Downloads   Galeries   Forums   Audios   Vidéos   Liens   Livre d´or   Partenaires   Contact   
  Accueil
  Actualité
  Régions/Peuples
  Historique
  Sawanité
  Le Ngondo
  Tourisme
  Littérature
  VIP
  F.A.Q
  Agendas
  Evénements
  Annonces
  Projets
  Communauté



      


19.10.2006

Dr. Levi´s Defense 

In light of the political nature of the trial, Dr. Levi approached the problem of Mpondo´s credibility by arguing that the issue of “fraudulent intent” could not be raised without also examining the entire colonial policy in German Kamerun up to that point.[ In light of the fact that the Plaidoyer was expanded years after the trial, I refer here only to those sections of it that reasonably can be believed to constitute a rather close version of Levi´s main lines of argument in June 1905. Some of these arguments, as well as much of the evidence he presented, can be corroborated by the very brief references one finds in newspaper articles and the court´s official Gründe (see below). For a deeper discuss] Such an examination would prove that the defendant intended to pay for his debts and explain why it was that he found himself unable to do so. Levi´s most basic strategy for the eight counts of fraud was to demonstrate that the colonial government had effected Mpondo´s impoverishment by prohibiting necessary - and agreed upon - money collections from members of the Akwa lineage, in the hopes of forcing Mpondo´s return and thereby putting and end to his role as official spokesperson for the Akwa people.

Dr. Levi´s principal defense in the trial was to prove that Mpondo did not knowingly rack up debt that he could not repay. Aware of the danger that race could become the main issue of the case, he had to structure the logic of his argument to lessen the power of those racial stereotypes which cast Africans as inherently deceitful. He therefore, like Mpondo, underscored the extent to which the Akwas were important people by depicting the two Duala kings as "masters over the life and death of their people," by juxtapositioning Mpondo´s high standing with the intrigues that beset the German colonial project in Cameroon from the outset (thereby casting doubt on the legality of whole colonial affair),[ To do this, he described the way in which the Duala were apparently tricked by the German colonists already in 1884 and introduced evidence that the phrase "administration of justice" was included in the rights transferred from the Hamburg firms to Gustav Nachtigal, even though this phrase did not exist in the original treaty signed by the Duala kings. Both versions of the treaty are reproduced in the Stenographische Berichte, XI. Lp., II Session, Aktenstück Nr. 294. Levi had and original of the treaty in his possession at the time of the trial. Levi, 10.] and by putting to rest any doubts about Mpondo´s wealth by describing Mpondo´s early education in Germany and by heralding his aristocratic connections. As for the apparent poverty of Mpondo´s father, Levi ascribed this to the logical consequence of unjust local policies which were infractions of the rights the Duala had attempted to reserve in the wording of the 1884 treaty.

The bulk of Dr. Levi´s case against the eight charges of fraud rested on the evidence he had concerning the shady dealings of the colonial government. Using this evidence, which included letters to Mpondo from his father, Levi argued that the prosecution´s case "was not based on legal conviction but rather and primarily motivated by considerations of opportunity in favor of another branch of the administration which would be greatly and most conveniently helped by a negative judgment of Mpundo Akwa." Having demonstrated the chicanery and brutality of the Von Puttkamer regime, Levi reminded the court of Von Puttkamer´s prohibition against collecting money for Mpondo Akwa, as well as of King Akwa´s imprisonment and consequent impoverishment, and used these examples to show that while Mpondo could have reasonably expected to receive money from his father, he did not receive any solely because colonial officials were hoping his lack of funds would in one way or another force him to return.

Key to Dr. Levi´s argument is his contention that Mpondo did not know of his father´s fate or of the prohibition against collecting money before he had fallen deep into debt. Whether or not this was true, it still did not explain why Mpondo spent money so lavishly after months of receiving nothing from home - a fact which could be interpreted as fraudulent intent. This was the interpretation encouraged by the prosecution when it depicted Mpondo as an unemployed ladies man who liked nothing better than to frequent dance halls. Levi approached this aspect of the accusation, as well as the issue of Mpondo´s use of the title "prince," via a complicated strategy that involved raising the racist stereotypes that were in the minds of people present in the courtroom, rendering them harmless by casting them in a different light, and then challenging them through subtle dismissals.

