Manteur and the Female students of Lycee du General Leclerc(part 2)

The girls were all in support of Manteur and they wondered why on earth their friend(Melima) could, be so stupid to the point of disclosing his name to her parents and now because of the claimed stupidity of Melima, Manteur was now in trouble with the administration. As the investigation was driving toward it end, during school breaks, students clubbed themselves in various groups at strategic points of the school yard. Their conversations were no longer about their forthcoming exams nor was it even concerning Football. Their conversation was about the fate of Manteur.

While some male students just as some section of their male teachers were jubilant, female students, especially those Manteur had promised to get married to and take them to France at the end of his contract, were not happy. For they feared that, the indictment of Manteur will ruin their dream of going to France. What they did not know was that, Manteur had made the same promises to them all. In a group of girls who had all gone to bed with Manteur, but ignoring each other, one asked: why Melima did not accused her formal boy. He continued: “especially that, he is fair skin and logically, their child will have the skin complexion of the father”. Then another one retorted: “there is no guaranty that, the child that, Melima will give birth to will have the complexion of his father, if he were Tuna, (name of the formal boy friend of Melima).” There was an instant retaliation from another girl: “why are you sounding as though, you are putting in doubt the innocence of Manteur?”

Then another one asked: “whether Zambo has doubt on the innocence of Manteur or not, it is not a great deal, but, the question is this: if Melima had accused Tuna of being the father of the child she is carrying and when she gives birth, the hair of the child will deliver the truth”. She continued: “this is so, because, even though there are Negroes who have the same skin pigmentation as those of some White Europeans, there are three things that makes them Negroes: a) their thick lips, b) flat or round nose and c) their curly log of hairs. So think about those elements before advancing your speculative conclusions”. These reasoning which had some logic, sparked mutual suspicions, for one of the girls wondered load why her friends are going onto such petty details. She said: “one of my younger brothers has the curly hairs of Negroes born of out interracial marriage, yet none of us have ever gotten married to a non black”.

Then Mvele, whose final expose irritated and forced Bakala to accuse her friends of getting involved into petty details said: “Bakala, I now understand that, all your time spend in the biology class of Manteur was a simple waste of time”. She added: “How far you are so sure that, in your families, that is, that of your mother and your father, there wasn’t some one at a point, who was married to a White person? So, I think your connections or claims about your younger brother’s hair are baseless and unfounded. In addiction, there are many blacks or Negroes, who have the sort of hair you are talking about and know that, black is black. It doesn’t matter how light or fair skin he/she may be”. The girls at Lycee du General Leclerc truly loved Manteur, whereas a section of male students and even some male colleagues of Manteur in the teaching Corp were jealous of him. As for the girls, even though they were showing concern for Manteur publicly and collectively, but individually and secretly, they were competing against each other.

But as they were competing individually and secretly, their lover boy was being transferred to another French-speaking black African country, because the case of Melima was becoming a diplomatic problem between Cameroon and France. Then one day, one girl in the group made up of Zambo, Bakala and Mvele, brought out the address of Manteur in France and showed it with pride to her friends. “I have won the jackpot!” she cried. For she thought that, she was the chosen one. But the claimed chosen one was shocked, when Bakala, also thrust her hand into the pocket of her skirt and came out with another address, also given to her by Manteur. They now understood that, none of them was the chosen one of Manteur and also that, Manteur has abused of their ignorance and naivety.

Manteur and the Female students of Lycee du General Leclerc

The parents of Melima wanted Mr Manteur to be arrested. But since he was a White man and an expatriate send by France to Cameroon, in order to educate young French-speaking Cameroonians, he managed as usual, to get off the hook. While the parents of Melima were furious and wanted the biology teacher arrested, Risdoh in her tend was falling in love with the pariah. She was in love with the same man who has become the staple of the local print media. And the allegations made against Mr Manteur became almost a national matter, the ministries of internal affairs or territorial administration and that of internal security took over the issue. The internal security is the ministry that Cameroon’s Police Force is attached to. This last ministry decided that, a special investigation should be open, in order to find out whether it was true that, the French biology teacher had gone to bed not only with Melima, but with many other girls who were his students and who were also minors.

