Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

A Celebration of Family and Friendship: A Review of Martin Jumbam’s Beads of Memory

By Dibussi Tande

Jumbam, Martin. (2020). Beads of Memory. The Diary of an African Student in Madrid. Denver, CO: Spears Books. 98 pages. $15.00. Available from Spears Books, Amazon, African Books Collective.

Beads of Memory is the story of Leinteng Basha, a young Cameroonian studying in Madrid in the 1970s. The story starts off like any other about African students in a strange European country, looking in from outside, and trying to adapt to their new and sometimes hostile environment and its alien mores. Leinteng’s story, however, goes beyond "the usual complaints of African students abroad: loneliness, homesickness, the indifference of a heartless and racist society" to offer a humor-laced but laser-focused analysis of society.

Now Available: Bearing Witness. Poems from a Land in Turmoil

Ashuntantang, J. & Tande, D.(2020). Bearing Witness. Poems from a Land in Turmoil. Denver, CO:: Spears Books. 224 Pages. Available from Spears Books. Also available from Amazon, African Books Collective.
Bearing Witness. Poems from a Land in Turmoil is a poetic response to the devastating Anglophone Crisis/Ambazonian Conflict in Cameroon that has killed thousands of children, women and men, displaced over half a million people and left hundreds of communities in ruins. The poems in this volume capture an all-encompassing landscape marked by alienation, despair, displacement, loss, anger, trauma, as well as courage, hope, heroism, justice and resilience. These poems also engender psychic healing which has the potential of turning victims into survivors. With over 100 poems by 73 poets—seasoned and emerging, old and young, men and women—this collection is not only a guidepost of collective memory, but also the definitive literary work of this period in Cameroon’s checkered history.

Patrice Nganang's Novel, "Mount Pleasant", Now Available on Pre-Order

Publication date set for 12 April 2016.

Patrice Nganang. (April 2016). Mount Pleasant. A Novel (Translated from French by Amy Baram Reid). Farrar Straus Giroux. 384 pages. Click here to pre-order your copy on Amazon. $26.00.

A lyrical tale of transformation in colonial Africa

In Cameroon in 1931, Sara is taken from her family and brought to Mount Pleasant as a gift for Sultan Njoya, the Bamum leader cast into exile by French colonialists. Just nine years old and on the verge of becoming one of the sultan's hundreds of wives, Sara's story takes an unexpected turn when she is recognized by Bertha, the slave in charge of training Njoya's brides, as Nebu, the son she lost tragically years before. In Sara's new life as a boy she bears witness to the world of Sultan Njoya--a magical yet declining place of artistic and intellectual minds--and hears the story of the sultan's last days in the Palace of All Dreams and of the sad fate of Nebu, the greatest artist their culture had seen.

[Just Published] Incisive Journalism in Cameroon: The Best of "Cameroon Report" (1978-1986)

Sam-Nuvala Fonkem (Editor). December 2013. Incisive Journalism in Cameroon: The Best of "Cameroon Report" (1978-1986). Langaa, Bamenda, 276 pages. [Paperback]. Available on Amazon.com.


About the book:

Working for Cameroon state-owned Radio in the 1970s and '80s meant toeing the official line and learning not to sing out of tune. While the rather scanty private press that existed at the time was subject to prior censorship, a different kind of censorship—self-censorship—prevailed at the Radio where topics for commentaries were vetted by the Minister of Information or his delegate.

But for Anglophones working in a predominantly francophone environment, once topics were approved, the authorities could not be sure which direction commentaries were going to take as the journalists applied the tactics of 'bite and blow', sometimes giving full expression of their Anglo-Saxon spirit of debate and critical analysis as evidenced in this selection of commentaries from the Sunday morning commentary programme, "Cameroon Report" (now "Cameroon Calling") of the late 1970's up till 1986.

It is a showcase of the irrepressible seed of freedom of expression that Anglophone journalists were imbued with and demonstrated at a time when subjects related to coups d'état, human rights and governance were considered taboo. It was and shall remain the indelible input of the Anglophone character that has had a positive influence on Cameroon's media landscape.

Bridging Fact and Fiction: A Review of Nyamnjoh's Intimate Strangers

By Megan Greenwood

Francis B. Nyamnjoh. Intimate Strangers | 334 pages | 229 x 152 mm | 2010 | Langaa RPCIG, Cameroon | Paperback

I cannot help but reflect on what having a BSocSci in English and Social Anthropology offers me as I approach writing a review of Francis Nyamnjoh's (2010) Intimate Strangers. Both disciplines offer lenses through which to review literature. What sets them apart? The one concerns itself with character and plot development, literary techniques and thematic explorations. The other shows interest in methodological principles and the development and substantiation of arguments  - yet not at the exclusion of thematic exploration and literary aesthetics. Which lens is more appropriate for Nyamnjoh's book? Perhaps some of my hesitancy to settle for either is reflective of the way in which Intimate Strangers seems to traverse the boundary lines between fiction and ethnography.

