George Esunge Fominyen is currently Coordinator of the Multi-Media Editorial Unit of the PANOS Institute West Africa (PIWA) in Dakar, Senegal.
PANOS Institute West Africa
6, Rue Calmette Dakar, Senegal
Email: [email protected]
AFRICAphonie AFRICAphonie is a Pan African Association which operates on the premise that AFRICA can only be what AFRICANS and their friends want AFRICA to be.
Bakwerirama Spotlight on Bakweri Society and Culture. The Bakweri are an indigenous African nation.
Bate Besong Bate Besong, award-winning firebrand poet and playwright.
Bernard Fonlon Dr Bernard Fonlon was an extraordinary figure who left a large footprint in Cameroonian intellectual, social and political life.
Fonlon-Nichols Award Website of the Literary Award established to honor the memory of BERNARD FONLON, the great Cameroonian teacher, writer, poet, and philosopher, who passionately defended human rights in an often oppressive political atmosphere.
France Watcher Purpose of this advocacy site: To aggregate all available information about French terror, exploitation and manipulation of Africa
Jacob Nguni Virtuoso guitarist, writer and humorist. Former lead guitarist of Rocafil, led by Prince Nico Mbarga.
Martin Jumbam The refreshingly, unique, incisive and generally hilarous writings about the foibles of African society and politics by former Cameroon Life Magazine columnist Martin Jumbam.
Nowa Omoigui Professor of Medicine and interventional cardiologist, Nowa Omoigui is also one of the foremost experts and scholars on the history of the Nigerian Military and the Nigerian Civil War. This site contains many of his writings and comments on military subjects and history.
Postwatch Magazine A UMI (United Media Incorporated) publication. Specializing in well researched investigative reports, it focuses on the Cameroonian scene, particular issues of interest to the former British Southern Cameroons.
Simon Mol Cameroonian poet, writer, journalist and Human Rights activist living in Warsaw, Poland
Victor Mbarika ICT Weblog Victor Wacham Agwe Mbarika is one of Africa's foremost experts on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Dr. Mbarika's research interests are in the areas of information infrastructure diffusion in developing countries and multimedia learning.
Tunduzi A West African in Arusha at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on the angst, contradictions and rewards of that process.
Dr Godfrey Tangwa (Gobata) Renaissance man, philosophy professor, actor and newspaper columnist, Godfrey Tangwa aka Rotcod Gobata touches a wide array of subjects. Always entertaining and eminently readable. Visit for frequent updates.
Francis Nyamnjoh Prolific writer, social and political commentator, he was a professor at University of Buea and University of Botswana. Currently he is Head of Publications and Dissemination at CODESRIA in Dakar, Senegal. His writings are socially relevant and engaging even to the non specialist.
Ilongo Sphere: Writer and Poet Novelist and poet Ilongo Fritz Ngalle, long concealed his artist's wings behind the firm exterior of a University administrator and guidance counsellor. No longer. Enjoy his unique poems and glimpses of upcoming novels and short stories.
Scribbles from the Den The award-winning blog of Dibussi Tande, Cameroon's leading blogger.
Enanga's POV Rosemary Ekosso, a Cameroonian novelist and blogger who lives and works in Cambodia.
GEF's Outlook Blog of George Esunge Fominyen, former CRTV journalist and currently Coordinator of the Multi-Media Editorial Unit of the PANOS Institute West Africa (PIWA) in Dakar, Senegal.
The Chia Report The incisive commentary of Chicago-based former CRTV journalist Chia Innocent
Voice Of The Oppressed Stephen Neba-Fuh is a political and social critic, human rights activist and poet who lives in Norway.
Bate Besong Bate Besong, award-winning firebrand poet and playwright.
Bakwerirama Spotlight on the Bakweri Society and Culture. The Bakweri are an indigenous African nation.
Fonlon-Nichols Award Website of the Literary Award established to honor the memory of BERNARD FONLON, the great Cameroonian teacher, writer, poet, and philosopher, who passionately defended human rights in an often oppressive political atmosphere.
Bernard Fonlon Dr Bernard Fonlon was an extraordinary figure who left a large footprint in Cameroonian intellectual, social and political life.
AFRICAphonie AFRICAphonie is a Pan African Association which operates on the premise that AFRICA can only be what AFRICANS and their friends want AFRICA to be.
Canute - Chronicles from the Heartland Professional translator, freelance writer and a regular contributor to THE POST newspaper. Lives in Douala, Cameroon
It has been a long night of celebration in Senegal- Africa's westernmost nation - which is set to have a new leader after incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade phoned his opponent Macky Sall to concede defeat in a presidential run-off on Sunday.
