluctant Cameroon.
Initially considered something of a black sheep within the Anglophone Cameroon literary genres, the Anglophone novel has gradually grown to carve out a respectable niche for itself in the Anglophone Cameroon sub-system, imposing itself in a way that makes it impossible for critics to ignore it. Now a vibrant genre, it even threatens to overtake drama and poetry, both of which have enjoyed more critical attention. This book is a study of how Anglophone Cameroon has contributed in extending the possibilities of the novel as a literary form, and of some of the established conventions necessary for a fruitful evaluation of the growing body of the Cameroonian novel in English. In this eclectic and compelling book, Ambanasom sets out to achieve three primary objectives: to introduce the reader to the extensive body of Cameroonian novels in English, to re-examine the distorting and limiting criteria upon which the critical assessment of the Cameroonian novel in English has so far been based, and to bridge the widening chasm between literary theory and actual critical practice. To achieve these objectives, Ambanasom begins by elaborating an alternative and flexible theoretical framework which he christens the 'Socio-Artistic Approach' and which, according to him, is 'concerned with both a text's thematic, moral, cultural or ideological issues, on the one hand, and its central literary analysis, on the other.' He then proceeds to use this new critical framework to examine twenty-seven major Cameroonian novels in English. There are critical voices, already emerging within the Anglophone Cameroonian literary circles, calling for rigorous teaching and practice of theory in the interpretation of literary works, setting in motion a critical discourse. Such a call is salutary, and welcome. Those university lecturers whose responsibility it is to teach theoretical courses should take this call very seriously, moving from theory to hands-on practice. This book is Ambanasom's contribution to that critical debate.
No Way to Die
(2009)
What happens when a young man of talent and visions of greatness falls victim to a cruel set of circumstances over which he has no control? No Way to Die is such a story. Dennis Nunqam Ndendemajem gives up! Even when he is given a second chance to start again, he refuses to gather the broken pieces of his life together. He refuses to rebuild, and refuses to live. But he also finds no way to die.
The Akroma File
(2009)
Faced with debts at home and threatened by poverty, Akroma a brilliant and well-educated Ghanaian, using unorthodox means, successfully gets into Cameroon. He is bent on making a fortune. Drawing on his tremendous presence of mind and, capitalising on the early discovery that in Cameroon there is no conscience that money cannot buy, this illegal alien, travelling under three criminal identities, builds up a great amount of wealth. But he cannot buy the entire police force. One police man, Inspector Kum Dangobert, will get even with him, even if it means death. The rest of this very readable novel is about what happens when the Ghanaian evil genius is pitted against the best Cameroonian police superintendent. It is the clash of giants that ends in a cataclysm.
Royalty and Politics is the fascinating autobiographical account of a life rich in controversy, leadership, service, achievement and innovation. Born 1925 into the prominent and influential royal family of Mankon in the Bamenda Grassfields of Cameroon, Solomon Anyeghamotü Ndefru least expected becoming king, only to find himself the chosen one following the death of his father in 1959. As Fo Angwafo III of Mankon, one of the most educated 'traditional rulers' at the dawn of independence, he succeeded into Parliament first as an independent, and subsequently as a member of the Cameroon National Union. He has served as First National Vice-President of Paul Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement since 1990. In this unique, analytical and insightful reflection 50 years into his reign, Fo Angwafo III discusses growing up in colonial times; his surprise appointment as king; the 1961 Cameroon Plebiscite and his initiation into politics; being king and politician; coping with the hostility of the modern power elite towards his active involvement in politics; churches, schools and politics; life as an agriculturist; and investments in tending the Kingdom of Mankon. He argues that the best way of consolidating traditions is to make them modern, and that modernity can only make sense to the extent that it is firmly grounded in traditions. In many ways he feels his life encapsulates this negotiation and reconciliation of continuity and change.
Someplace, Somewhere
(2009)
Someplace, Somewhere is an exemplary piece of socio-political satire. It is a collection of short reflective stories that highlight the predicament of a people and exposes the ills of a society where neglect and decay are the nauseating lure and allure of everyday life. Carefully knit, this collection vividly provokes the nostalgia of the round-the-hearth rural evening story-telling atmosphere of yesteryears. Indeed, Bime has this knack for the fine details of story-telling, which blends so magically with her flare of crude humour, a combination that makes her social satire simply irresistible.