At this stage, some colleagues of Manteur knew that, with such an investigation opened, Mr Manteur will be arrested, even though he is of French nationality. They also knew that, even if Manteur was found guilty, he won’t be prosecuted in Cameroon, but will be deported back to France, where he will spend a long time in jail. But Mr Manteur was a brilliant tactician, for he had gone ahead and assured all the girls he had gone to bed with that, he will married them. He told the girls individually to keep for themselves the secret of their marriage. For Manteur knew better than any body that, most girls that he went to bed with, won’t have accepted if he were not a White from France. This is so because, France remains a country that, most Cameroonians associate with prosperity. And he took time off to dissipate any line of doubts in the minds of his female students. To be sure of their loyalty, he gave them all false addresses of his home address in France. The black colleagues of Manteur were very happy, when they got news that, an investigation on the behaviour of their White colleague has been open and also that, all female students presumed to have had an affair with him will be privately interviewed by a judge and two Police officers.

They knew that, the time of Manteur was up. The motive of their annoyance and jealousy toward Manteur, was not because he was White or more competent than them, nor was it even that, they were against him having affairs with his female students. The black African colleagues of Manteur were angry because, they too were doing the same thing, but since Manteur was sent to Lycee du General Leclerc, girls were snubbing them and were instead focusing only on Manteur. The female students at Lycee du General Leclerc acted like bees on their hive with Manteur. But the hopes of some black African colleagues of Mr Manteur to see him prosecuted were mere hopes. For all the girls who had seen France via the TV set of the French biology teacher and also saw the ease with which Manteur was leading his life in Yaoundé, could not afford to spoil their opportunity of going to France, as their biology teacher had promised them. And in conversations, the female students usually said: “if Manteur was leading such a prince-like life here in difficult Yaoundé, therefore, in France, he must be a king.

And when they were invited by the investigation team, and asked whether they had had an affair with their biology teacher, they all said, their teacher never had any affair with them other than studies. On the contrary, they told the investigating team that, “Manteur was a sort of Jesus Christ, who was occasionally helping them financially and also helping them to understand their subject accurately”. There was even one who took extra time to explain to the investigating team how humane was Manteur, while another one added: “recently, my father hadn’t monies to buy me some text books and it was Manteur who gave me CFA 2500, to buy the text books that I needed”. And she asked: who elsewhere in the teaching Corp of Lycee Leclerc could have acted that way or give me such an amount of money”?

Risdoh & Mr Manteur :the White biology teacher at Lycee du General Leclerc (part 2)

Mr Manteur, the name of the White French biology teacher at Lycee du General Leclerc was treated like a king and he was adored by female students. He was loved not only because he was a white man, it was also because of all the electronic appliances that he had at his home and the easy way of life that he led. Mr Manteur, who was 40 years old and still a bachelor, went to bed with all the girls of Lycee bilingual and even with some of his female colleagues who were married as well as those who were unmarried. Mr Manteur did not succeed to have sexual intercourse with all his female students simply because, he was White or because he had many electronic appliances at his house , but more because, he promised them all that, he was to get married to them and also take them to France at the end of his contract. But amongst all the female students that Manteur was practising his reproductive biology lessons on, one unluckily fell pregnant.

But Manteur did not know and in his usual fashion after a stint, he jilted the girl (Melima) and his new trophy was Risdoh. But by the time, the end of year exams were approaching, news started making rounds that, one of the many girls that Manteur was going out with was pregnant. It was like an atomic bomb. It ran riot in Lycee du General Leclerc. Even though there were no proves that, Manteur was the one who made Melima pregnant, some members of teaching Corp, in chief, the males, who never liked or were jealous of the familiarity that Manteur, had with students, especially those of the female sex, started accusing him. Though they did not only suspect him to be the father of the child that Melima was carrying, they had already made up their minds, but without providing evidence.

