When the South African author of the famous novel “Cry the Beloved Country” Alan Paton died 1988, Prof Kitts Mbeboh, then lecturer at the University of Yaounde, paid tribute to him and organized a conference on his behalf. That was in the "Amphi 700" of the University. I remember how packed full it was. It would be recalled that South Africa was then still in the yoke of apartheid and whites like Paton offered a gentle Christian-liberal solution to the problems of South Africa; a position that was not very popular back in South Africa. When the book was first published, it was regarded by many white South Africans as either sentimental or almost revolutionary. But, other than in South Africa, the novel has always been more widely appreciated in many places including the United States. To the surprise of many of us, Prof. Mbeboh rather than praise Paton for his seemingly popular and sympathetic book towards the course of the Blackman then in South Africa, paid Paton a negative tribute and criticized the novel as a "social apology" that was hopelessly inadequate to address the social prejudices that were created by the white-man. I remember Profs. Siga Asanga, Tala Kashim, and Ebot (all late), praising Prof. Mbeboh for making them see the other side of the novel years after. That was the exceptional nature of Kitts Mbeboh’s thinking; he thought most often, “outside-the-box” and remained very convincing even to his ardent opponents and critics. His Serene Highness Prince Asa'ahtong fontem