Shadows From The Abyss
(2009)
This is the first volume of a patriotic poet whose heart is on fire. The poems touch on a variety of issues, some personal and private, other public - past and current. They range from family, love and longing; friendship and marriage, to culture, politics, corruption and death. They are cadenced and vibrant with different emotions: nostalgia, regret and outrage; loss, pain and pathos tinged with a touch of wistfulness and irony. In style and themes, they reveal a keen observer, a budding poet struggling to find her stride; to mine the shallows and the deeps of human experience, to give a unique expressive voice to the human condition. With a wide range of emotions, Mbunda touches on a variety of turbulent issues muddying the waters. But she is not without hope; she believes the volcano will only erupt if her call is unheeded.
It is more than forty seven years ago that the Federation of black African students in France (FEANF) organised its first seminar in Paris on the relationship between black African literature and politics. The significance of the event came from the fact that literature served as a vehicle for unmasking traitors in Africa. This was also an opportunity for African students to define the role of literature in political struggles and to appreciate correctly and objectively the commitments of African writers in French. At no time was it a question of over emphasising the importance of this type of work in relation to the immense political challenges in the liberation struggle of African countries. Despite their ideological, religious and philosophical differences, African intellectuals were all committed to African independence and unity, and the need for a critical appraisal of the contribution of African literature in this regard. Participants at this seminar accomplished this task in serenity and with much lucidity. The young generation of pupils and students have the right to know the opinions of their elders who took part, in various degrees and for various reasons, in the struggles for independence on the African continent.
In the Shadow of my Country
(2009)
Growing up almost simultaneously with the independent Cameroon nation, it takes Tipoung'he a long time together with challenging experiences to realise that he has all along been living in the shadow of his country. His epic story is representative of the many whose untold stories are caught in the schematic confusion of independence, in which self-knowledge must rally back finally from the lethargic ideals of the Nation and the Patriot in a redeeming instance of identity. The story mirrors the growth of the hero as he gets used to his ever shifting environment. The complexity of experience, the burden of knowledge, and how to express these, confront Tipoung'he with prescriptive arrogance, and the more he gets entangled in the authoritative and patriotic mesh, the more he becomes aware of the need to withdraw from their osmotic consciousness. The moment of withdrawal, which coincides with self-knowledge, is a personal and symbolic rebirth.
This study analyses the effects of democratic transition in two African countries - Cameroon and South Africa - on chiefs and the institution of chieftainship. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the monograph explores the cultural and socio-political conditions that enabled chiefs to reinvent themselves in the new era of democratic politics despite their status as 'old political actors'. It explores the kinds of legitimacies claimed by chiefs in the new era and the responses of their subjects to such claims, particularly with respect to chiefs' involvement in national politics. The monograph makes a case for the importance of comparative research on chiefs in the era of democracy and the predicaments they face therein. It contends that contrary to exhortations about the incompatibility of chiefs and democracy, the reality is that political transition in both South Africa and Cameroon produced contradictions, creating space and a role for chiefs in a fascinating and negotiated interplay of legitimacies and history.
Dispossession and Access to Land in South Africa. An African Perspective : An African Perspective
(2009)
This book deals with the conceptualization of access to land by the dispossessed in South Africa as a human right. Yanou examines the country's property model in the context of the post apartheid constitutional mandate to redress the skewed land distribution of the past. The book reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the land restitution process as well as the question of the payment of just and equitable compensation for land expropriated for restitution. It also reviews the phenomenon of land invasion and quality of access to land enjoyed by the South African black woman under the present dispensation. Yanou argues that the courts have, on occasions, construed just and equitable compensation generously. This approach has failed to reflect the fact that what is being paid for is land dispossessed from the forebears of indigenous inhabitants. In a South Africa that lost most of its ancestral land during colonialism and apartheid, access to land for the dispossessed should not be equated with the protection of property acquired under apartheid. Getting it right would entail truth and reconciliation with the collective dispossession suffered by South African blacks.