- Over 6,000 civilian deaths reported since conflict began in 2016
- Nearly 1 million displaced amid ongoing violence
- 20% Anglophone minority faces systemic marginalization
- Artists tour Francophone regions to bridge divides
- Youth initiatives use poetry for community healing
In Cameroon’s embattled English-speaking regions, spoken-word poetry has become a lifeline for communities shattered by civil war. Performers like Boris PenboyAlemnge transform stages into spaces of catharsis, weaving narratives of loss and resilience through visceral verses. Their work confronts taboo subjects—mass graves, systemic rape, and colonial-era divisions—with unflinching honesty that news reports often sanitize.
The conflict’s roots trace back to 1961, when post-independence Cameroon dissolved protections for its Anglophone population. Decades of cultural erasure culminated in 2016 protests against forced French-language policies, sparking armed rebellion. Today, separatist fighters and government troops both stand accused of burning villages, torturing civilians, and weaponizing sexual violence. Mental health professionals report epidemic levels of PTSD, particularly among women and children.
Penboy’s cross-country tours defy linguistic barriers, performing in six Francophone regions to humanize Anglophone suffering. His album REDcritiques war profiteering through metaphors of bleeding earth and orphaned futures. During a March concert in Buea, audience members collapsed in tears during Death,a poem juxtaposing funeral rites with nature’s indifference to human tragedy.
Artists like Camila channel specific atrocities into their work. Her piece on the 2021 killing of 5-year-old Caro Louise Ndialle—shot by soldiers at a checkpoint—forces listeners to confront war’s impact on childhood. We cradle skull fragments like broken promises,she recites, her cadence mirroring the staccato rhythm of gunfire. Other poems document schools reduced to ash and markets silent except for the buzz of flies over corpses.
These performances have nurtured unlikely alliances. Francophone attendees at Penboy’s Yaoundé show launched a petition demanding independent investigations into military abuses. The Students In Activism Project, his youth workshop, trains displaced teens to process trauma through writing. Art rebuilds what bombs shatter,explains participant Émilie Mbede, 17, whose poem about her burned village won a national UNESCO prize.
While drones patrol conflict zones, poets wage a quieter revolution. Sandra Nyangha’s Cries Of Warenvisions commanders signing peace decrees with the same pens that drafted battle plans. Her sold-out Douala show featured a choir of widows and ex-combatants singing reconciliation hymns. As international donors debate aid packages, these artists prove that Cameroon’s most vital peacekeeping force might be its poets.
This report adheres to AP’s editorial standards. The Gates Foundation supports the Associated Press’s Africa health and development coverage. All content remains the independent work of AP journalists.
