Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

Excerpts of President Biya's Interview on France 24

Click here for President Biya's interview in English

During his recent visit to Paris, the usually media-shy Paul Biya gave a rare 40-minute interview to the French international cable network France 24. He discussed a wide range of issues from the 2011 elections, to his relations with opposition leader John Fru Ndi, corruption, his successor, and the repatriation of the corpse of former President Ahmadou Ahidjo who is buried in Dakar, Senegal.

The interview which was conducted by Ulysse Gosset was broadcast this evening on Le Talk De Paris. Viewers and interested parties around the world had the opportunity to send in their questions prior to the interview.

This was President Biya's first interview in France since his stormy 1990 interview with the late Yves Mourousi on Radio Monte Carlo.

Here are choice excerpts from the interview (my unofficial translation):

Mboua Massok Awarded the First Felix Moumie Prize for Democracy & Human Rights

Cameroonian political activist and pan-Africanist, Mboua Massok ma Batalon ba Bilap bi Momoso, has been awarded the first-ever Felix Moumie prize, named after the Cameroonian nationalist leader who was assassinated in Geneva in 1960 by the French secret service.

The Dr. Felix Moumie prize was instituted by the Cameroonian pro-democracy organization, CODE (Collectif des Organisations Démocratiques et Patriotiques des Camerounais de la Diaspora), to “encourage individuals who contribute towards the construction of democratic values and human rights in Cameroon”.

According to Prof. Kapet de Bana, President of the award organizing committee and former comrade of Felix Moumie in the UPC, “the prize carries a powerful symbol which seeks to restitute Moumie’s memory and give Cameroonians the opportunity to appropriate his values of courage and audacity.”

South African Reggae Legend, Lucky Dube, Gunned Down

The South African music industry is in shock after the murder of top reggae artist Lucky Dube. The 43-year-old award-winning artist was gunned down during an attempted hijacking in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg on October 18. One of South Africa's most popular artists, Lucky Dube toured the world singing about social problems.

"There lies a man who fought for equality
There lies a boy who died in his struggle
Can all these heroes die in vain
While we slash and kill our own brothers
Knowing that already they are the
Victims of the situation"
Lucky Dube in "Victims"

The University of Buea Medical School: One Year After the "Regional Balance" firestorm

Dibussi Tande

Late last month, Cameroon’s Minister of Higher Education, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, quietly published the names of students admitted into the University of Buea's School of medicine for the 2007/2008 academic year.

Unlike last year when the admission process unleashed a firestorm that resulted in the shooting death of 2 students and the dismissal of the university’s Vice Chancellor, this year’s process was relatively uneventful and was largely unnoticed by the public.

UST President Says He Made Wrong Decision, Invites Tutu to Campus

Father Dennis Dease, president of the University of St. Thomas, has reversed his ban on Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He announced the decision in a letter to students and faculty of the university. Here is the full text of the letter:

Dear members of the St. Thomas community,

One of the strengths of a university is the opportunity that it provides to speak freely and to be open to other points of view on a wide variety of issues. And, I might add, to change our minds.

Therefore, I feel both humbled and proud to extend an invitation to Archbishop Desmond Tutu to speak at the University of St. Thomas.

Free Speech Under Assault: Archbishop Tutu Barred from Speaking at the University of St. Thomas

The international firestorm which erupted last week after authorities at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota cancelled an invitation to South African Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu to speak at the University is yet to subside.

According to Doug Hennes, vice president for university and government relations, the Rev. Dennis Dease, St. Thomas' president, decided to ban Tutu from campus because,

Book Review: The Disillusioned African (A Novel)

Reviewed by Louise Cuming - Catholic University of Central Africa, Yaounde, Cameroon

Francis Nyamnjoh. The Disillusioned African. Bamenda, Cameroon: Langaa Publishers, 2007. 264 pages. Available on Amazon.com & Michigan State University Press

Some time ago, in 1993, a forum of anglophone Cameroon writers held under the auspices of the Goethe Institute of Yaounde produced, among many excellent articles, a reflection by Tatah H. Mbuy on “The Moral Responsibility of the Writer in a Pluralist Society”.  Every such writer, says Mbuy, is to see himself as a spokesman for his society.  He must seek the truth, propagate it and defend it.  He is to be the prophet and soothsayer of his society, pricking the consciences of all and trying to correct faults where these are to be found. Elsewhere in this forum other participants described present-day anglophone writing as concerned with “deconstructing victimhood”, through a discourse revolving around shared values or reference points.

We Shall Rise Again!!!

By Dibussi Tande (Culled from No Turning Back: Poems of Freedom 1990-1993 - Available on Amazon.com and Michigan State University Press)

From the heights of the Menchum falls
And the heart of the Congress hall
Shall come the long awaited call
That will bring down these walls.

From the mysterious Barombi lakes
And the mythical Oku lake
Shall rise liberty's mermaid
Who shall come to our aid.
From the historic park of Ntarikon
The selfless martyrs shall come
To water the struggle
And break down hurdles.