George Ngwane

Cultural Diplomacy

By Mwalimu George Ngwane*

The Nigerian trade and cultural week organised by the Nigerian High Commission in Cameroon from 16-22 March 2009, had for theme “Exploring new frontiers of cooperation through trade and culture”. Coming against a backdrop of a chilled relationship due to the protracted conflict over the Bakassi peninsula that was laid to rest on 14th August 2008,the trade and cultural week aimed at promoting meaningful cooperation through trade and culture, sharing experiences in the management of human and natural resources, and promoting tourism between Cameroon and Nigeria.

Cameroun Vision 2035: Rebranding Cameroon

By Mwalimu George Ngwane*

The Cameroon government through the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development has published a 65-page lofty and laudable draft long term democratic development blueprint for Cameroon dubbed “Cameroun Vision 2035”.

Vision 2035 vindicates me of a political treatise I wrote in “The Post “ newspaper, Cameroon and CODESRIA bulletin, Senegal in 2004 titled “Cameroon’s democratic process-Vision 2020” for which I suffered administrative sanction.  The underlying assumption of my political treatise was that multipartyism had failed in Cameroon not necessarily because it has proven to be a problematic model in Africa but primarily because the political elite in Cameroon had been unable to provide a vision of a future for Cameroonians and a realistic strategy for achieving it.  The fundamental question that my treatise sought to address was “What will Cameroon look like in the year 2020?”

Prisoners of Art

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Art and Culture is already becoming a basis for economic empowerment and human development.  For a long time, economic models paid less attention to the organic link between poverty reduction and cultural development. Yet that link has become so vital that agencies and cultural professionals have been awakened to the reality that cultural investment is not only beneficial to the agencies themselves but serve as an income-generating  spiral of wealth creation and  self-employment among the vulnerable sectors of society (women and youths) and in the case of this paper, prisoners.

Walls Without Borders (Notes to the African Powercrat)

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

The collapse of the Berlin wall in Germany and before it the Apartheid wall in South Africa and the Iron Curtain in Russia must have shaken the foundation of the neo-liberal wall in Obama’s America today.

The flurry of appointments by President Barack Obama across party ideological divide would have to inspire powercrats in Africa to rethink the rationale of unchecked party bigotry that has given birth to powercracy, leadership tenacity syndrome and state atrophy in our continent.

The African Book Industry – Challenges and Changes

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

"If Education is the road out of poverty, then books are the wheels needed for the journey" - Richard Crabbe, (Ghanaian Publisher)

Preface
Books represent the mirror of every society; they showcase the immortal lore and mores of a people, they act as a publicity stunt for a nation since they go beyond the atavistic modes of cultural folklore.

The book sector in Africa poses some great concerns that necessitate a clinical diagnosis of its state and future. This diagnosis is of particular import because a man-made book famine is systemically gaining currency in Africa’s cultural landscape.

Anatomy of the Writer in Politics

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

The ultimate mission of every writer is to liberate both the minds of the oppressed and the oppressors in order to cultivate a harmonious society. How this mission is attained may be a subject of controversy, but make no mistake about it, the message for every credible writer is the same; it is the style that may make the difference. Whenever power mongers become lost in the journey of personality cult, when the politician’s ship is drowning in the ocean of dictatorship, it is the writer who serves as the compass pointing the ship of state to the shores of sanity. The social role of the writer has not only been a desire to lodge a claim for artistic leadership but to lay emphasis on democratic entitlement.

Qadhafi’s New Garb

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Loathe him or love him, Muammar Qadhafi is the Chairman of the African Union Commission for the year 2009.  Qadhafi must be lucky with the number 9.  Oil was discovered in Libya in 1959; he took power as Guide of the Revolution in 1969, convened a historical pan African summit bringing together more than forty Heads of State to Libya where the idea of changing the name of the Organisation of African Unity to an African Union was discussed on 9/9/99 and in 2009 he has become the Chairman of the African Union Commission.  One of his first battles together with Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal in the just ended African Union Summit in Addis Ababa was to change the name of the African Union Commission to the African Union Authority and the name of the Commissioners to American-style Secretaries of State.   We still need to see what is in a name and in a number.

gnwane.com Among 100 Best Blogs for Learning About Africa

By Alisa Miller

The continent of Africa is the second-most populated in the world and has 53 countries within its bounds. With so many people and nationalities, it should be no surprise that the diversity found there is enormous. While poverty and war are a part of Africa, so is technology, bustling cities, and unique culture found nowhere else on Earth. These blogs bring together the richness and diversity that is Africa with voices covering specific countries, experiences across the borders, news, technology, art, and culture.

