Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

"What I Wish For Cameroon": Ginger Cooper in Her Own Words

By Ginger Cooper

A volunteer Methodist missionary from Texas talks about her vision for Cameroon as she leaves the country after a two-year stay.

This spring I’ve made many trips out of Yaounde to neighboring villages and areas. During one of these long (and bumpy) trips I began to think of how foreign it is to have a highway running through the middle of the forest. In some areas the trees have retreated a hundred yards or so to escape the violation that the roads have become. They have turned their limbs to look for nourishment further into the rainforest. In other places the vegetation has boldly moved to within feet of the pavement – I imagine in a possible attempt to reclaim the strip of land.

Europe's Shame

By Peter Popham in Rome (Originally published in the Belfast Telegraph)

But as long as poverty and conflict continues to blight the African continent people will continue to find a way out. And as long as Europe needs unskilled labour this will continue to be their destination.

For three days and three nights, these African migrants clung desperately to life. Their means of survival is a tuna net, being towed across the Mediterranean by a Maltese tug that refused to take them on board after their frail boat sank.

The 27 African migrants cling on to a tuna net platform as the tug boat's captain refuses to let them come aboard.

Is a United States of Africa Necessary?

An AFRICAphonie Poll

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’.

How Cameroon Auctioned Its Internet Namespace…

"It's an odd scene to picture: a domainer's reps in a sit-down with Ephraim Inoni, the prime minister of Cameroon, to discuss the power of type-in typo traffic and pay-per-click ads." CNN

Early in August 2006, the Internet was awash with reports of a “typo-squatting” scheme involving Cameroon. According to these reports, “Internet authorities in in the West African nation that owns the .cm top level domain (TLD) have been accused of authorizing a DNS wildcard that has the effect of redirecting all accidental .cm traffic instead of returning an error.”

Amnesty International Report 2007: Republic of Cameroon

Amnesty International

Nine men and four women were convicted for practising homosexuality. Scores of people were tortured by members of the security forces. Courts convicted some officials of involvement in killings. At least two students were killed and many others detained during clashes with government forces. Several journalists were briefly detained or beaten. Secessionist political activists were arrested and detained.

Movie Review: "Nkuma (Female Genital Mutilation)"

Reviewed by Dibussi Tande

Nkuma (Female Genital Mutilation). An AFRICAphonie Production (with OSIWA support). Starring Marvis-Claire Imbolo as Bessem. Produced and directed by Mwalimu George Ngwane (1hr: 45 mins).

For over a decade, the issue of female circumcision or “Female Genital Mutilation” (FGM) has occupied a choice place in human rights campaigns, particularly in the West where it has been integrated into feminist discourse, with FGM mutilation being seen as a perfect symbol of the oppressive and brutal weight of patriarchal traditional African societies. As one report states:

"Female circumcision is an integral part of the societies that practice it, where patriarchal authority and control of female sexuality and fertility are givens... Although the societies that practice circumcision vary in many ways, most girls receive little education and are valued primarily for their future role as sources of labor and producers of children."

Louise Mbango in Her Own Words: A Meditation on Globalization & Cultural Change in Africa

Culled from Kopo and Lady B a feature documentary on the decline and revitalization of African Tradition produced by Louise Mbango and Steve Dorst

Everybody says education and the Internet are freedom and opportunity. But we're moving from a society where everything was known to one where little is believed and everyone is lost. What good are all the libraries of the world on a computer screen if our Africa changes too soon too fast?

When I was young, we kids would gather around mom and dad and other elders for stories; sometimes they were accompanied by a traditional guitar or a drum. The old lifestyle was all about community, sharing, improvisation.

Now people flee the villages for cities. At night, they go to bars or clubs. Gatherings are less spontaneous, more mediated by commerce, sex, and ambition. The conversation has changed.

The Diaspora to the Rescue, Cameroonians Online

By Lilian Ndangam (Rhodes Journalism Review, No 26 September 2006)

The story behind The Post newspaper's online presence.

Despite the proliferation of African newspapers online, many newsrooms around the continent still grapple with some difficult questions: How does a newspaper with no access to a computer linked to a modem create and maintain a website?

Why and how do you start publishing online when the print run of your hard copy ranges between 3 000 and 4 000, and your target audience is an urban-based, literate minority? In fact, why bother with online publishing in a country where computer ownership is very low and few people have regular access to the Internet? Enthusiastic about going online, yet challenged by these questions, Cameroon’s The Post– a private bi-weekly, English-language newspaper with a print run of 4 000, found one answer: the Cameroonian Diaspora.

Against All Odds (A Critical Look at Journalism in Cameroon)

In one of the world’s poorest and most corrupt nations, Marilyn Greene profiles the struggle for good journalism.

Originally published in Knightline International, Winter 2006, pp. 15-21


Cameroon is a country of contradictions.Beautiful but dirty. Rich in resources but poor in wealth. Its people are intelligent but undereducated. They are warm and kind but steeped in corruption and violence. And its journalism is a reflection of it all. Along with normal challenges of competing for stories, meeting deadlines and selling products,Cameroon’s media face obstacles that logically ought to put them out of business. Advertising is a concept that remains largely unexplored. Consequently, few newspapers and broadcast stations are profitable. Many do not even pay their staff.