Music and Dance Heritage Festival overshadows authors’ rights crisis

The Music and Dance Heritage Festival organized by the Ministry of Arts and Culture (MINAC) under the initiative of Professor Narcisse MOUELLE KOMBI, by virtue of its resounding success made itself the greatest cultural event in Cameroon recently.

The success of the occasion that brought in over 200 groups drawn from the four geographical cultural zones in the country virtually drowned the authors’ rights crisis that has led to the prolongation of the misery of musicians.

Mankon Palace Dance

 It was on Wednesday the 2^ndAugust 2017 that the Prime Minister, Head of government, Philemon Yang pronounced “I declare open the Traditional Music and Dance Festival” in the presence of some of his cabinet Ministers hosted by Professor Narcisse MOUELLE KOMBI, the organizer of the event that took place at the esplanade of his ministry at the national museum.

    The colourful traditional music and dances did not only present the attachment and the value people still attribute to their cultures and traditions, but they also stood as firm proof of the richness and diversity of Cameroon’s cultures.

 The opening ceremony gave room for the Prime Minister and his Ministers to have a feel of some of the traditional music and dances packed at the cultural backyards of the country.

“We are here with the Muwatsu Royal Dance of Mankon Palace and based on what has transpired today, I think it has been a wonderful event organized by the ministry of arts and culture, showcasing the rich cultural potentials of the country as a whole. The importance of the event lies in the fact that it has given the opportunity for the country to showcase its rich cultural potentials across the board”, said Prince Ntomnifor Richard of Mankon Palace

   The Traditional Music and Dances did not only entertain the Ministers and the Population at the opening ceremony but they could also be seen as analogous to an identity card which defined a unique people and their backgrounds.

The three-day event therefore had a mission of bringing together all the major cultures from the different regions of the country to help appreciate their efforts in painting white the varieties in cultures often attributed to Cameroon. Whether in good or bad faith, the truth still remains that the festival gave room for dying cultures to perform in the presence of a large audience.

 The festival bearing the flag, Music and Heritage Dance; a vector of multiculturalism and national integration had animations and workshops from the opening day to the closing day which all benefited the participants from different regions.

  As the Minister closed the event on Saturday, 05^th August 2017, the participants through their regional delegates were appreciated with certificates of participation issued by the Minister of Arts and Culture. The hope of seeing more of such events double in the future in a way to restore the lost glory of the traditional music and dances remained the hope of participants as they made their way back to their regions.

EDEV Web News/ Email: edevnewspaper@gmail.com/ francoeko@gmail.com/ Tel:+237678401408/+237696896001

Biya’s envoys get hostile reception in image cleansing effort abroad!

Government’s campaign to clear the battered image of the Biya Regime over the poor handling of the Anglophone Crisis was received with mixed feelings abroad.

While the delegation led by Cameroon’s Justice Minister, Laurent Esso,  to Brussels, Begium, got a hostile reception, that led by Professor Ghogomu Mingo, Director of Cabinet at the PM’s Office to the US got a listening ear. 

Laurent Esso

Media reports say Cameroonians in Belgium invaded the hall of the planned meeting scheduled by Head of the Delegation, Justice Minister LAURENT ESSO, but questioned why government had to waste resources to send  them abroad instead of organizing dialogue at home. The main objective of the meeting was to meet Cameroonians to explain what is happening in the North West and South West Regions.

Most Cameroonians in Belgium considered this move as a waste of their precious time. Those who created time to be there protested and requested the Minister to go back to Cameroon, dialogue with the jailed  Leaders and resume schools in the two regions.

The meeting which was supposed to start at 3pm failed to start as Cameroonians took the hall hostage, singing and brandishing placards. However, the Belgian police units were called in to escort the rowdy Cameroonians in front of the hall where the protest continued. Other Cameroonians who had come in from other parts of Europe and France remained in the hall.

Reacting to the confrontational stance adopted by Mark Bareta, Tapang Ivo and their cohorts in Begium, Virgie Tashi said they missed an opportunity to make their views heard.

“To me this was an opportunity missed and wasted. We could still protest and disrupt as we did here but go ahead and present our grievances to the minister”, he said.

He said he was disappointed that Bareta did not make an insightful statement like those in the US did.

 And truly the situation in USA was different. Paul Ghogomu’s delegation in USA had a much more peaceful turnout which went successfully without any bullying and rowdy behaviour from Cameroonians. 

Sources intimated that the meeting started 2hours behind schedule and lasted for about 2hours . Most of those who attended were embassy staff. The second group was made of CPDM elites in the USA.

 The Cameroon Ambassador to the USA Etoundi Essomba took 10mins to welcome everyone and praised government’s commitment to solving the crisis and then gave the floor to the Head of the Committee , Prof. Paul Ghogomu who took about 20 minutes to explain what took place during his trips to Bamenda and meetings with the consortium and its outcome. This was followed by a question and answer session.

EDEV Web News: Email: edevnewspaper@gmail.com/ francoeko@gmail.com/ Tel: +237678401408/+237696896001

. 79% of Cameroonians are in favour of a Federal System in Cameroon -Joshua Osih

According to Joshua Osih, the Deputy Vice National Chairperson of the Social Democratic Front SDF, 79% of Cameroonians are in favor of a Federal system of government in Cameroon. He equally states that the major problem of Cameroon is the form and structure of the state. He made this declaration at the Ntarikon Residence of Ni John Fru Ndi on Saturday August 5 shortly after the National Executive Committee Meeting of the Social Democratic Front. He began by touching on the main issues that the NEC meeting explored.

