”Our Mother Cameroon, Queen of Grace. We pray you comfort us. We pray you stop the nimbus Of our rain of tears!”
Kiman: Songs of War! Songs of Peace! is more than just a collection of poems; it's a movement that journeys through the complexities of society and governance. It highlights how political policies often lead to poverty, inequality, and suppressed freedoms.
The poems chronicle a cycle—from devastation, frustration and rebellion to the violence of war, ultimately envisioning a world of peace and justice. Kiman calls for an ideal life where humanity is safeguarded, and peace is nurtured.
This collection, titled Kiman (meaning "A call to peace," truth, and justice), is built on 5 powerful pillars:
Kiman challenges readers to take responsibility and become " soldiers of peace," promoting love, respect, and solidarity. With its emotionally charged verses, it urges the world to heal through dialogue, empathy, and action, transcending borders and conflicts to foster a global community grounded in shared humanity.
On October 27, 2024, nearly a hundred young people gathered at the Kiman Peace Sanctuary in Yaoundé despite heavy rain. Around a fireside in an African-style "Grandma’s Kitchen," they discussed gender-based violence in war, shared local food and coffee, and watched powerful performances from KIMAN: Songs of War, Songs of Peace. The night highlighted the importance of peace, dignity, and nonviolence in conflict.
As part of Kiman Peace Advocacy Week, the team visited Knowledge Garden in Tsinga Village, Yaoundé, where pupils celebrated peace through a week of activities. The highlight was a thought-provoking sketch by the students on peace, emphasizing forgiveness, youth roles in peace, and conflict's toll. The team engaged the pupils in discussions on leadership, conflict resolution, empathy, and community service, with the students showing great insight. The visit ended with plans to return, bringing resources to support these young peace advocates.
A searing critique of the manipulation and exploitation perpetuated by some political elites. This chapter examines the concept of Positive Peace and how politicians sometimes neglect the people they are called to serve, pushing only for their selfish interests. It also touches on some colonial and neocolonial legacies affecting our present day governance in Africa.
Inspired by the legendary Lapiro de Mbanga, this chapter is a satire on inadequate governance and the economic exploitation of war by all, it pays poetic homage to the power of music and satire in challenging bad politics.
This chapter offers an intense portrayal of the human cost of war. From the voices of children and women caught in the crossfire, it depicts the horror and despair that define the war experience. The only hope for these war victims is divine intervention in a nation bled dry by conflict.
A vivid exploration of how prolonged terror has disfigured societies and led to a culture of fear, violence, and degradation of human life. This chapter warns of the moral decay that accompanies unchecked violence, where even the innocent become perpetrators of horror and victims of the 'monster' of war they themselves have created.
Signifying the return of peace, KIMAN celebrates reconciliation and healing. This chapter envisions peace as the ultimate liberator - a force that unites communities, offering hope, freedom, and renewal after the destruction of war. It is simply a peace offering in the face of a protracted war.
In the spirit of Bob Marley’s iconic protest song, this chapter calls for a new era of liberation from political greed, oppression, and mental slavery. It advocates for truth, forgiveness, and justice, nonviolence and empathy as pathways to genuine peace, encouraging leaders to serve with integrity and compassion. It advocates for the dialogue of peace over the dialogue of arms.
It is an insightful and raw metaphysical journey into what was, what is, what could be and what should be. It resonates with lingering undertones of cultural specificities and colourful images in words, all wrapped up in liberal poetic expression. Well done. A bit too intense for the tethered reader.
Programme Director at Light Works/SHEMKA FoundationVice President of Africa Women Leaders Network 237
A strike through arts and truth; a tearful appeal for justice and ujamaa. It is in itself an epiphany, telling stories of long suffering and of hope, of a people sliced by colonialism, subjugated by neocolonial accomplices, and impoverished by capitalists
Author of The Greatest Leader in the World (2022)
The poems of Kiman: Songs of War! Songs of Peace! are so overly compelling as to leave no reader indifferent. In a highly evocative and strikingly polished lingo, they mirror the hideousness of war or the intentions of it, as well as echo the edifying virtues of peace. This is therapeutic poetry; upon perusing it you are impelled to make a somewhat inadvertent resolve to execrate the horrors of violence, whether you are actively engaged in it or not.
Writer, critic and social worker
The poems carry a deep sense of humanity, calling for introspection on a collective will to design the society we want, where everyone irrespective of their leanings, enjoys the freedom to explore the most of themselves, supporting others to do same. Beyond Cameroon, the poems culminate into a powerful voice calling us all (the world) back to our humanity away from the ways that harm our collective soul.
Ph D,Computer Science
KIMAN is a good poetry diet to savour. It is a punch for soulful reading and life-changing literature. The title speaks volumes about the substance of the literary prowess at work in this collection. Indeed, it is a rich and magnificent tapestry of well-woven thoughts that depict the fragmented images and phases of the protracted crises that have rocked Cameroon in recent times. They paint vivid pictures of dirty politics, guns, war, blood, horror... and yet serve as «prophetic voices» to preach and promote peace as the main weapon for change. «Songs of War, Songs of Peace» is the underlying theme that drums the strong message for warring factions to drop their weapons and embrace each other in love so that peace can finally return to our troubled regions.
Journalist, Writer & Blogger (President General, SHESA)
What a poignant collection of poems that brings together the heartfelt laments of two promising young Anglophone poets, Akere-Maimo J. Ano-Ebie and Nsaibirni Warren Lee, amidst the turmoil of civil strife in Cameroon. Through their blood-stained verses, one hears the deep, haunting wails of the poor lamenting their lost loved ones, their homes forever shattered, and their once beautiful landscapes forever scarred beyond recognition. Yet, amidst the despair caused by this senseless war, the poets’ fervent yearning for peace resonates across the land as they plead for an end to the carnage that will enable the broken bonds of society to be mended. “Kiman: Songs of War! Songs of Peace!” stands as a testament to the enduring power of poetry that offers solace in the face of tragedy and serves as a beacon of hope for a future where tranquility will once more reign.
Translator, Conference Interpreter, Catholic Journalist, and author.
”Africa, the land of the rising sun and tropical sunset,In whose dead slumber there is still a glimmer of hope, A spectre of a fulfilling success!
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