Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

Achille Mbembe: The Presidential Election in Cameroon is a Non-event

In this interview, Cameroon-born Achille Mbembe, research professor in history and politics at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, South Africa, talks to Slate Afrique about the Biya regime and the forthcoming elections in Cameroon. A Scribbles from the Den translation.

SlateAfrique: Cameroonians go to the polls on October 9. Can they hope for regime change?

Achille Mbembe: Under the current circumstance, regime change is not possible through the ballot box. Change in this country will come through an armed rebellion spearheaded or not by a political organization or by foreign forces (as was the case in Cote d’Ivoire); through the natural death or assassination of the autocrat; or even through a coup de force by dissident elements within the army. Beyond that, all paths to a peaceful change initiated by Cameroonians themselves are blocked. From this perspective, the forthcoming election is a non event.

Dr Emil Mondoa: Bringing Wellness to Millions, Beginning with the Cameroon Community

An Interview with Dr. Emil Mondoa, author of Sugars that Heal, on the introduction of Mannatech to the Cameroonian community in the Washington Metropolitan area.

Hello Emil. We have not talked in a good while. We created Jimbi Media together, and then you went totally silent for a while. You had to have been up to something. What have you been up to?

I know. We have succeeded in the most important way with Jimbi Media. Together we triggered blogging in our community. Since then, you have become our premier blogger and one of the top ones in Africa, with speaking engagements and everything. I am proud. Our other goal of publishing paper books will have to wait until we find a collaborator with the right skill set.

You and I both have something in common. We do not put our hearts into something unless it is meaningful. We are not afraid of huge tasks. For the past year in particular, I have been working on a plan to introduce Mannatech in a big way to our community, which seriously needs what Mannatech has to offer for our wellness as well as our finances.

Interview : Dibussi Tande on Digital Media & Digital Activism

I was recently interviewed for an article that appeared on our company's news portal. Excerpts:

"I am motivated by the belief that Africa’s problems are not as intractable as they seem, and that Africa is in a perpetual state of take-off due to its largely untapped and/or mismanaged socio-economic and human potential. Digital technology with the unfettered freedom, flexibility and creativity, offers an incredible opportunity to bypass or even leap frog over many of the socio-economic, structural and political hurdles that obstruct Africa’s development." Dibussi Tande

1) How did you become interested in digital activism – and how it pertains to African social advocacy?

ANS: Since my college days in Africa, I’ve always been involved in political and social activism. So the movement towards digital activism was a natural one for me, especially with the emergence of Web 2.0, which offered the possibility of high quality and easy to create user-generated content which activists could use to establish virtual spaces, free from government control, to inform, engage, motivate and mobilize around their specific causes.  This intersection between civil society and the Internet is what has given birth to the Digital Civil Society, which uses the Internet in innovative ways to further the cause of social justice on the continent.

Bill Zimmerman: "Africa is at the cutting edge of mobile technology innovation"

Bill Zimmerman, founder of Limbe Labs, a Limbe-based startup incubator and outsourcing outfit, talks a about a new generation of IT entrepreneurs in Cameroon, the changing African ICT scene and cutting-edge mobile technology innovations from the continent. (Note: The intro is in Dutch but the actual interview in English)

Dibussi Tande on Blogging, Writing and Politics (An Interview with Innocent Chia)

Last week, I was interviewed by fellow blogger Innocent Innocent Chica about a variety of issues, from my blogging to my new new book (Scribbles from the Den: Essays on Politics and Collective Memory in Cameroon). Here is the interview which also appears on Innocent's blog, The Chia Report.

Joyce Ashuntantang: Foreign Publishers Determine the Nature of our Stories (Interview)

Interviewed by Dibussi Tande

“As long as foreign publishers remain the mid-wives of our stories, they will keep determining the nature of these stories.” Joyce Ashuntantang

Early this year, Joyce Ashuntantang published a book titled Landscaping Postcoloniality: The Dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon Literature which Bernth Lindfors describes as the "most comprehensive study of Anglophone Cameroon literature that has been published to date". In the book, Dr. Ashuntantang, who teaches literature at Hillyer College, University of Hartford, USA, demonstrates that contrary to widespread belief, literature from the English-speaking part of Cameroon is alive and well, in spite of a host of obstacles that have slowed its development and reduced its international visibility. In this interview, Dr. Ashuntantang discusses her ground-breaking book and the state of Anglophone Cameroon literature with Dibussi Tande. Excerpts:

US Presidential Elections - An Interview with Dibussi Tande

Interviewed by Ngum Ngafor

"... the politics of division, demonization and fear which was promoted with religious zeal in the last eight years has been an abysmal and tragic failure... It is time for a fresh, inclusive, innovative and forward-looking approach to national and international politics"

US Ambassador: Why America Investors, Tourists Avoid Cameroon

Culled from Eden Newspaper      

"If you look at the World Bank report on Doing Business, you will realise that Cameroon is backwards and much still needs to be done." US Ambassador to Cameroon, Janet Garvey.

Despite having huge potentials for tourism,and with government making efforts to attract more investors to Cameroon, the U.S Ambassador to Cameroon, Janet Garvey says the cumbersome visa procedure at Cameroon Embassy in Washington DC is diverting American tourists from making Cameroon a destination, while at the same time administrative bottlenecks and an unfriendly fiscal and tax policy are scaring American investors from the country.

In their Own Words - An interview with Dibussi Tande

Originally Published in Success Story E-Magazine no 006, February 2008

In this major interview with Success Story E-Magazine, Dibussi Tande talks about a variety of hot-button issues including:

• The role of the Diaspora in national development
• The role of political parties in the political process in Cameroon
• The fallout from Cameroon's outdated and colonial educational system
• The state of Anglophone Literature today
• What the future holds for Cameroon's youth
• The link between good governance, democracy and sustainable development
• The risks and possibilities of the “bushfaller” phenomenon, etc.

Excerpts:

Why are Cameroonian Medical Doctors Leaving? (2): The Personal Journey of Dr. Valentine Ngwa

Interviewed by Dibussi Tande

“How does one continue to sacrifice when some big shots are growing fat on the spoils; the Government, the Mission - all corrupt!Sacrifice will only bear fruits when it is participatory; you sacrifice, I sacrifice." Dr. Valentine Ngwa.

Shortly after he obtained his medical degree from the University of Benin in Nigeria, Dr. Valentine Ngwa returned home to practice medicine. Then some six years later, he packed his bags for Britain where he now resides. In this interview Dr. Ngwa candidly explains why he originally went back to work in Cameroon, why he ultimately sought greener pastures abroad, and what it would take to bring him back to Cameroon:

Ndiva Kofele-Kale: Reliance on Article 66 to Combat Official Corruption in Cameroon is Misplaced

Interviewed by Dibussi Tande (Part I)

Ndiva Kofele-Kale, Professor of Public International Law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, is a leading scholar on official corruption in developing countries. He is also at the forefront of the growing movement to make corruption a human rights violation punishable under international law.

In this interview with Dibussi Tande, Prof.Kofele-Kale talks about the anti-corruption drive in Cameroon, and the need to establish international mechanisms for dealing with corruption by high-ranking government officials. 

Prof. Ndiva Kofele-Kale: The Biya Regime Must Confront The Root Causes of Corruption

Interviewed By Dibussi Tande (Part II)

Question: A cursory look at ongoing international attempts at stemming state corruption gives the impression that there is too much focus on  the recovery and repatriation of embezzled funds, and very little on establishing national mechanisms for tackling embezzlement before it happens. Shouldn’t national preventive mechanisms take precedence over international recovery efforts?