We’ve had an intense meeting and we had important declarations made on the Anglophone issue. We also are aware that responsibilities have to be well defined. We also talked about the President of the Republic and his obligations and the moves he has so far made in recognition of these problems. We talked on the life of the party as well as that of the state and expressed our horror on the attacks of Boko Haram especially that of this evening that resulted into a number of deaths.

Joshua Osih: SDF Vice National Chairman

What is the way forward for Cameroon in the present dead Lock?

Most of the negotiators who sat at the Prime Minister’s table for negotiations ended up in jail and now it is necessary for President Paul Biya to take a decision because he is the only one who can take that decision now to liberate all prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in our jails before we can start talking about political dialogue that can take Cameroon out of its problems and whether kids are going back to school or not. The Social Democratic Front recognises the need for children to go to school and we understand that education is paramount and deplore the fact that schools are closed. We frown and are devastated by the fact that schools have not been opened for a school year but the person responsible for all of this is called Paul Biya. He is the one who can solve that problem and who should have solved it a year ago. It is clear that people should understand our stand on this as it is clearly spelled out in the declarations of our meeting. The Government should demilitarize the North West and South West Regions and should release those detained for a cause that the government itself had recognised and even taken some measures to address them. Since the President of the Republic has recognised that there is a problem he should solve that problem.

Cameroon has sent out delegations to negotiate and carried out Diplomatic offensives. What is your take on this?

 I think they should stop wasting useful money. They should solve the problems at home before moving out of the country. They shouldn’t just go around in some sort of a tourist tour out of the country. Everybody knows there is a problem but what we are waiting from the government is solutions. Cameroon cannot be ruled now as it was in the fifties. The major problem of Cameroon is the form and structure of the state. 79% of Cameroonians are in favor of a Federal System in Cameroon. It is a system in which powers are separated from the centralized system that we have now which is at the heart of bad governance in Cameroon.

With the build up to the reopening of schools in September, there is already a National Debate on the issue. Should children go back to school?

 It is true that there is a national debate on whether schools should reopen or not but the problem is much deeper. Paul Biya has recognised that the problem is deeper and has taken a series of actions which points to the fact that he has recognised this fact. We came out today with a declaration called Declaration of the Fifth of August 2017on the Anglophone Crises. We are very clear that Biya is solely responsible for the present predicament in which the country finds itself, for the terrible situation in the North West and South West Regions and for the terrible situation in which Anglophones find themselves. President Paul Biya is solely responsible for the Anglophone Crises in Cameroon. He is the only one who can find a solution. Since he has refused to solve the problem therefore he has defacto abdicated from his functions so he should go right to the end of that logic and resign from his position.  

Interviewed By Francis Ekongang Nzante (EDEV Web News), Frederique Tarkang(BBC Afrique), Donna Suffo (Le Messager), Wifah Jennyhans (The Sun), Nchong Christantus(The Horizon)

EDEV Web News/ Email:edevnewspaper@gmail.com/francoeko@gmail.com/Tel:+237678401408/+237696896001

 

Bali Council drags Burns Construction Company to Court

Ngoh Ajong Sylvanus Dobgima, Lord Mayor of the Bali Council has disclosed that the Council has taken Burns Construction Company to Court. This was during the Bali Council Session convened to examine and adopt the 2016 Administrative and Management Accounts for approval by the supervisory authority on Friday August 4, 2017.

Lord Mayor Ngoh Ajong Sylvanus Dobgima in red during session

 He said this was because Burns had broken their pipelines while carrying out construction work within the Municipality. He further explained that Burns had equally been exploiting laterite within the Municipality for its works and nothing had been paid for it. Even when they entered a gentleman agreement for the company to pay a token of FCFA 3 million to the council, the company didn’t still meet up with its own side of the bargain. The only option remaining he said was to take this company to court.

While acknowledging that the water and electricity problem was to an extent an inherited one, the mayor said the problem had been compounded by the prevailing situation. The Company that carried out the evaluation work for the costing of the displacement of pipelines had not yet been paid and that funds were still being awaited from Yaounde. He however stated that the awaited Solar Panel Project would take care of the Electricity Supply problem.

In a welcome address presented by the Mayor, he said “in reality the Bali Council Administrative Account for the year 2016 Financial Year stood in revenue at the sum of FCFA 239.842.105 and in expenditure at the sum of FCFA 236,537,105. These figures produced a positive balance of FCFA 3,305,041.” He however added that “if we compare these figures with those of 2015, it would be realised that the revenue had dropped by 13,536,388. This indicates that the account has reduced drastically. I wish to say that much effort is being made to step up revenue collection.”

This drop was dominantly attributed to the socio-political crises in the North West and South West Regions. This notwithstanding, suggestions on ways to increase revenue collection were aplenty. The first suggestion was that of a daily market. With the opening of the Market on a daily bases, it is believed that revenues would be boosted. It was also suggested that Tax teams in the collection of revenue needed help from security operatives to effectively carry out revenue collection efforts. Meantime other councilors in session suggested that effective revenue collection has to go with sensitization. Without sensitization, efforts to collect revenue forcefully could escalate into violence due to ignorance on the goals behind revenue collections.

Among the problems presented was that of the Cattle Market which still had to go operational. The delay in the cattle market project was attributed to the lack of collaboration from the Ardo: traditional leader of the local Bororo and Fulani tribes that dominate cattle rearing.

Due to the multiplicity of needs of the municipality, some councilors called on elites from Bali to be approached for support in development projects The session ended with all unanimously pledging to put in more efforts to make sure that better results will be achieved in the future in Bali. 

EDEVWebNews:Email:francoeko@gmail.com/edevnewspaper@gmail.com/ Tel:+237696896001/+237678401408