In Buea, Cameroon, a woman gasped at the sight of what appeared to be a lifeless body on a stretcher. Volunteers brought it onto the stage, where Boris Taleabong Alemnge, a 24-year-old poet, delivered a poignant recital titled “Death.”
“The day you die, people will cry,” Alemnge expressed to the audience gathered in a troubled area of southwestern Cameroon. “Yet, this won’t pause the ticking clock or halt the blooming flowers.”
Alemnge is among a group of artists advocating against the ceaseless bloodshed in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, where conflicts between separatists and government forces persist. Although the corpse was merely a stage prop, the tears that followed were genuine.
Since 2016, the civil war has resulted in around 6,500 deaths—mostly civilians—and displaced nearly a million individuals.
Spoken-word poetry is gaining prominence in the country as artists like Alemnge, performing under the stage name “Penboy,” believe it effectively communicates the harsh realities of war zones, topics often avoided in everyday conversations.
“Death is inevitable,” he remarked after organizing a performance in March to introduce his latest album, “RED.” He noted that many people hesitate to contemplate it.
The artists performing this poetry have drawn enthusiastic audiences, who find solace in its rhythmic delivery.
“I have seen crowds become silent and then rise like waves because his words have the power to heal,” shared Prosper Langmi Ngunu, a spectator of Penboy’s show.
Many in the Anglophone regions have lost loved ones. Mental health struggles are widespread, and gang rape by combatants has increased teenage pregnancy rates.
Penboy’s album “RED” revisits themes from his earlier work “Natives of the Universe,” emphasizing shared humanity and challenging the vanity behind conflicts that fail to justify their toll.
Despite the conflict-induced language divides, Penboy has performed in six of Cameroon’s eight Francophone areas, striving to highlight the atrocities occurring in English-speaking territories. There, empathetic audiences have listened, with some inspired to advocate for peace.
Global and local groups have documented looting, violence, torture, mass rape, and village burnings, with each side blaming the other.
The scars of colonial rule contribute to present-day disputes anchored in linguistic divisions. Formerly a German colony, Cameroon was divided by Britain and France post-World War I, each governing distinct entities until the early 1960s when Cameroon achieved independence and united as a bilingual state.
This structure soon changed after a referendum dissolved sections protecting the English-speaking minority’s rights.
Approximately 20% of Cameroon’s nearly 30 million people are English speakers, feeling marginalized by the Francophone majority. Tensions escalated in 2016 when government efforts to institute French in Anglophone schools and courts sparked protests violently suppressed by security forces.
Some English-speaking separatists then took up arms against the government. Allegations of civilian violence plague both groups.
The rising popularity of spoken-word events like Penboy’s March gathering reflects growing fearlessness in expressing dissent, stated another artist, Camila.
“Since we cannot wield guns, we harness spoken-word power to deliver our message. Some find peace, others heal, and some connect to these performances,” she noted.
Her act drew from a 2021 incident where a soldier’s gunfire at a vehicle killed 5-year-old Caro Louise Ndialle.
“How do we erase the pain of holding our little girl, her shattered skull a trophy of violence?” Camila asked.
Her work evokes memories of bodies on streets and how schools and hospitals cease function when torched by soldiers and fighters.
Other poets target the perceived hypocrisy and indifference of the battling parties.
In “Cries Of War,” poet Sandra Nyangha shares stories of those weary of conflict, yearning for peace’s return.
“If you can order war’s onset, you can command its end,” she declared.
For Penboy, these gatherings are efforts to bring arts to crisis-hit places. He initiated projects like the Students In Activism Project, motivating youth to gain confidence through writing and performance skills.
“The war has deprived many of education,” Penboy said. “Beyond artistry, my aim is to empower them to use arts to solve community challenges.” He affirmed, “Artists must leverage their craft for change advocacy.”