George Ngwane

Cameroon: Testament to the All Anglophone Lawyers’ Conference

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

The Post newspaper of Monday April 13 2015 carries on its major headline “All Anglophone Lawyers’ Conference to hold in Bamenda”. The date of the Conference is supposed to be “in the weeks ahead” which means sooner than later. The article further quotes the “Conveners” of the conference, Barristers Eta Bissong Jr and Harmony Bobga as saying that “the struggle of the lawyers is to preserve the Anglophone identity from being completely being wiped out” hence urging “legal practitioners to understand the current drifts in the legal system and the need for a common front”. Seen within the ambit of a professional association this move is very laudable as it seeks to consolidate the gains Anglophone lawyers made in preventing submissions in Anglophone courts to be done solely in French even if the appointment of strategic legal practitioners in Anglophone backyard is still deliberately francophonised.

The Iceberg of Opposition Politics in Cameroon (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Shortcomings of the Opposition
It is generally argued that the playing field in Cameroon does not militate in favour of Opposition parties winning elections. With no genuine independent/neutral persons within an Independent Electoral Commission (be it National Elections Observatory or Elections Cameroon), and with a contentious new electoral code adopted by a CPDM majority parliament in March 2012, the elections have been reduced to a two horse race between the CPDM and its French translation- RDPC.

In effect according to Dr. Tangie Fonchingong, there are a lot of exogenous factors that deprive the Opposition from starting the election race on the same block as the ruling party- disenfranchisement, nonchalant international community, low civic participation, rigging, sterile political debates occasioned by the trading of accusations of illegitimacy between the ruling party and the Opposition parties etc.

The Iceberg of Opposition Politics in Cameroon (Part 1)

 Mwalimu George Ngwane*

The resignation of Dr. Elizabeth Tamanjong as Secetary General of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) on 12th February 2015 is not a novelty in the DNA of Opposition party politics in Cameroon. And that is where the problem lies.  The resignation risks especially as she is the third Secetary General to resign since the party was founded on 26th May 1990 to be interpreted through the myopic lenses of a déjà vu, nuanced with spatial conversations of conscience or conviction buying or blighted by the current social media rebuttal of real or imaginary ruling party destruction intentions of the SDF. 

Hosting AFCON 2019-a case of misplaced development priority

Mwalimu George Ngwane

Hurrah! Hurrah! Cameroon has won the bid to host the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2019, forty-two years after its on- the- field national disappointment and off-the-field financial scandal.  The euphoria is on and I am no joykiller but let us at least pause for a moment.

Chinese-constructed football stadium in Ngeme, Limbe.

In 2004, I wrote a political treatise captioned Cameroon’s Democratic Process-Vision 2020 in which among other democratic development entitlements I said “Cameroon’s democracy is like its football; much ado about victories, little to show in infrastructure. Democracy without development is as useless as winning football trophies without football stadia”.

The State and Future of Freedom of Artistic Expression in Cameroon

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Freedom of Expression by Cultural Practitioners is getting more and more stifled in Cameroon.  In November 2013, more than 1000 musicians gathered in an elective Assembly within their Association called Cameroon Music Association (in French SOCAM) and voted overwhelmingly for their President, composer and musician Ndedi Eyango.  Only two weeks in office as the newly elected President, Ndedi was dismissed by the Minister of Art and Culture (supervisory authority of SOCAM) on the grounds that  Ndedi Eyango has double nationality (American/Cameroonian). It is alleged that the Minister had her preferred candidate who lost the elections.  In spite of consultations by musicians to get Ndedi Eyango back as President, the Minister has dug her heels in and there is presently a legal battle between Ndedi Eyango and the Minister.

Showcasing West Cameroonian Icons (1961-1972)

The West Cameroon State that existed within the Federal Structure of Cameroon was the product of the Reunification birth between Southern Cameroon (British) and La Republique du Cameroon (French) in October 1961. Indeed the West Cameroon state with some of the trappings of nationhood had her facets of national life steered by men and women of vision and respect; people whose sterling qualities in their professions and passions made them icons in the pantheon of West Cameroon.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Reunification, Dibussi Tande, Mwalimu George Ngwane, Njomo Kevin and Dr. George Atem have published for the purpose of memory and history, a 24 page Compendium (magazine) of role models who under the West Cameroon state exhibited exemplary leadership qualities and excelled in their various occupations as influential statespersons. Identifying the most influential role models some forty years ago in the defunct West Cameroon state has not been an easy task. But after much debate, brain racking and scientific research, this is the choice of four seasoned political observers, cultural archivists and erudite researchers with a special bent on those who made a positive difference in West Cameroon between 1961 and 1972.

2013 Local Government & Parliamentary Elections in Cameroon: Business as Usual?

 By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Being a Discussion paper presented at the Buea Town Hall meeting, Cameroon.

   Voter turnout in elections

-Parliamentary

1992: 60%

 1997: 54.6%

2002: NA

2007: NA

-Presidential

1992: 71.9%

 1997: 81.4%

 2004: 82.2%

Why is there decrease in voter turnout in local elections and increase in Presidential elections?

In Dire Need of Anglophone Media Moguls

(A conversation with Anglophone entrepreneurs ahead of and after the Communication Forum)

By Mwalimu George Ngwane*

“The media are not the holders of power but they constitute by and large the space where power is decided” Castells Manuel

In my last write-up, I invited Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma to a conversation on breaking French language hegemony in our state media.  I emphasised that the present lopsided state of biculturalism in our state media has had a toll on our nation building project, broken the communication mirror that is supposed to reflect our bicultural image to the world, stifled the mental production of Anglophones, atrophied the creative space of cultural professionals both as producers and consumers of English language, deprived a critical mass of taxpayers of their legitimate information rights and benefits, distorted the prism of Cameroon’s historical trajectory, closed the doors on employment, limited the marketing and sale of their products and thrown a large segment of their customers into the international market of Cable network. 

Reversing French Language Hegemony In Our State Media

By Mwalimu George Ngwane*

 “We reaffirm our support for any medium of expression that is capable of stimulating creativity and participation and channelling the emergence of a national culture that constantly derives its wealth from its diversity” – Paul Biya, speech at the Congress of the New Deal, Bamenda,1985.

The announcement by the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, of an imminent National Forum on Communication in Cameroon has left media practitioners and media observers with anxiety and expectation.

While the Forum is not the first in the annals of Communication in Cameroon, it comes at a time when the State Television (CRTV) and the State newspaper (Cameroon Tribune) have, over the years, manifested a dissemination policy that runs against the grain of our bicultural and bilingual heritage. Broadcast and print spaces allotted to English language in these two State media undermine our collective search of branding the media as a cultural diplomatic enabler and driver whose content and context should be the cutting edge of nation building. 
 

Residential Eviction and Space Needs in Buea

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

The only major highway in Buea is under mutation. Before it, were the Mile 17 car park and the Great Soppo market.  The Great Soppo market that used to hold up traffic because of its proximity to the highway has been moved to a more convenient location pending its structural transformation into a Buea main market.  The enthusiasm with which vendors rushed to beat the deadline and set up makeshift market stalls at this new site is testimony of how change can become everyone’s concern especially if all stakeholders are made to understand the short term inconveniences and the long term dividends.