Click here for a full listing of the 100 best blogs for learning about Africa.

In Cameroon, the Writer is either Ignored or Humiliated - Mwalimu George Ngwane

In the interview below conducted by Manjoh Priscilla Musoh (MPM) as part of a fulfilment of her academic research in the University of Potsdam, Germany, Mwalimu George Ngwane expresses his fears and hopes on Anglophone writing and the role of the writer as a development agent in Cameroon’s fledging democracy and nation building. The interview was made available to Eden newspaper courtesy of the writer.

Manjoh Priscilla Musoh (MPM): Who in your own opinion is an Anglophone Cameroon Writer?

Cultural Journalism In Cameroon

By Mwalimu George Ngwane (Originally published in The Sunday Eden)

A major fallout from a seminar that AFRICAphonie organised on ‘Arts, indigenous culture, and human development; the case of Cameroon’’ in January 2003 was the need to get the Cameroonian media involved in the promotion of visual Arts and design in Cameroon. This is a new traditional and trendy discipline called Cultural Journalism. I observed that the media’s focus remained political and economic with the creation of media Associations in these two domains to the exclusion of relevant cultural issues or creative industries that can both enhance a creative economy and showcase the rich cultural patrimony in Cameroon.

Prodemocracy Movements and Affirmative Action Diplomacy in 2008

Mwalimu George Ngwane

Alexis de Tocqueville attributed the success of democracy to an unusual national propensity for civic engagement.  Recent empirical research in a wide range of contexts has confirmed that the norms and networks of civic engagement (now rebaptised “social capital”) can improve education, diminish poverty, inhibit crime, boost economic performance, foster better government and even reduce mortality rates.  Conversely, deficiencies in social capital contribute to a wide range of social, economic, and political ills.

One of the most important groups in the social capital or pro-democracy movement, according to Claude Ake, is the activist elements in civil society, which include the human rights lobby, minority rights groups, movements for the empowerment and participation of marginalized groups such as women and youth, students and labour the Church and the media.

Commemorating 50 Years of Continental Pan-Africanism

By Mwalimu George Ngwane*

On December 5, 1958, Kwame Nkrumah convened the first-ever pan African Congress in Africa specifically in his home soil of Accra-Ghana. The main objectives of that Congress were to "accelerate the liberation of Africa from imperialism and colonialism and to develop the feeling of one community among the peoples of Africa with the object of enhancing the emergence of a United States of Africa."

Fifty years later, the continent's search for a united Africa has been bedevilled by two kinds of leaderships; one which appeals to global sympathy and the other which arouses continental empathy.

By Mwalimu George Ngwane*

On December 5, 1958, Kwame Nkrumah convened the first-ever pan African Congress in Africa specifically in his home soil of Accra-Ghana. The main objectives of that Congress were to "accelerate the liberation of Africa from imperialism and colonialism and to develop the feeling of one community among the peoples of Africa with the object of enhancing the emergence of a United States of Africa."

Fifty years later, the continent's search for a united Africa has been bedevilled by two kinds of leaderships; one which appeals to global sympathy and the other which arouses continental empathy.

Book Review - Meddlers or Mediators?: African Interveners in Civil conflicts in Eastern Africa

Reviewed by Mwalimu George Ngwane (Originally published in Conflict Trends Magazine, Issue 2; August 2008).

Khadiagala, Gilbert M. 2007. Meddlers or mediators?: African interveners in civil conflicts in Eastern Africa. International negotiation series, v. 4. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. 274 pages.

