Corruption condemned in The Wages of Corruption

About 100 personalities drawn from different parts of the country have celebrated the fight against corruption at the launch of a book titled The Wages of Corruption written by the Director of the Southwest Regional Linguistic Centre, Sammy Oke Akombi.

The launch, which took place at The Buea Mountain Hotel in Buea, on Friday, October 3, turned out to be a veritable forum for individuals to join their voices with that of the author to examine, condemn and proffer solutions to the killer vice of corruption that has been destroying the socio-cultural and economic tissues of Cameroon for a long time now.

Referring to corruption as a deadly cankerworm that perverts the minds of many, the Chairman of the event, Prof. Gottlieb Lobe Monekosso, couldn’t complete his manning assignment without stressing on the fact that no single profession has successfully tackled corruption.

He equally appreciated the author for actively engaging in the fight against the vice through literature.

To clarify forthcoming debates as per the credentials of the manuscript, the book was reviewed by George Ngwane Mwalimu, who interpreted the entire story line.

According to Ngwane, the book which is made up of 13 short stories is a mirror of moral rectitude where aptitude and attitude are reflected. It is a courtroom where greed, grieve are cross examined and a classroom where human conscience and sexual perversion are being taught.

“The author as a seasoned Hausa butcher, has exposed the cancerous bones and rotting meat of the once robot cow that had been killed by her own ‘gainakor’. The stories are simple in style, yet serious in message. They are pregnant with soul searching rhetorical questions, subtle in tone but satirical in content,” the Reviewer analyzed.

Ngwane dived into the index when he stated that the author did not pretend to be prescriptive of the solutions to corruption leaving that to politicians who spend days inciting slogans and creating National anti-corruption corrupt commissions.

Quizzed later on why he termed his book The wages of corruption, Sammy Oke Akombi said just like the biblical pronouncement which states that the wages of sin is death, corruption could also lead to demise. Being a literalist, he visualised a generation being sacrificed because of corruption, which according him, necessitated the publication.

“International ranking has twice rated Cameroon as most corrupt in the world, which became a disturbing issue in my sub-conscious. I could not lie low and so every Cameroonian has to be engaged in surmounting this depravity”, Oke said.

Conscious on what it entails in getting one’s book into the educational syllabuses, the Novelist said that he wasn’t ever going to engage in any fraud just to get his book in the booklist. Unfortunately, sometimes before a book is even published, it is already in the glorious list.

“I need not run about places or go to Yaoundé to bribe, entice or persuade any one to get my book into the list; if the Government deems it necessary,it will incorporate the book into the system”, Oke stated.

Meanwhile, Mola Njoh Litumbe, a retired Chattered Accountant and politician, who co-launched the book, joined in the fight by saying that corruption is endemic and that the battle could also be won if Drama, a literary genre, is encouraged. He said people could easily retain if they watch plays about certain situations, especially bad issues like corruption. He also urged members of the audience to, as he put it, buy wisdom for just Fcfa 2500, the cost of the book.

The event was attended by brain skimming personalities amongst who were religious authorities, Secretary General at the SW Governor’s office, the SW Regional Delegate for Arts and Culture, Director of PAID-WA, Retired Ambassador and former Minister, Chief Martin Tabong Kima of Bakebe village in Manyu Division, the Faculty Dean of Arts in the University of Buea.

Sammy Oke Akombi is a Cameroonian, born in Tinto, Manyu Division. He holds an M.A in ELT and is author of The Raped Amulet, The Woman who Ate Python&Other Stories, Beware the Drives and Grandma’s Daughter.

The launch was spiced by Emmanuel Kimbi, an Artist and a student drama group from Yaoundé.