THIS MY CRITICAL PEN

 By Sylvanus Ezieh Achana'a

Rosette Mboutchouang’s funeral: Jangle here, clamour there 

 

President Biya was this week in the media court again. When the Prince of Etoudi summarily decided to hide the remains of his mother-in-law, Rosette Mboutchouang in his Mvomeka palace, local media summoned and tried him in their “kangaroo court.” 
The president was actually summoned, tried and judgment delivered in absentia; judgment in default I dare say. Jangles and clamours ran wild when finally the carcass was ferried to Mvomeka. Biya was charged of abusing power; that of hijacking corpse of another man’s wife to bury in his own palace. But who cares? Biya or Chantal? Did Mr. Biya actually need any body’s opinion to decide on the burial venue of his mother-in-law? Or better still, who else could have given Rosette the kind of republican burial she received last Friday?
One thing keeps on ruminating in my mind, would Chantal – the actual First Lady get such burial whenever her bell rings? Hope no one misconceives me, I am not praying for the demise of the elegant First Lady, but tell me who on this earth shall not go the same way.
To the best of my knowledge, Chantal would only get such honours if she dies as First Lady. But is Cameroon a kingdom? How long can President Biya resist on power again? Could it have been that the First Lady had decided to bequeath the honours she may live never to have to her darling mum? That too is another argument, which did not catch the media court eye anyway.
Biya took the decision, matured it and executed it without qualms. And that is one of the most glaring characteristics of dictators; I am not insinuating. He demonstrated more ‘love’ to Rosette than her actual husband, Ernest.
We hear Rosette was married to a certain Bamelike bloke. That’s indisputable, taking into account the attachment of “Mboutchouang” to her name. She was even the town’s landlady.
What ever the judgment of the media has been, what has been done cannot be undone. Ernest did not raise a finger to protest the decision to ferry the remains of his Rosette to Mvomeka, he succumbed to the decision, followed the corpse of her wife to Mvomeka and shed tears alongside her step daughter – Chantal. He was however refused the opportunity to address his last words to his departed darling.
He could normally have assumed the responsibility to bury her wife at his residence in Bangou. In that case, he would have footed all the cost of transportation from South Africa where she died to Cameroon, coffining and the accompanying stupor that marked the historic burial.
That was never the case. He was rescued from the burden of the profligate expenditure. It is not my position to probe into how much was his own financial contribution to the funeral if really there was. Was he even consulted on the funeral program or he merely got it on radio like I did too?
Some say he would have rebelled against the decision, rumble and let hell reign. I agree with this school of thought, it was his duty to ask questions, protest and wreak disorder. Order would then have reigned with the reinstatement of the corpse to his control.