In eight chapters, 274 pages and five case studies Gilbert M. Khadiagala’s graphically detailed and well researched book sheds light on the vagary of conflict mediation through citizen-led (elder statesmen), state-centric and regionally – driven initiatives. At first reading the book concentrates on cases studies of civil wars within the Eastern region of Africa but beyond this, lies a profile portrait of those involved or intend to be involved in the complex and cumbersome search for peace in a conflict – prone Africa.

Movie Trailer - Kuva Likenye and the Bakweri Armed Resistance to German Colonization

AFRICAphonie (with an OSIWA support) Presents Kuva Likenye, a historical Documentary. Directed by Kome Epule Mathias. Editor: Njukeng George Njukeng. Script Consultant: Dibussi Tande. Narrator Muema Meombo. Executive Producer: George Ngwane.

For details on how to obtain a copy of the documentary, contact:

George Ngwane
Executive Director
AFRICAphonie
Tel: 77 66 84 79
E-mail: gngwane@ yahoo.com or Africaphonie2000@ yahoo.co.uk

Remembering That Mandela Night

By Azore Opio (The Post Newspaper)

Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebrations on July 18 turned out to be a great day in Buea, Cameroon.

The idea of celebrating Mandela's 90th birthday in Buea was first mooted at the beginning of the year by some scholars and pan-Africanists under the platform "Mandela Forum".In June, a series of meetings were convened at the Bamboo Bar in Great Soppo, where the magnitude of activities to be put in place to honour the statesman, were elaborated.

Mandela Is The Epitome Of Struggle And Aspiration Of Humanity - George Ngwane

Interviewed By Azore Opio (The Post Newspaper)

On Friday, July 18, the people of Buea and beyond shall be thrilled to a cultural evening in honour of Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. Mwalimu George Ngwane, the Coordinator of this occasion, has described Mandela as the epitome of the dreams, struggles and aspirations of humanity. The Post caught up with him and sought to find out about the event.

Interviewed By Azore Opio (The Post Newspaper)

On Friday, July 18, the people of Buea and beyond shall be thrilled to a cultural evening in honour of Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. Mwalimu George Ngwane, the Coordinator of this occasion, has described Mandela as the epitome of the dreams, struggles and aspirations of humanity. The Post caught up with him and sought to find out about the event.

Zimbabwe’s New Song - A Poem

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Mugabe is a tyrant
He has rigged elections
And decimated his people
He has overstayed his heroic welcome
And become too senile to govern
CNN, the song is already stale

Morgan is the messiah
He is the people's saviour
And the drum major for change
He is persecuted by the regime
For being a puppet of the West
BBC, we have heard it before

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Mugabe is a tyrant
He has rigged elections
And decimated his people
He has overstayed his heroic welcome
And become too senile to govern
CNN, the song is already stale

Morgan is the messiah
He is the people's saviour
And the drum major for change
He is persecuted by the regime
For being a puppet of the West
BBC, we have heard it before

New Book From George Ngwane: The Power in the Writer

Mwalimu George Ngwane. The Power in the Writer: Collected Essays on Culture, Democracy and Development in Africa. Langaa Publishers, 2008. 196 pages. Available from amazon.com, African Books Collective and Michigan State University Press.

The book examines the creative industries of Cameroon and Africa and makes bold the cultural triumphant assertion that Africa is home to some of the most diverse cultural patrimony and the most versatile creative professionals. It also discusses indigenous development models and questions the rationale for Eurocentric democratic paradigms which have partly contributed to the demise of a concrete democratic development entitlement in most African countries.

Ngwane weaves both the cultural and political strands into a search for a homegrown development web which he calls 'glocalisation'. Ngwane's essays, most of which have animated debate and discourse in national newspapers, online blogs and International journals are lucid in their arguments, poignant in their ideological focus, rich in their non-fiction craftsmanship and urgent in their message delivery.

The essays will make good reading for students of Africa studies, Development studies, Politics and Culture.

Between a State-centric and a Citizen-led PanAfricanism: A Conflict of Ownership

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

25th May 2008 would have marked 45 years of state-centric PanAfricanism within the continent.