An example of Dr. Levi´s strategy is his treatment of Mpondo´s alleged intemperate, spendthrift behavior, which according to Levi was a trait Mpondo had learned from the most intemperate persons of all: the German nobility. Levi accomplished two things at once here. By referring to the German nobility, he posited the possibility that intemperate behavior can coexist with honor. By using the common stereotype of Africans as prone to mimicry, he simultaneously blamed Germans for Mpondo´s personal habits and suggested that in other cultural systems, where power is based primarily on social capital, lavish spending without the immediate presence of funds may have nothing to do with the intention to defraud. Thus he delinked Mpondo´s personality - so offensive to bourgeois self-perceptions of thrift and modesty-from his alleged crime and brought the attention of the court back to the more relevant fact that Mpondo would have paid back his debts if the colonial government had not been dead set against it.

To exonerate Mpondo from the charge of fraudulently using the title of nobility would be very difficult, as already discussed, because Germany´s African colonies came under the complete sovereignty of the Kaiser; sovereignty and the use of the title “king”, according to European norms, were so closely linked that Levi could not come out and argue that Mpondo was indeed a prince unless he wanted to take on the entire colonial system. To solve this problem, Levi drew upon several popular stereotypes of Africans but used them to argue for a space of difference within German law, that is, for the court´s capacity to entertain other viewpoints, arising out of other historical trajectories, when making a decision about a western legal concept such as “fraud”:

One cannot be surprised that Mpondo Akwa after years of this beguiling intercourse with society, this competition for his company, this glorification of his blue blood should not have developed certain grand airs and mannerisms, perhaps not even in a positive way, which also can be observed in these circles among the young.... If furthermore one takes into account the different mentality and outlook of a black person, his basically different attitude with regard to morals, ethics, customs and decorum, and quite a different innate cultural and critical capacity, if one considers that in spite of his conversion to Christianity there must be some remnants of paganism in his psyche, considering all this it seems more than unfair to hold him completely accountable for his behavior, his way of dressing and his general attitude, not to seem to be what he really is, that we should not draw unrealistic conclusions about the worth and character of his personality.
Through the talented use of rhetoric, Dr. Levi cast Mpondo´s alleged “difference” in a wholly different light than the prosecution. In fact, he seems to have been arguing that Mpondo carried himself like a prince because in Cameroon this is what persons of his status did - hence the emphasis on different morals, ethics, customs, decorum, religion, dress, attitude and so forth. To bring this line of argument home, Levi mused regarding Mpondo´s title:

Quite objectively speaking, can the use of his title "Prince" be called improper? His father was a King, and he, the Prince, was his successor. If his father would not have sold his sovereignty, the accused Mpondo Akwa would later have become King himself, and if he would have visited Germany, he would have been received with royal honor and treated accordingly.

In the space of the “what if” Dr. Levi is able to capture the underlying intellectual logic of Akwa protests within the form and content of German rule.

The judge acquitted Mpondo Akwa of all charges of fraud. In his explanation of his decision, the language of race and politics was completely absent. Instead, he focused on the narrow definition of fraud. It is clear even from this, however, that Levi´s far-reaching defense of Mpondo served it´s purpose: to win back enough credibility for his client that Mpondo could reasonably appear to be a man intending always to pay back the debts he was accruing. Two counts of fraud were thrown out summarily: (1) the case of Todtmann who himself admitted that he did not extend Mpondo credit based on Mpondo´s stature and stories, and (2) the case of Harm, who had since died and left no evidence behind to corroborate his charge of fraud. As for the others, the judge grounded his decision by explaining that although the defendant undoubtedly lacked wisdom in his choice of means to obtain credit, the facility with which credit was given to him must be taken into consideration, as must his belief that he would receive money from home.

The official court Gründe, which was requested by and sent to the Colonial Department of the Foreign Office and hence survives, puts particular emphasis on two bits of evidence: (1) letters from King Akwa to his son in which he alludes to forthcoming money collections amongst the Akwa people for Mpondo´s use; and (2) the testimony of Freiherr von Landsberg, who said that Mpondo was a "man who tended to extremes" and "who was very optimistic based on. his wealth," which convinced von Landsberg that Mpondo honestly believed he would be sent adequate funds to cover his burgeoning debt. The court report commented, "[U]nder these circumstances it could not be made certain that the defendant was subjectively guilty of operating under false pretenses or of hiding the truth, and the acquittal of the defendant must therefore follow due to the absence of this factual criterion for fraud."