The battle lines were now drawn within the teaching Corp of Lycee du General Leclerc. On one hand were those who were neck deep sure that, Manteur was the one who had made Melima pregnant and wanted him arrested and send to jail and on the other hand ,there were those who were in support of Mr Manteur and amongst them, many Female member of the teaching Corp. There was a third Camp, which was neither for the first nor for the second. This last camp said the reason why Melima became pregnant was because of the advent of television, which has been of assistance in the break down of moral order. They wanted that television broadcast, if not suspended, it must be thoroughly supervised and they also advocated the reintroduction of religious knowledge in schools. And there was a fourth group. They were mostly anti-colonialists or sons of those who fought France via the Union of the Population of Cameroon (UPC) in a bid to gain the independence of French-speaking Cameroon between 1958 and 1970.

They were always looking for an opportunity to make political capital. They wanted an investigation and took the matter to the principal of the college with their proposal. But the Principal of Lycee du General Leclerc, a devoted Roman catholic Christian, refused the proposals made by the nationalist fringe of the teaching Corp and said: “how on earth can they even think that, a teacher will stoop so low to have an affair with a student?” And he added: “remember Mr Manteur is a French man and French people have etiquettes”. But as nothing under the sun can be hidden for too long, the parents of Melima also got waves (news) that, their daughter was pregnant and their informant told them that, the author was Mr Manteur, the French White biology teacher. The Parents of Melima brought the accusation to the Principal Mr Rene Timay, who rejected it again as he had done when the nationalist teachers of his school made similar accusations.

Risdoh & Mr Manteur: the White French biology teacher at Lycee Leclerc.

Risdoh held the key to the paradise of prosperity of her family. And she did not disappoint. She was committed to her studies, until she reached form 4 at Lycee du General Leclerc and she was preparing to write the BEPC, the French equivalent of the General Certificate of Education (GCE Ordinary level). Then she came across a native White French biology teacher at Lycee Leclerc. This White French man, who was a biology teacher, was about 40 years old and knows French-speaking Africa very well. Even though he was a staff of Lycee du General Leclerc, he was not paid by Cameroon’s ministry of National Education. He was paid by the French ministry of Cooperation and he was attached to the French ministry of National education. He was the French answer to the American Peace corp. And the French called their own expatriates sent to French-speaking Africa and some times to none French-speaking Africa: “cooperant”.

The French cooperants were very different from the American Peace Corps, who even though well paid than their Cameroonian counter parts, if they were attached to the sector of education, they led a very simple life style. But the French cooperant showed that, they were White people and rich. Hence while French cooperants especially the males were not appreciated by their Cameroonian colleagues because of their insolence, they were appreciated and adored by school girls and other women. And at the Lycee Leclerc, besides the college principal, the French White cooperant was the only member of the teaching Corp who had a brand new car. Furthermore, he was not living in the populous neighbourhoods where his colleagues were living. He was living in a residential area and his home was exuding wealth.

He had a parabolic antenna and a colour television set, both appliances that were at that time, out of reach to the majority. In addition, in his house, since he had a parabolic antenna, he received images of French television stations and never cared to watch programmes or even local news from Cameroon’s own state television station: Cameroon Radio and Television Corporation (CRTVC). More, regularly, after his lessons of biology, he invited students to his home to come and watch scientific television programmes, which were in connection with biology. And in some occasions, lucky students were asked to spend the week end. Those who were lucky to spend the week end, spent it eating French cheese, testing and even drinking French wine and all other French goodies, that only the rich and powerful in Cameroon who had the opportunity to travel to France had the privilege.

The openness or kindness of the French biology teacher transformed the students of his class at Lycee du General Leclerc. It drove them mad. And some began murmuring amongst them that, if Manteur, an ordinary secondary school teacher could lead such a prince-like life here in this difficult Cameroon, then in his native France, he must be a king who lacks nothing.

How Armed robbers & thieves are handled in Cameroons (final part)

Around the Bastos neighbourhood of Yaoundé , which is a neighbourhood inhabited mostly by top government officials and diplomats, those dictating the rules on how thieves or Armed Robbers have to be handled, whenever they are arrested are not the inhabitants of Bastos proper. But the poor who are living in the valleys of the posh neighbourhood, for the poor who live in the valley don’t want their employers who live at the summit to be robbed, for it will cut or deny them their life line. The valley around Bastos neighbourhood in Yaoundé is the place of the poor. It is a part where torrential rains often carry away the habitats of its occupants and also where when people are at sleep, they can easily be observed by those passing by because, their houses are built with poor materials.