The historiography of PanAfricanism has been one of dialectically opposing ideologies and procedural battles on the methodology and ownership of its dividends.

The Diasporan divergence on PanAfricanism from 1900-1945  epitomized by W.E.B Dubois’ integrative approach of African citizenship  contrasted to Marcus Garvey’s exclusionist “Back to Africa “ declaration.

Book Council Inaugurates Bate Besong Memorial Library

By Walter Wilson Nana & Francis Tim Mbom (Originally published in The Post)

The National Book Development Council, NBDC, has inaugurated the Bate Besong Memorial Library in Tiko, Southwest Province, to honour Cameroon's fallen poet and dramatist, Dr. Bate Besong.

IMPASS students commemorating World Book Day

The NBDC officially opened the library of the Imperial Academy of Arts and Science, IMPAAS Tiko, which has been named after Bate Besong, while commemorating the International Book Day on April 23 with the school. The launching, which took place at IMPAAS, also saw the donation of consignments of books to the institution by NBDC members.

Speech by George Ngwane World Book Day April 23rd 2008

Speech by George Ngwane,Chairman National Book Development Council, Cameroon, on the occasion of the World Book Day April 23rd 2008 at Imperial Academy for Arts and Science (IMPAAS) Tiko.

The Lord Mayor, Tiko Rural Council,
The Proprietor, IMPAAS, Tiko,
The Principal and Staff of IMPAAS, Tiko,
Distinguished Personalities,
My dear students,

On behalf of the National Book Development Council Cameroon, I feel honoured to make a stop at your institution in pursuit of our “Mobile library or books on wheels project”. The main purpose of this project is to promote a book culture among the youth with more emphasis on the girl child and to equip libraries that would provide access to education and literacy to youths.

2007: A Year Of Heroism And Martyrdom In Africa

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Heroism is the ability to triumph over adversity. Its kernel is fuelled by defiance and fired by a steel will.

Either as an individual or a corporate body, heroism urges the subject to go against the grain of conservative establishment. Motivated by independent assertiveness, the subject breaks free from monolithism and complacency to embrace the collective vision of his or her society. Ali Mazrui says heroes are symbols of achievements; they are ultimate victors.

Either as an individual or a corporate body, heroism urges the subject to go against the grain of conservative establishment. Motivated by independent assertiveness, the subject breaks free from monolithism and complacency to embrace the collective vision of his or her society. Ali Mazrui says heroes are symbols of achievements; they are ultimate victors.

The African Woman

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Today, October 15, 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the death of the pan African icon and the maverick leader of Burkina Faso, Captain Thomas Isidore Noel Sankara.

In one of his fiery oratories addressed to the Burkinabe women during the International Day of the Woman on March 8, 1987,Captain Sankara said "the genuine emancipation of women is that which entrusts responsibilities to them and involves them in productive activity and in the different struggles the people face".

As the world pays lip service today, October 15, to the rural woman by commemorating what has been pompously called the International Day of the Rural Woman, it behoves Africa to speak to the interwoven tapestry that binds the African woman to her bondaged society.

The United States of Africa is A Matter of Urgency - Mwalimu George Ngwane

Originally published in Panafrican Visions magazine

The idea of a United States of Africa has been floating around for over fifty years today. When the great visionary Kwame Nkrumah militated so strongly for it, some of his peers rated him over ambitious with an unbridled appetite to exert control on the entire continent. That the idea is still a subject of strong debate today is a sign that Nkrumah was just a man out of the ordinary with a vision far above the comprehension of many in his generation and even subsequent ones. The last African Union Summit in Accra Ghana ignited the debate in full force although?? to many the out come fell short of expectations.

The Opposition and their Performance of Electoral Power in Cameroon (1992 – 2007)

By George Ngwane

Introduction
The return to multiparty politics in Cameroon in 1990 was met with reluctance and resistance by the regime. Triggered by the events of 26th May 1990, that led to the defiant launching of an Opposition party (Social Democratic Front – SDF), multipartyism and eventually Opposition parties became institutionalized following the Law of Association of 19th December 1990 (Law No. 90/056).