Motorists have been hooting and speeding away, with passengers leaning out and showing the victory sign. Many converged on the Place de l'Obelisk, a square in the capital Dakar, which was the scene of several confrontations between the police and (mainly) young opponents of Wade's bid to run for another term in office.
The protests didn't stop Wade from contesting the elections. But he fell short of winning an absolute majority in the first round held in February. About 65 percent of voters had voted for the plethora of opposition candidates who were running against Wade. He therefore had to face Sall, his former Prime Minister, (who came second in the first-round) in a run-off. When all the opposition candidates rallied behind Sall before Sunday's run-off, it looked like Wade was on his way out.
This became even more certain as preliminary results began flooding in from polling stations abroad and within Senegal. The fact that the victory margins were so wide in favour of Sall (including the polling station where Wade voted), caused hundreds of opposition supporters to start jubilating on the streets barely an hour after polling stations closed.
Approximately three and a half hours after the end of polling in Senegal, Wade phoned Sall to concede defeat. When this was announced on State TV, celebrations reached their climax on the streets of Dakar. I could still hear sirens, horns, whistles and loud music as late (or early?) as 2a.m.
"The people of Senegal are the big winners," Sall told a news conference in a Dakar hotel late in the night. "We have proven to the world that our democracy has come of age," he added.
Sall saluted those who lost their lives in a bid to maintain Senegal's democracy (certainly referring to people who died during clashes with security forces prior to the first round of elections).
He said a new era had started in Senegal and called on all Senegalese to work together to lift up the country.
Wade's supporters have chosen to highlight his decision to swiftly admit defeat saying it shows him as a responsible democrat.
“We have been in the opposition before. We know what it means. We will learn from our defeat today to prepare our future victories,” one of his supporters told Walf TV, a local television channel.
The official song of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea with Patience Dabany (Gabon) feat Magic System (Ivory Coast), X-Maleya (Cameroon) and much more... It celebrates the Africa and invites Africans to the two host nations to enjoy football. All the best to the teams that will be competing and their fans who should be dancing to this rythmic tune! Follow match analysis and other interesting bits on Gef's Football Club
*Article updated from the original to include quotes from the chief of Deido and Kah Walla.
There have been clashes between motor-bike taxi riders and residents of Deido neighbourhood for five days leaving at least two people dead in Douala, Cameroon's largest city, media reports said.
This spate of violence erupted on New Year's Eve when Deido residents accused motor-bike taxi riders (known as Benskinneur) of stabbing a Deido native to death. The residents retaliated by attacking benskinneurs and setting their motorcycles on fire.
The violence escalated on Tuesday 3 January, as shown in the report below by Douala-based Equinoxe Television channel, after a woman's home was burnt down in Deido on Monday night. Some Deido residents blamed the benskinneurs for the action leading to further clashes on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
ETHNIC ISSUES
While local media have suggested that the situation is increasingly developing into a tribal conflict between mainly ethnic Bamileke benskinneurs and largely ethnic Duala (Sawa) Deido youth groups, Sawa community leaders refuted such allegations on Equinoxe TV on Wednesday.
"Why do you want to suggest that there is a problem between Deidos (Dualas) and Bamileke or benskinneurs?" Essaka Ekwalla the paramount chief of the Deido asked on Equinoxe TV news on Wednesday night. "Are all benskinneur in Douala Bamileke?" he asked. "Do you know that there are natives of Deido who lost property because they are also benskinneurs?"
Government officials and politicians have not directly said the violence is turning to an ethnic issue but they have called for calm and insisted on unity.
"The head of state has repeatedly said that we have only one ethnicity which is the Cameroon nation," Issa Tchiroma, the Minister of Communication said on TV. "Douala has to remain that melting pot that it has always been where all ethnic groups be they Bakoko, Bassa, Bamileke, Duala, Hausa, live in harmony," he said.
A statement by the Provincial Bureau of the country's leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), touched on the issue.
"It should be noted that Douala is a cosmopolitan city. No one has the right to create a state of lawlessness in any of its neighbourhoods or areas. Douala is the common property of all who live there," said the statement signed by Gervais Nintcheu, SDF district chairman for the Littoral Region.
Cameroon's popular musical genre Bikutsi does not need foul language and explicit content to thrive, a former Cameroon TV (CRTV) presenter, Nadine Patricia Mengue, has said.
Bikutsi has been criticised over the years for the perceived sexual content of its lyrics and the dance styles performed on stage and in videos.
