Cameroonians should desist from corrupt practices- Novelist

Cameroonian Novelist, Poet and Teacher of English at the Pilot Centre Buea, Sammy Oke Akombi, has urged Cameroonians to desist from corrupt activities which constitute daily scenes in the country.

He made the call in Yaounde, August 29, during the launching of his book titled “The Wages Of Corruption”. The 128-page book consisting 13 individual stories portrays corruption in different dimensions bringing out themes like destruction, misery and poverty as some of the main wages of corruption in a country.

Akombi said the book is an appeal to the whole nation to look at the ills and misery innocent people go through in the hands of the rich and privileged as a result of corruption. To him, after having topped the corruption charts twice, Cameroonians should shy away from tribalism and favouritism and give everyone his due. He holds that it is an issue of the mind and the way forward can only come from the mind.

“For us to fight corruption and send it out permanently, all we need is our minds. The pandemic plaguing Cameroon can best be fought by individuals and not collective individuals, communities or the Government. Corruption-free Cameroon would really be heaven on earth,” he enthused.

Guest speaker at the launch, Prof. Beban Chumbow, said corruption in Cameroon is becoming endemic and needs to be sent out as soon as possible because, if it is not eradicated, it can bring curses and condemnation to both individuals and the land at large. He further recommended that the book be on the book lists of both Anglophone and Francophone educational subsystems because, it has a lot of moral values.

“I congratulate evangelist Akombi for his work which he intends to take out victims who are deprived of what rightfully belongs to them out of the pandemic eating up Cameroon. The wages of corruption are death, poverty and misery”, he stated.

Representing the Minister of Culture, Dr. Asheri Kilo said the book is full of meaning and recommended that the author writes to the Minister of Culture, so the books can be bought and kept at the reading centre, so that it can help youths recuperate some of the cultural and ethical values exposed in the book.

Lauding the richness of the values contained in the book, a participant proposed that the author does a video adaptation of the book. This, to him, would better transmit the message which the author is passing across in his book.

It should be noted that the book adds to a collection of four existing books to his name, some of which are: Grandma’s daughter, Stir it up-the smile in you and the Paped amulet which all portray good African cultural values.