In spite of this reform to accommodate multipartyism, the main kernel of democratic transition to put enabling structures in place evaded the political establishment in Cameroon.

Cameroonian Literature in Transition

Originally published in African Writing

"As long as the African ship of state continues to sail the sea as a rudderless object, the African writer shall continue to play the role of the compass and if need be, whenever there is that opportunity, also grab the role of the pilot."

Interview with Cameroonian writer, George Ngwane, a versatile commentator on African affairs, Cameroonian politics and literature, and the author of The Cameroon Book Industry - Challenges and Changes.

Analyst Suspects Kadhafi Phobia in AU Summit Outcome

By James Butty (VOA)
 
Listen to Butty interview with Ngwane (MP3) 

The Ninth Ordinary Summit of the African Union is in the history books following its conclusion in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.  But some Africans are still feeling betrayed over the leaders’ failure to form a United States of Africa. 
 
In their final communiqué African leaders agreed to speed up the economic and political integration of the continent to pursue the goal of a United States of Africa.

The Cost of Non-integration In Africa

The Post Newspaper (Friday June 29, 2007)

Between June 18 and 20, 2007, some 36 researchers, activists and civil society actors from across Africa attended a conference on the theme "The Cost of Non-integration In Africa" in Marrakech, Morocco. Amongst the participants was writer, Pan-Africanist and Executive Director of AFRICAphonie, Mwalimu George Ngwane. On his return, The Post's Nana Walter Wilson accosted him. Ngwane, as usual, had a heap to say. First, he said African integration had hitherto been a state-driven project until recently.

An Open letter to President Paul Biya

By Mwalimu George Ngwane (Originally published in Eden Newspaper, Wednesday, June 27, 2007)

Subject: Personal participation at the African Union summit in Accra,Ghana

Your Excellency,
From 1-3 July 2007, Ghana shall become the capital of Africa.  As host of the 9th Ordinary session of the historic African Union summit, Ghana is expected to beat past records in terms of attendance by Heads of state in the history of the pan African organization summits.  The stake is the Grand debate on the Union Government that should lead to the creation of the United States of Africa.  Every country is therefore looking forward to the participation of their Head of state. So is Cameroon.

Pre-Referendum Coupon on the United States of Africa

The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, at its 8th Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa from 29-30 January 2007 decided that the next ordinary session of the Assembly to be held in Accra, Ghana in July 2007, will be devoted to a “Grand Debate on the Union Government”.

This decision is inspired by the fact that Africa now needs a Union of the African people and not merely a Union of states and governments and that ‘the ultimate goal of the African Union is the political and economic integration of the continent leading to the creation of the United States of Africa’.

Having this in mind, the Assembly of Heads of States, in compliance with the policy of popular participation through civil society endeavours requested Member States of the African Union to carry out the necessary national consultations within their countries on the Grand Debate on the Union Government.

Gender-based Violence in Africa

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Introduction
Tomorrow 8th March 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of the international Women’s Day. Established in 1977 by the United Nations, this important day provides an opportunity to celebrate the progress made to advance women’s rights and to assess the challenges that remain. This year’s theme is “Ending Violence against Women: Action for Real Results" with the Cameroonised adaptation being “Violence against women, Break the silence, take action”. The theme reflects the forms of marginalization, discrimination, persecution, victimization and exclusion, women in Africa have experienced since the Beijing Conference of 1995 became a media-hyped benchmark.

Living the Kwame Nkrumah Dream

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

“As far as I am concerned, I am in the knowledge that death can never extinguish the torch which I have lit in Ghana and Africa.  Long after I am dead and gone, the light will continue to burn and be borne aloft, giving light and guidance to all people” - Kwame Nkrumah

Tomorrow March 6th 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Ghanaian nation.  Activities have been put in place to give Ghana’s golden Independence jubilee the global significance it deserves.  But who can mention Ghana’s Independence without remembering its founder Francis Kwame Nkrumah (the Osagyefo)? After all do we not remember that prophetic and pan African slogan of his which said “Ghana’s Independence would be meaningless until all of Africa is united”?

