Lapiro de Mbanga, one of Cameroon’s most well-known musicians, who sang the truth to power and ended up spending three years in prison for standing for a better country, passed very tragically 9 years ago today.
Lapiro de Mbanga, officially known as Lambo Sandjo Pierre Roger, passed away in exile on March 16, 2014, in Buffalo, New York, in the United States.
Lapiro was an outstanding campaigner. His entire musical career which started in 1985, focused on advocating for Cameroonians from all walks of life. Lapiro sang in pidgin, an amalgam of English, French, and regional languages.
He rapped and sang in a language that practically every Cameroonian understood, especially given that exercising one’s right to free speech was frowned upon.
Some of the issues that Lapiro challenged in his music ranged from Paul Biya’s one-man show style of governance; poor governance and a lack of basic amenities; unemployment and the degradation of Cameroon education; insecurity, and the use of imprisonment as a form of intimidation by the Biya regime; and the constitutional change that saw Biya become eligible for life as president.
One of the most outstanding moments of Lapiro’s career was when he released the song “Constipated Constitution” which was banned when it became the 2008 protest movement’s anthem.
Upon Lapiro’s release from prison, he traveled to the USA where he was granted asylum. Age 56 saw his death from what was alleged to be cancer.
The constitution was altered to permit President Paul Biya to run for reelection despite the 2008 demonstrations. He’s still in charge at 90 and today, most of the things that Lapiro decried in his songs, have come to haunt Cameroon.
Lapiro was also active in politics, a staunch member of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party and one-time mayoral candidate of Mbanga.