"In Europe when you say you are a Cameroonian (artiste) and you play Bikutsi people have the impression that you are doing pornography," the France-based broadcaster said. (see video below)
"We can talk about happiness and fun but we don't need to get into trash," she added while co-presenting Tam-Tam Weekend, the CRTV show that is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
But should this be an issue at all? Shouldn't it be left to people to choose what they want or don't want to listen to? And aren't such lyrics part of Bikutsi from its inception?
Bikutsi started as a means for women in various Beti and Fang people of central and southern Cameroon to speak out about the trials and tribulations of everyday life, love and relationships with their men including sexual taboos.
This was accompanied by singing, clapping and stamping of their feet on the earth. It later became a part of traditional song and dance events with the men playing the balafon and drums while the women sang.
"The improvised and usually erotic female choruses are at the heart of the Beti’s bikut-si tradition," Hortense and Charles Fuller wrote in their History of Bikutsi Music.
Global Voices is a community of more than 500 bloggers and translators around the world who work together to bring you reports from blogs and citizen media everywhere, with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media.
Cameroon's Supreme Court on Friday October 21, 2011 declared incumbent President Paul Biya winner of a presidential poll organised in the country. Biya won 79.9% of votes cast on October 9. He has ruled Cameroon since 1982.
The following video is a 2-minute edit of Justice Dipanda Mouelle announcing the winner as well as the runner up John Fru Ndi and the third Garga Haman Adji.
Paul Biya says Cameroon's election management body (ELECAM) is young and he urges Cameroonians to be considerate vis-a-vis any eventual shortcomings in the organisation of Presidential elections in the country on 9 Oct 2011.
The incumbent President was speaking after he voted on in the country's capital Yaounde. Biya and 22 others are vying for the office of President in the West-Central African nation of about 20 million inhabitants. ELECAM said 7 million were registered to vote.
This Sunday afternoon hundreds of social activists (essentially leftist groups) will march through some streets of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, to launch the World Social Forum (WSF).
It is the biennial gathering in which these groups proclaim and explain that there is another world order apart from capitalism and globalization, piloted (in their view) by the world leaders and business executives who meet at approximately the same time in Davos for the World Economic Forum.
Africa is playing host for the second time (Nairobi 2005 was the first) and the organizers would want the fundamental questions about the continent’s economic and social development, its security and its relations with the rest of the world to be central to the Forum’s debates.
Would the Forum provide techniques, ideas and tools to further such “revolutions” across the continent given that many of those who partake in it don’t tend to have a soft spot for leaders like Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Egypt’s Mubarak?
Cameroon’s state broadcaster (CRTV) announced the arrest of Yves-Michel Fotso, one of the country’s top businessmen and former director general of the now defunct Cameroon Airlines (CAMAIR) on 1 December 2010.
Fotso was arrested in Douala, the country’s economic capital, and transported to the judicial police headquarters in Yaounde but no reasons have been given for his detention, CRTV said.
Newspapers also suggested that he was being investigated for alleged mis-management which led to the collapse of CAMAIR. Is his arrest a sign that operation sparrow-hawk is back to action?
Charlotte Dipanda. Does that ring a bell? The 24-year-old singer with a soulful touch has captured the hearts of Cameroonians since the release of her first album "Mispa" in 2009. They paid her for bringing some bliss into their lives by voting her as the Best Female Artiste of that year,through the Cameroon music and culture awards, Canal D'or.
She carved her niche in the hearts of many with poignant vocals that accompanied the late Jeannot Hens' guitar in songs like Ndando, Longue and Cathy. For connaisseurs who remember her early days as a vocalist in Douala cabarets before she was fished out by Congolese songster - Lokua Kanza, her current success is well deserved.
She was performing on the night of her victory (part of a tour of Cameroon) thus failing to attend the ceremony.
The Male Artiste of the Year - Longue Longue - was at the event. He walked to the stage in a priest's cassock, which he dropped to unveil a stylish suit as he received his prize. According to votes via SMS and the web, he came ahead of Tsimi Tsoro whose lead track "Merci" was voted best song of the year.
Organisers of the Cameroon music and cultural awards, CANAL D'Or, have honoured jailed singer Lambo Sandjo Pierre Roger aka Lapiro de Mbanga with a a Life time Achievement Award.
The special tribute presented to his wife Louisette Lambo Sandjo on Friday is in recognition of the artiste's work, especially his engaging lyrics on the social, political and economic situation of his countrymen, often delivered in the "mboko" variant of the country's lingua franca, Pidgin-English.
"I dedicate this award to my husband and to all who are with him in cell number 18," the emotional Louisette told the audience made up of politicians, senior civil servants, top class businessmen, musicians, comedians and journalists.