None native thieves or armed robbers, arrested in any neighbourhood in Yaoundé are never well treated. But if the non native thief or armed robber apprehended was of Bamileke nationality or tribe, he or they will be killed instantly. Why? Simply because, the other nationalities or tribes are jealous of Bamilekes who are often rich business men and women, hence it is beyond comprehension that one Bamileke should be a thief. Some even think, Bamileke thieves or armed robbers do carryout their act to increase their wealth and also an attempt to deny others of prosperity. I don’t need to tell you that it is wrong, for just as there are bad people in all Cameroonian nations or tribes, so also must Bamilekes, no matter how good, humble, friendly and hard working they are. Risdoh’s brother who was a thief was lucky.

He was lucky because, he was neither Bamileke nor Bassa, so his life was often spared whenever he was arrested. His life was always spared and he was always handed over to the Police after having been paraded naked. Shame had deserted the man. For he had no dignity, no matter how many times that he was paraded naked and made news paper, radio and television headlines, he still went back to his profession: thief. His life was always spared because he was Ewondo. In the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, unknown thieves or thieves that are not from the region are always arrested and handed to the Police. But native thieves, that had the ill luck to be apprehended by the vigilante groups that patrol streets of various neighbourhoods. They will be tied with ropes on a vertical rod and car wheels thrown around him or them, from their feet to their heads. After which, fuel is poured on him or them, then set alight.

The reasons why there is mob justice in Cameroon’s two regions is because, the public doesn’t have any iota of confidence in the Police or the judicial system, for they are too corrupt. While one of Risdoh’s brother was a thief and his life was always spared because he was Ewondo and also because he choose to still around his neighbourhood, her other brother by name Messamena, was a footballer. But he was playing with a division two football team in Yaoundé called Diamond Football Club, but her glorious days in Cameroonian soccer had long gone, since its chairman became a born again Christians and invested his finances in heaven rather than on earth.

And because Diamond Football club’s chair was relying on Jesus Christ to take his team to the premier league rather than monies as he used to do, the club was at the bottom of division two and was ready to dive into the hell of the Centre provincial division three championships. This made the prospects of Messamena , Risdoh’s other brother, to ever play with elite division one or Premier league teams such as Canon of Yaoundé, Tonnerre of Yaoundé, Union of Douala or PWD Bamenda elusive. For playing with those top flight Cameroonian division one teams opens the prospects of going to play in Europe, the paradise of Cameroonian footballers. In regard to the condition of Risdoh’s brothers, one being an armed robber and the other an unpromising footballer, the family of Risdoh and their mother Noako had no hopes on them.

How Armed robbers & thieves are handled in Cameroons

At the Bepanda neighbourhood of Douala, if a thief or an armed robber is intercepted by the population, who now run vigilante groups, he/ they, are not molested or beaten, nor do they sustain any form of denigration. However, the thief or thieves will be submitted to interrogations. Such as; how many times have you stolen? Naïve ones or those motivated by fear, often give the number of times they have stolen and should it exceed three times, the thief or thieves will be tied to a rod and beaten with varieties of materials such as: electric cables, large sticks and any other weapons found around. And this, until dead comes because of the pain and the bleeding such maltreatments orchestrates. However, if the arrested thief was just a beginner, he won’t be beaten, but will be given two options on how he/they wishes to die. One propositions generally submitted to the intercepted thief/thieves is this: he will be given “gari”. Gari is a dry powdery substance generated from cassava tubas. The preparation of Gari goes thus: cassava tubas are put in a jut or fertilizer bags, then submerged in water for three or more days...

