A chat with two political icons... the faces behind the names

Strictly speaking, the history of Cameroon cannot be effectively written if the politician Ndeh Ntumazah and the political activist and social critic Mongo Beti - whose real name is Alexandre Biyidi Awala - are left out.

Both men, although of blessed memory, contributed a lot to the advancement of the country. Even if in terms of goal attainment, they did not reach their utmost, they still left much to be desired at the time of their departure.

Out of conviction, Ndeh Ntumazah who was born in Mankon of the North West Region Which is currently in one of the two English-speaking regions of the country, became an ardent member of the Union of the Populations of Cameroon (UPC) which sought immediate unification of the two Cameroons that had been divided by colonial powers.

In this regard, the UPC was opposed by the French colonialists who made Ahmadou Ahidjo Cameroon's president of French-speaking. A bitter and bloody civil war then pitted members of the UPC against the Pro-French government of Ahidjo for a considerable time.

One of Ntumazah's tasks in the UPC was to drum up support abroad and purchase weapons for the armed struggle. As a result, Ntumazah spent a long time in exile, living mainly in Ghana, Algeria and Britain.

This dispersed manner of living must have exacted a toll on the lives of his children because once in London, when I raised the issue with his son – Anye Ntumazah - he explained to me that they were “children of the world”.

He showed me his United Nations passport which had his nationality inscribed in it as "uncertain". What? “Uncertain” even to the United Nations? I asked myself.

After a lifetime abroad, Ndeh Ntumazah returned to Cameroon when multi-party politics was re-introduced under current Cameroon President Paul Biya. He remained an active leader of the UPC until his death in London in 2010.

Mongo Beti was born in Akometan village, located near Mbalmayo, headquarters of Nyong and So Division which is some 45 kilometers from Yaounde, the national capital of today's Cameroon which is in the predominantly French-speaking zone.

He studied in Cameroon and France and taught in France. He became famous through his prolific writings and the fact that his works were critical of the way his country was. Because of his relentless attacks, he was a thorn in the flesh of Cameroon's first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo.

When Paul Biya became president, all hopes that Mongo Beti would adopt a more conciliatory tone towards the new president because he was from the Beti tribe like him, failed woefully, as Mongo Beti continued the attacks.

In fact, when Biya introduced multiparty politics in Cameroon in 1990, Mongo Beti instead lent his support to Ni John Fru Ndi who was not only the leader of the main opposition party, the SDF, but also an Anglophone from Bamenda in the North West Region. Mongo Beti died in 2001.

HOW I DIALOGED WITH BOTH MEN I had the opportunity to meet both Ndeh Ntumazah and Mongo Beti together during a press conference they jointly gave in London in the mid-1980s.

The purpose was to denounce the continuous poor governance in Cameroon. This was during Paul Biya's reign. At the time, I was a journalist working for the London-based West Africa Magazine and was attending the press conference on behalf of the magazine.

The first thing that struck me about Ndeh Ntumazah was that, when I put a question to Mongo Beti in English and the latter said he would answer me in French, before I said anything, Ndeh Ntumazah stepped in and told the audience that it was alright for Mongo Beti to pose his question in French.

The reason he gave was that, not only did I speak French, I was actually a French teacher. I was surprised because I had no idea Ndeh Ntumazah knew who I was.

Yet it was the truth that I was a French teacher. In fact, I had gone to Britain after being recruited from France by the French government and posted to a High school in London as a French teacher on detachment. That was before I became a journalist. I wondered how the politician knew this.

The question I put to Mongo Beti was whether it was true that President Ahmadou Ahidjo had "seized" his wife and got married to her. In order to lend credence to my question, I told him that this was what it appeared was widely believed in Cameroon. To my surprise, he said he was aware but went on to deny categorically that the president ever seized his wife. According to him, therefore, there was no such problem between him and President Ahidjo.

I now turned to Ndeh Ntumazah himself and asked him to tell me whether it was true that he had mystical powers that made him "appear and disappear" in Cameroon as he wanted during his exile years, without being caught by the Cameroonian security officials.

It is to be recalled that at that point in the history of Cameroon, Ndeh Ntumazah was very much a wanted man in the country, and everyone knew that.

He laughed, and asked me that if those claims were true, why should he reveal his secrets to me?

Then on a more serious note, he explained that while in exile, he traveled to Cameroon whenever he wanted, and did so like any other Cameroonian. However, he said, wherever he passed, his presence caused such disbelief to those who saw him, including security officials, that they became too awe-stricken to be apprehended. But even with this explanation, I did not believe him.