By Benjamin ET-NCHENGE
- The war between the natives of Likomba village and their Traditional Council Chairman Raymond Mekumba Sakwe, over native land takes a dangerous turn with each deploying the fire power in each one’s armoury. Who blink’s first?
In the days of yore, the cat had an incontestable superiority over the rat. The idiomatic cat – and – mouse was actually an abused misrepresentation.
The fact is: there could be no game between the carnivorous feline and its staple food. The mere sight of a rat’s tails is enough to galvanize the cat into a killing action without any preamble whatsoever.
It is common drama these days to see a cat and a rat stare each other in the eye, long before the former goes in for the kill. In many instances, the prey walks away alive, to re-enact the reconnaissance game with its foe another day.
Now, more than ever, the cat – and – mouse game is playing out. For the past few months, the traditional authority of Likomba, or to hit the bull’s eye, HRH Chief Joke Johannes Vako II, has watched with keen amusement Traditional Council Chairman, Raymond Mekumba Sakwe’s impersonation of “Book Man,” distorting council communication in that capacity to the Likomba natives.
One of Raymond’s sturdy pillars of support in his world of pranks and antics is said to be none other than the Raymond Mekumba Sakwe stripped of his council chairman garb. This is understandable Raymond the chairman and the Raymond stripped of post of chairman have never hidden their disdain for what they consider Chief Joke’s overwhelming excesses. To them, the principle of separation of powers, an inseparable component of democracy, confers on Likomba traditional authority a certain inalienable authority. To the duo, Joke Johannes is a pestilent interloper who must be put in his place.
Rather, it is council chairman Raymond who is, in a manner of speaking being put in his place. The tidal wave that is sinking the aura of office of council chairman, however, appears not to be receding.
The situation couldn’t have been otherwise. Those that are indicating Raymond Sakwe in office are also indicating the Raymond Sakwe stripped of office. The duo is being indicted for cavalier use of words, and of unorthodox means to fight constituted authority. In the end, the indictment finally nails Chairman Raymond Sakwe who has often proved an eel, always slipping out of traps to get him validate his claims.
The said claims in common parlance are nothing but distorted facts in the ongoing smear campaign that one could term Quo Vadis Bakeri. To declare Raymond’s claims as “simplicity itself” is definitely simplistic and, just as well as lawyers would say vesipsaloquitor. The utterances could easily have come but from a simple tone.
Indeed, among Cameroon’s current crop of traditional council chair persons, Raymond Mekumba Sakwe is in a class of his own. At once he is his own chief press secretary, and his own media strategist with a peculiar public relations doctrine that says “No publicity is bad publicity in that it keeps your name in public consciousness”.
Almost before the stanza on the national anthem that heralded the birth of this republic died down recently, Raymond Sakwe had hit the air waves with a headline making story. He told his expectant Likomba village audience that was not long ago that, as “Book Man” he would not work with crown prince Daniel Mbua Joke, designated with power of attorney, at the hills where the Likomba native land is situated. And this even after the latter had schooled him on the relevance of protecting cultural heritage, and expressed deep concern over the increasing land – grabbing affecting indigenous communities.
It was explained to Raymond Sakwe that indigenous people are the invaluable custodians of millennia – old knowledge and traditions, and their profound connection to the land is evident in their unique systems of governance and environmental stewardship.
The dialogue between Raymond and the Crown Prince Mbua underscored the imperative to foster a harmonious coexistence through dialogue, respect for ancestral lands, and the preservation of cultural heritage.
Facts emerging now, however, reveals that the exchange, call it conversation in the farms, meant nothing to Raymond Sakwe because he might not be a “Book Man” after all. At best he could pass for an educated illiterate.
The gist begins when in 2010 Raymond Sakwe enrolled into the University of Yaoundé I to read Education at the Higher Teachers Training College Annex Bambili. A close look at his SCHOOL ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATE UPON ADMISSION brings to the fore disturbing revelations.
ENS ANNEX BAMBILI
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATE
I the Director Delegate, School of Education Annex Bambili, certify that;
- Names of student: Raymond Mekumba Sakwe
Correct
- Born on: 11/10/1985 at: Tiko
Correct Correct
- Is registered in the school of education under matriculation number: 10B1067
Correct
- For the Academic year: 2010/2011
Correct
- Field of study : Biology Level of studies: IV
Correct Incorrect
Signed: 15th November 2010
DIRECTOR DELEGATE, Dr. Nguendjio Emile Gille
- Now, a SCHOOL ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATE is not, and can never be the equivalent of a BSc. Hons Degree conferred strictly upon graduation after studies in Education, is it?
- To be registered in the school of education is as good as acknowledgment that you are formally recognised as a student henceforth affective that day of registration, isn’t it?
- To be registered to study BIOLOGY, by obligation, compels you to start at level I not level IV, isn’t it?
These are the ill – conceived and ill – intended machinations Raymond Mekumba Sakwe has doctored, nay mutilated his school attendance certificate to resemble a BSc. Degree in Education, the exclusive right of deserving graduates after studies in ENS Annex Bambili.
This is called intellectual fraud in Academics. It is a direct function of being an academic misfit.
This is the man who is current chairman, Likomba Traditional Council. Had Cameroon not been the country it is, a character like this would not venture to be an office clerk. But here we are – he is not just as well the Principal of a college, and also pastor of a church – he presides over other sensitive matters and takes decisions as well. This is shameful. It is disgraceful and dishonourable.