Though the prosecution would have to pay the costs of the trial, Mpondo still had to cover his debts. According to a letter sent to Chancellor von Bülow in July 1905, Mpondo calculated his debts at 3500 Marks. Money to pay them back was to come from Cameroon, and hence he requested that the Chancellor intercede to lift the ban. Funds arriving for Mpondo from Cameroon were going to be handed directly to Dr. Levi, who would then make sure that all of Mpondo´s creditors received their due.
The decision of the Altona court provoked the ire of Puttkamer´s supporters; and they responded with virulence. Von Puttkamer himself, upon hearing about it, wrote the Colonial Department asking again if Mpondo could be deported. One conservative newspaper interpreted the trial in explicitly racialist terms. Expressing horror that Africans were in Germany at all, the author assumed that Mpondo had received special treatment as a black man and speciously suggested that if Neger were so different that they could not be held responsible for their actions, then they did not belong in Germany at all and should be sent back to the colonies where the racial hierarchy would keep them control. [Leipziger Neuste Nachrichten, 2.August 1905]

MPUNDU AKWA: The Case of the Prince from Cameroon, the Newly Discovered Speech for the Defense by Dr.M. Levi
Von Joeden-Forgey, Elisa & Levi, Dr. M. (Eds.)
Notes, bib, vii, 137pp, GERMANY. LIT VERLAG, 3825873544

 

Source:  | Hits: 36821 | Envoyer à des amis  ! | Imprimer ! | Réagir(0)

PLUS DE NOUVELLES


  L´ EYOMBWE - Miss Ngondo 2008
( | 06.12.2008 | 33544 hits  | 0 R)

  Le "Ngondo" en quête de développement
( | 02.12.2008 | 31005 hits  | 0 R)

  NGONDO 2008 : Le peuple Sawa s’invite à l’action
( | 01.12.2008 | 29584 hits  | 0 R)

  Ngondo 2008 : Ce n’est pas seulement la fête
( | 26.11.2008 | 28470 hits  | 0 R)

  Ngondo 2008: Une caravane pour innover
( | 25.11.2008 | 28820 hits  | 0 R)

  Ngondo: BREVES
( | 20.11.2008 | 29787 hits  | 0 R)

  Miriam Makeba est décédée à la suite d´un concert effectué en Italie
( | 10.11.2008 | 31862 hits  | 1 R)

  Le groupe ESA, vous vous en souvenez ??? Il revient …
( | 06.11.2008 | 33464 hits  | 0 R)

  Muna Moto (L’enfant de l’autre), le film de Dikongue Pipa
( | 01.11.2008 | 46135 hits  | 0 R)

  Musique : “Essimo” la contestation en musique
( | 31.10.2008 | 33311 hits  | 0 R)

  Nécrologie : Hoïgen Ekwalla est décédé
( | 25.10.2008 | 56210 hits  | 0 R)

  La fin du néolibéralisme
( | 18.10.2008 | 29227 hits  | 0 R)

  Ubuntu - an African Philosophy (i am because we are)
( | 11.10.2008 | 70925 hits  | 1 R)

  Ubuntu definition is: a person is a person through other persons.
( | 11.10.2008 | 63628 hits  | 1 R)

  Ubuntu : Je suis ce que je suis parce que vous êtes ce que vous êtes
( | 11.10.2008 | 45641 hits  | 1 R)

  Géo-économie mondiale : Un basculement stratégique | Octobre 2008 René Naba | Paris
( | 09.10.2008 | 40032 hits  | 0 R)

  André Ngangué : Le patriarche a définitivement rangé son micro
( | 10.09.2008 | 32731 hits  | 0 R)

  André Ngangué est mort !
( | 09.09.2008 | 32398 hits  | 0 R)

  Vie et Oeuvre de Ruben Um Nyobè
( | 05.09.2008 | 36521 hits  | 0 R)

  lettre d´un Sawanaute
( | 30.08.2008 | 39317 hits  | 1 R)

  Cameroon - Nigeria: A cultural festival to seal reconciliation
( | 27.08.2008 | 30559 hits  | 0 R)

