Humphrey Ekema Monono: Saint or devil on the cross?

In every dispute between two parties, at least six parties are involved; the two parties as they see themselves, the two parties as the world sees them and the two as they actually are- Walter Rodney “How Europe Under-developed Africa”.

It is no longer a secret that the Cameroon General Certificate of Education CGCE Board registrar, Sir Humphrey Ekema Monono is on a hot seat. It has been so since he initiated some ‘radical’ reforms at the GCE Board. The most outstanding of these was the decision that GCE examination results should be published via telephone messages.

“Many new ideas are rejected not because they are bad, but because they are not already familiar” says the celebrated Cardinal John Henry Newman. But there was more to the hostility to the SMS innovation than the fact that it was new.

Added to those who benefitted in the pecuniary sense from the publication of GCE results were more acerbic critics among Monono’s pedagogic colleagues Atanga Christopher Bonai, Simon Nkwenti’s interim successor at the helm of CATTU, lashed out at Monono for abandoning the GCE Board’s original partners, the newspapers. Atanga, however admitted that reforms were necessary at the board and that Monono had been quite innovative.

The law of change is the law of God. Christ was making this point when he stood firm and remained steadfast against conceited Pharisees who regarded themselves as the best interpreters of Mosaic laws.

The Pharisees within our educational system are not unlike Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle who continue to live in a glorious past in defiance of technological advancement.

The decision to disseminate GCE results through SMS is well founded. The first positive point in this innovation is that both successful and unsuccessful candidates get their results at or around the same time. The second is that the results are secret. It requires an ear to the ground to know the number of failed candidates that contemplate or commit suicide due to the vulgarization of GCE results. This was not the case in the days of London GCE. Monono has been very unequivocal in his explanation.

If any mobile telephone company had struck a deal with Monono, that company would have had the monopoly of disseminating GCE results. The fact that the booklets and result slips are available at the various GCE centres at the same time or even before the results are made public is ocular proof of the GCE Board registrar’s concern for the feelings of the candidates. Only someone with the sterling qualities of a parent and a teacher can do that.

Transparency of the highest degree The ermine is not a familiar animal. But those who know about it would testify that it hates dirt of any kind and does everything possible to avoid it. Humphrey Monono has been like the ermine at the helm of the GCE Board. All attempts to soil him with allegations of corruption have ended in calamitous failure. Those acquainted with the accounting system of the GCE Board at inception know one thing about it-the system was chaotic. But with the advent of Monono everything is smooth.

A man for all seasons Chinua Achebe tells us that the world is like a mask. If you want to see it well, you must not stand on one spot. Monono is like Thomas More’s major character, a man for all seasons. He mixes with people of all walks of life. He is present everywhere fellow humans are: at their “born house”, cry dies and weddings. He is as comfortable in Bamenda and Yaounde as he is in Buea. In short, he is a humble man. Thomas a Kempis had in mind people like Monono when he wrote his famous treatise: “Imitations of Christ”. He derives more pleasure from serving than in being served.

Saint or devil on the cross? Kenya’s celebrated novelist, Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s book :“Devil On The Cross” is an indictment of a politician on the cross of public opinion. His source of inspiration is, of course, the Holy Bible where Christ was crucified alongside two armed robbers, disciples of the devil, to be more apt. The difference between Christ and the two bandits is that he was innocent while the two deserved their fate.

Monono is on the cross of bias public opinion. He has carried the success. Reason why he won The Guardian Post 2013 Man of The Year Award while the GCE Board which he ably heads won the CAMER-Foundation Best Managed Public Institution Award. Both awards from two institutions working independently.

A man who achieves great beats, naturally has enemies and Monono is too great an achiever to be without them. Martyrs should be made of more pious stuff. Sir Humphrey Ekema Monono is more than just a man for all citizens. He is a child of God.