Youths and Democracy in Africa

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

This article originally appeared as a three-part serial essay in Eden Newspaper (February 7th,13th and 15th, 2007)

Part :  A Biographic Data of Youth Governance

Preamble
Language experts, psychologists and political observers would want to give the word ‘youth’ an elastic definition of. ‘Youth is a state of mind’. It is indeed such a blanket definition that has motivated political Methuselahs to stay in power in Africa even after their political menopause.

George Ngwane: The Independent Intellectual

Originally published in Post Newsmagazine

Mwalimu George Ngwane is a man of many parts. Writer, poet, peace activist, educationist, political analyst, pan-Africanist, and executive director of AFRICAphonie are all parts of this intellectual machine. Although he could amass easy lucre by simply praise-singing as most Cameroonian “intellectuals” have done, Mwalimu has remained consistent in voicing the peoples’ causes. His uncompromising stance for the people has had dire and sometimes heart-rending professional consequences. Yet, he remains undaunted and his active participation as spokesperson of the Committee for the Participation of Independent Candidates in the Electoral Process in Cameroon stands out as eloquent testimony.

The Military And African Politics

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

The reasons for military interventions (militocracy) in Africa are as varied as they are complex. They range from personal grievances of civilian regimes to the political and economic kleptocracy of civilian regimes.

In a struggle to cope with this predicament between the devil of tyranny (as in one-party system) and the deep blue sea of anarchy (as in multiparty systems) military rule has often been invoked. The balance sheet has largely been negative, with very few being benign, that is serving the interests of the people whether in a short or long political life span.

Cultural Unification Identified As Instrument Of African Unity

Interviewed by Walter Wilson Nana (The Post Newspaper)

Civil Society Cultural Advocates and enthusiasts of African Culture have prescribed cultural unification as a pertinent instrument for African unity. This, was amongst a series of ideas churned out at the just ended Cultural international conference in Sun City, South Africa. According to George Ngwane, who was party to the conference, Africans frowned at the corrosive effects of globalisation on indigenous culture. He talked about more of his South African sojourn with The Post:

Africa’s Development Problematique (The case of NEPAD)

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

In July 2001, during the Organisation of African Union summit in Lusaka, Zambia, the New African Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) was born. Five years later and given the importance of this new economic paradigm to Africans, it is necessary to revisit and restate some of the predicaments that NEPAD inadvertently put on its way.

First, the ideological problem.  NEPAD was not necessary. The Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) that was adopted in the extraordinary OAU – summit in 1980 was a promissory note for which Africa’s economic development was to be improved between 1980 and 2000.

George Ngwane: There is a loss of faith in the Party System in Cameroon

Interviewed by Nforngwa Ndiboti Eugene (The Herald)
   
Why is it important for Independents to run for elections?
The participation of Independent candidates in every election translates into political reality the repossession of popular sovereignty and democratic legitimacy by all the citizens. Party formation is founded on the will of a section of the people prepared ostensibly to articulate the people’s interest by electoral then representative democracy.  But above all, democracy is rooted in the concept of choices and options.  Independent candidacy is one of those options that expands democratic space, that focuses on individual merit, that addresses issues specific to the electorate and that provides an opportunity for the young men and women to actively participate in politics.

A memorandum on Participation of Independent Candidates in the Electoral Process in Cameroon

Submitted bythe Committee for the Participation of Independent Candidates in the Electoral Process in Cameroon

• "So far party – centered elections have only favoured an old generation that has monopolized the political arena in Cameroon. Independent candidature would therefore provide the young generation with the opportunity of bringing a new vision and fresh agenda to the body-politic of our country. Indeed Independent candidature is now regarded as an antidote to gerontocratic politics and a rite of passage to generational democracy."

Cameroon: Independent candidates as viable alternatives in the electoral process

By Ajong Mbapndah L (Originally published in AfricaFiles)

After more than a decade of elections generally believed to have multiple flaws, Cameroon seems to have embarked on an exercise to overhaul the electoral process. While this may just be another exercise in futility aimed at distracting attention or cajoling the international community, many however agree that there is need for vital reforms to be carried out ahead of municipal and legislative elections scheduled for 2007.