Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

Benazir Bhutto: When Destiny Comes Calling

Dibussi Tande

"Despite threats of death, I will not acquiesce to tyranny, but rather lead the fight against it... I know some people will think it was naïve [to return despite death threats], but if you believe in a cause you have to pay the price."  Cited in the Times Online 

As I watch the wall-to-wall news coverage on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and listen to heated debates over the (ir)rationality of her controversial and ultimately fatal return to Pakistan, I keep thinking of a recent discussion on a Cameroonian internet forum where members were asked to name their heroes. To me, the word “hero” does not describe godlike, infallible or perfect human beings, but regular folks doing extra-ordinary things. In fact, it best describes flawed and even damaged individuals who are able to go beyond their flaws and fears to answer to the call of destiny not because of the absence of risk, but in spite of huge risks to life limb and liberty. The Gandhis, the Martin Luther Kings, the Mandelas and many more faceless people the world over fall in this category.

Documentary on the Assassination of Felix Moumié Now Available in English

POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS: Death in Geneva: The Poisoning of Felix Moumié. 52 mins. 2007. (Format - DVD; System - NTSC/PAL)

On November 3rd, 1960, Félix Moumié, the famous independence fighter of Cameroon, also called Cameroon’s Lumumba, died in Geneva. An agent of the French secret services poisoned him. His body was transferred to Conakry, Guinea, where it was embalmed and secured in a sarcophagus.

To this day, Cameroon authorities refuse to bury one of his great sons in his own country. It was a commando group of sabotage and killers of the French secret services that organized the murder of Moumiéin Geneva. Swiss authorities knew the murderer, but under pressure of France, never judged him. The judicial inquiry ended by a dismissal of charges.

Internet Activism Within the Southern Cameroons Movement

Originally published in The Frontier Telegraph

The Internet and search engines have become a very powerful tool in research by policy makers, analysts and academics. The viral nature of the Internet or cyberspace has also made it a great tool for communication and activism, for better or for worse...

While surfing the net this past week, two websites of interest caught our attention. These websites stood out because of their activist orientation and simplicity in eliciting the desired action from visitors.