Akemfua Festus

When This Silence Shall Speak Akemfua Festus

Most of the poems in When This Silence Shall Speak were written between 1998 and 2005, corresponding to the authors last years in university and the period of his professional accountancy studies. The country was undergoing severe economic crises, exacerbated by pervasive corruption, patronage and nepotism, waste, social decay, elections rigging, and disrespect for state authority. Unemployment was at its peak, with young people seeking to move abroad by whatever means possible. It is against this backdrop that the author sought through poetry not only to draw the attention of his fellow countrymen to the negative consequences of such ills in societyespecially on the poorer and vulnerable classes, with whom he identifiesbut to also carefully relate and transmit the spirit of his time to a generation that may be blessed to live in a better time. The poems in this volume are carefully selected to vividly portray the moods, events, experiences, frustrations, and aspirations of his people. Though written over a decade ago, they remain as relevant today as they were in the yesteryears.