Lapiro de Mbanga was arrested in April 2008 after the violent riots that rocked Cameroon in protest of high prices of basic commodities and popular discontent over a change in the country's constitution to drop the restriction of Presidential terms.
"I WON'T CRY"
He was convicted in September 2008 to three years imprisonment for looting, unlawful gathering and blocking the public highway at Mbanga, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Douala, the economic capital and one of several towns swept by riots that claimed more than 40 lives according to the official toll.
If you are interested in a genre of political literature called "motions of support" then there is a new book on the shelves in Cameroon for your reading pleasure: Paul Biya: The People's Call. It is a 336 page compilation of motions of support to Cameroon’s President Paul Biya packaged by the Cameroon Publishing Corporation (SOPECAM).
The first of four parts of the book republishes motions of support
requesting Paul Biya to stand for
election in 2011 for another 7-year- term. Part 2 compiles motions of
support from different parts of Cameroon "thanking" the President for
appointing their sons or daughters in government or other high duties.
The third part includes the messages sent to Paul Biya after reports
about his "supposed ill-gotten wealth and lavish spending on holiday in
Europe". The final part focuses on motions of support for the
anti-graft operation dubbed sparrow hawk (Epervier).
“The book is a testimony of communication between a people and their leader,” Philemon Yang the country’s Prime Minister said at the book launch on Monday. “It is a healthy two-way flow of messages," he added.
According to Philemon Yang, the President acknowledged the motions of support in his letter to the nation that marked his 27th anniversary in power. Paul Biya said he had heard the appeals and motions of support the people have been sending to him.
"I thank you for them, very sincerely. They are the most eloquent signs of encouragement addressed to me in the discharge of my responsibilities at the helm of State," the Cameroon Head of State wrote in his 3 November 2009 letter.
The Prime Minister described the book as "a landmark in the political history of our Fatherland." He said "for many years, future generations would read it and try to understand many issues that perhaps today we take for granted.”
It's understood that everyone has a right to their thoughts and convictions. Prime Minister Yang is thus entitled to speak of two-way communication between President Biya and the people he rules.
One simply wonders why the Head of State has not responded to a young rapper called Valsero who many months ago wrote "a letter to the President" about the plight of the country's masses (particularly the youth).
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says Cameroon is experiencing a silent emergency. Four (East, Adamawa,North, Far North) regions out of the country's 10 have high malnutrition rates.
Unicef in Cameroon wants people to be aware of this problem. They want the government to make resources available from the national budget to fund malnutrition services in every corner of the country and ensure that every health centre in the country has the ability to offer nutrition services.
It is 14th February. Saint Valentine's Day. Some people claim it's lovers' day. In most western countries the day is full of people expressing their passion for their loved ones. Lots of red roses are bought and handed over to sweethearts. Africans too are very much involved these days.The way it's done in Yaounde or Bamenda is often along the western lines. Ha!
Here's a gift to all who are celebrating on this day. Ngbwak Afup: It is a love song exhibiting courtship a l'Africaine; sung in bulu to the rythm of the mindzang (balafon) or traditional xylophone by the Rocher Jazz Band de Mezesse. Subtitles available in English. Happy V-Day...Mayange wo ngkak Afup...!
On 28 January 2009 the focus of the World Social Forum in Belem was on the Pan-Amazonian People and their habitat. On one of the several events, Women from across Brazil rallied to raise an alarm to the bio-diversity hazards caused by mono-crop farming for the production of bio-fuels. Watch excerptsof that presentation. Women Sound Warning Bell on Biodiversity and bio-fuels - George Esunge Fominyen
The World Social Forum (WSF) 2009 opens 'officially' on 27 January with a March. The Amazonian city of Belem in the Brazilian State of Para is teeming with thousands of guests who have converged here to make a statement about the other world that they would like to see.
Organisers say they are expecting about 80 to 100 thousand people in this town situated in the very north of Brazil. The queues at the registration centre for associations and individuals are so long and winding. The regular tropical rain, coupled with the humid atmosphere and temperatures revolving around 29°C to 32°C do not give room for comfort. At the tent where youths are gathered to register for their forum some have chosen to wait for their turn by learning a few dance steps. Watch this...
After a gruelling journey that took us exactly 24 hours – we made it to Belem Para in Brazil. We late into the night of the 25th or early in the morning of the 26th January 2009. At the Belem airport it was getting really social. A band was on site spewing some very South American tunes and a two dancing couples paced to their music. That should put a smile on the faces of the hundreds who were waiting for their luggage – having crossed oceans, forests and icecaps to attend this World Social Forum in the middle of the Amazon.
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