After which the tubas are removed from the bags, mashed and grind. The grind substance which becomes a white paste is then dried on a flat metallic surface, or on corrugated sheets or zincs. In order for the cassava paste to become gari, the flat corrugated sheet or zinc is heated beneath with firewood. Gari is widely consumed in the coastal parts of West Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Especially by people of black West African ancestry and native Andeans and others. This gari option offered to the thief or armed robber or any thief, caught with or without weapon or arms is a vicious and cruel punishment. For the arrested thief will be asked to consume six or eight tumblers of Gari, and given that, gari or tapioca swells when in contact with water, the thief knows that, he will die. After he or they have consumed under pressure from the crowd or excited vigilante groups, the six or eight glasses of Gari, the thieves or thief will be given a litre of water to drink.

The effect is immediate death. However, some lucky thieves or thief might survive, if a sympathetic and respected elderly woman or man passing by, demands the excited crowd to spare his or their lives and then takes them (thieves or armed robbers) to the hospital. But it seldom happens. For people have an implacable hatred for thieves in Cameroon and do not trust the Police or the authority to render justice, hence, they have taken the law into their own hands. The second option usually offered to thieves or armed robbers whenever, they have been apprehended by the people in the above mentioned neighbourhood, is to choose steamed water as their form of punishment. Water will be boiled and poured into a bottle and the bottle contenting the hot water will be used to massage the thief or thieves at strategic places such as the ankle, the writs, elbows and shoulders.

Why? It is claimed that, hot water put in a bottle and used to massage the latter mentioned parts of the body, can cause blood to stop it normal circulation. And will make the persons who have been massaged to loose parts or all of it members. But the ultimate goal is dead. But in other neighbourhoods of Douala, punishments granted to thieves are meted according to their nationality or tribal orgines. None native thieves are killed instantly, whereas native thieves are handed to the Police after public humiliations, such as conducting him around the neighbourhood, naked. While in Yaoundé her different neighbourhoods have their different rules that they apply in order to treat thieves or armed robbers of all categories.

Risdoh & the creation of modern Cameroon ( final part )

Perhaps late General Leclerc is loved and admired by French-speaking Cameroonians, because, he showed a courage not known to be the hallmark of French soldiers. For he gathered a rag tag army from Fort Lamy now N’djamena, Chad located in French-speaking West Africa and fought his way to Europe and in the process, daring the formidable German Afrika Corp, commended by the excellent General Rommell aka desert fox. As for late General Charles De Gaulle, the other French hero, French-speaking Cameroonians don’t love him.

The only French-speaking Cameroonians, who love him, are the politicians that he gave them political power in 1960. Another reason why De Gaulle is not loved by French-speaking Cameroonians is that, he was too arrogant and more, none of them can really recall his military pedigree, as they do with those of Marshal Leclerc. At Lycee du General Leclerc in Yaoundé, where Risdoh was attending her secondary school via a scholarship that she obtained as she was graduating from primary school, she maintained the brilliance which was hers, when she began attending nursery and primary schools. At those times, at the end of every academic year, Risdoh was certain to come home with a prize for her academic distinction. She was the pride of her family and her mother was convinced that, she was on the path of Mrs Tsanga Delphine.

While Risdoh was a star, her two brothers were the shame and headaches to their family. Risdoh’s eldest brother Tabala was a well known armed robber, who began stealing when he was just 5 years old. And since then, he has spent various periods of incarceration at the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison of Yaoundé. The last reason which took Tabala to prison was his arrest by Police men, after their gang of armed robbers failed, when they wanted to bugle a residence at the highbrow Bastos neighbourhood in Yaoundé.

In the operation, the owner of the house was killed. Normally Tabala, the armed robber and also the elder brother of Risdoh, would have been killed. But since he was a national or native of Yaoundé, which means is an Ewondo; his life was spared by the irate crowd. In Cameroon, whenever a thief, even the thief of an egg, not to say an armed robber, is arrested in action by the crowd, he or they are lynched by the crowd. But the mob or jungle justice applied in Cameroon to thieves varies from one town to the other and from one region to the other. There is no standard form of punishment for thieves in Cameroon. For example, in Douala, the commercial capital and also the most populated city in Cameroon, the way an arrested thief is treated in the neighbourhoods of Deido or Makape/Bonamosadi and Ndogbong, is diametrically different from the neighbourhood of Bepanda and elsewhere in the same city of Douala.