  JO: Gwladys Epangue médaillée de bronze de taekwondo en -67 kg
( | 22.08.2008 | 31796 hits  | 0 R)

  Francoise Mbango Etone en OR - Bravo championne !
( | 17.08.2008 | 29758 hits  | 0 R)

  Le Pr. René Douala Manga Bell dénonce...et écrit au Président de la République
( | 14.08.2008 | 48084 hits  | 1 R)

  Obituary: Isaac Hayes dies at age 65
( | 11.08.2008 | 33599 hits  | 0 R)

  Africa n°1 Manu et Tito: Duo ecclectique de l´Historiographie de la Musique Africaine
( | 03.08.2008 | 33846 hits  | 0 R)

  Bonendalè : un carrefour artistique
( | 01.08.2008 | 38050 hits  | 0 R)

  Cameroon, Autopsy Of An Independance. answers on this taboo story during the colonial age
( | 01.08.2008 | 33675 hits  | 0 R)

  L’ORIGINE DU NOM TOTÉMIQUE DU PEUPLE BASSA/BASSOO
( | 19.07.2008 | 73601 hits  | 0 R)

  Une action de pérennisation de la civilisation Bakoko
( | 15.07.2008 | 38159 hits  | 0 R)

  Le cri de supplique des enfants de Lapiro: " S´il vous plaît, libérez notre père! "
( | 13.07.2008 | 35782 hits  | 0 R)

  Credo Mutwa presents: The True History of Africa
( | 06.07.2008 | 33194 hits  | 0 R)

  Livre: André FOUDA 1951-1980
( | 05.07.2008 | 33420 hits  | 0 R)

  Quand la France massacrait au Cameroun dans les années 60
( | 28.06.2008 | 40791 hits  | 0 R)

  Vidéo - Cameroun : autopsie d´une indépendance
( | 25.06.2008 | 32832 hits  | 0 R)

  Bonendale - d’un village chargé d’histoires
( | 19.06.2008 | 50972 hits  | 0 R)

  Croyance, Réligiosité, Société Sécrète : Le Ngoua
( | 15.06.2008 | 31398 hits  | 0 R)

  Les jalons posés à Yabassi
( | 13.06.2008 | 31126 hits  | 0 R)

  LE PEUPLE SAWA?
( | 02.06.2008 | 25962 hits  | 0 R)

  Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of imperialism, by Kwame Nkrumah, 1965
( | 25.05.2008 | 46293 hits  | 0 R)

  Egypte antique et Afrique noire: une parenté méconnue et occultée
( | 25.05.2008 | 39624 hits  | 0 R)

  OBSTACLES AU DIALOGUE NORD-SUD par Chinua ACHEBE
( | 25.05.2008 | 39543 hits  | 0 R)

  Le CLAN: formation traditionelle des Jeunes pendant la Colonisation
( | 16.05.2008 | 38758 hits  | 0 R)

  Histoire de la Musique Sawa
( | 16.05.2008 | 38925 hits  | 1 R)

  Patrice Ndedi Penda: Comment combattre la malédiction coloniale
( | 16.05.2008 | 39954 hits  | 0 R)

  CAMEROUN DU PROTECTORAT VERS LA DEMOCRATIE 1884 - 1992
( | 04.05.2008 | 37226 hits  | 0 R)

  Celestin Monga: Lettre ouverte à Lapiro (Lambo Pierre Roger)
( | 01.05.2008 | 29616 hits  | 0 R)

  Hommage de PeupleSawa à Aimé Césaire : le dernier des Mohicans s’en est allé
( | 18.04.2008 | 32808 hits  | 0 R)

  L´hommage d´Edouard Glissant à Aimé Césaire
( | 18.04.2008 | 26344 hits  | 0 R)

  Cameroun : Proposition pour un débat politique national du Monsieur Ngouo Woungly-Massaga alias Commandant Kissamba
( | 14.04.2008 | 26929 hits  | 0 R)



   0 |  1 |  2 |  3 |  4 |  5 |  6 |  7 |  8 |  9 |  10 |  11 |  12 |  13 |  14 |  15 |      ... >|



Jumeaux Masao "Ngondo"

Remember Moamar Kadhafi

LIVING CHAINS OF COLONISATION






© Peuplesawa.com 2007 | WEB Technology : BN-iCOM by Biangue Networks