BOOK REVIEW: Scribbles from the den: essays on politics and collective memory in Cameroon

Review of African Political Economy Vol. 37, No. 124, June 2010, 239–240

Scribbles from the den: essays on politics and collective memory in Cameroon, by Dibussi Tande, Bamenda, Cameroon, Langaa Publishers, 2009, 212 pp., £19.95, ISBN 978-9956558919

Dibussi Tande’s Scribbles from the den: essays on politics and collective memory in Cameroon definitely contains no ‘scribbles’. It is a collection of well articulated essays capturing the socio-cultural and political fabric of the nation state of Cameroon and of Africa in general. The 49 selected essays in this volume first appeared on ‘Scribbles from the den,’ Dibussi Tande’s award-winning blog, www.dibussi.com, between 2006 and 2009, a fact which has implications for the tone and texture of these essays. Tande is not oblivious to these implications. As he explains: 

For Haiti: Palapala Magazine #9 Now Available Online

Palapala Magazine #9 is now available online. This first issue for 2010 opens with three tribute poems by Kenyan poet JKS Makokha dedicated to Haiti and to Mbella Sonne Dipoko and Dennis Brutus, two literary giants who passed away in 2009.

The issue also includes Rosemary Ekosso’s review of John Buchan’s Prester John and William Boyd's A Good Man in Africa, which serve as a backdrop for an in-depth discussion on European demeaning, paternalistic and racist discourse towards Africa; a discourse that is not just limited to colonial literature but also extends to other areas as well:

Book Review: Youth and Nation-Building in Cameroon by Churchill Ewumbue-Monono

Reviewed by Dibussi Tande

Churchill Ewumbue-Monono. Youth and Nation-Building in Cameroon: A Study of National Youth Day Messages and Leadership Discourse (1949-2009). Bamenda: Langaa, 2009. 188 pages.

At first glance, Churchill Ewumbue-Monono's Youth and Nation-Building in Cameroon, which is primarily a collection of Youth Day speeches going back to the colonial era, seems deceptively unexciting. However, a closer reading of the book shows that the author has compiled a valuable document which is more than just a walk down memory lane for history buffs. It is a compelling insight into how various colonial and post colonial governments in Southern Cameroons/West Cameroon and then bilingual Cameroon Republic attempted to use the Youth Day as a tool for political advocacy and youth mobilization around key political and ideological goals; adherence to the ideal of the British commonwealth, unification of British and French Cameroons, creation of the single-party state, the dissolution of the federation, etc. In fact, the book is a history of post-independent Cameroon, albeit from the perspective of the political class.

(Book Review) Political Power Without Development: The Paradox of the South Province

Reviewed by Dibussi Tande

Quel est ce pays organisateur qui ne peut pas s’organiser?

Ateba-Eyene, C. (2008). Les paradoxes du "pays organisateur": Élites productrices ou prédatrices : le cas de la province du sud-Cameroun à l'ère Biya (1982-2007). [Yaoundé́]: Editions Saint-Paul.

One of  the most controversial books published in Cameroon in recent years is Ateba Eyene’s “les Paradoxes du pays organisateur” (The Paradox of the “host country”: Productive or Predatory elite: The Case of the Southern Province during the Biya Era, 1982-2007) which seeks to understand why the South province is lagging behind in all development indicators in spite of its “numerous and wealthy elite”.

Preface to "Scribbles from the Den" the Book

Dibussi Tande

The last decade has witnessed a dramatic surge in “citizen journalism” which has effectively asserted itself as a legitimate alternative voice to the mainstream media. Bowman and Willis describe citizen journalism as:

The act of a citizen, or group of citizens, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. The intent of this participation is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires.

Available Soon... "Scribbles from the Den" the Book!

Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den: Essays on Politics and Collective Memory in Cameroon. Langaa publishers. Available in June 2009. 212 pages. Distributed in Europe by African Books Collective and in North America by Michigan State University Press.

This collection consists of 49 insightful essays by leading Cameroonian blogger Dibussi Tande, which originally appeared on his award-winning blog Scribbles from the Den. These essays tackle some of the most pressing and complex issues facing Cameroon today such as the stalled democratization process, the perennial Anglophone problem, the crisis of higher education, the absence of the rule of law, the lack of leadership renewal, a stifled collective memory, and a continued inability to harness technology for purposes of national development, among others. Scribbles from the Den goes beyond the news headlines to dispassionately analyze and unravel the complexities of Cameroonian politics and society.

Book Review - "No Turning Back" by Dibussi Tande

Reviewed by Lyombe Eko

Dibussi Tande. No Turning Back: Poems of Freedom 1990-1993. Langaa Research and Publishing (Bamenda, 2007).

   Writing is an existential act. To write is to proclaim loudly and clearly that one exists. From an historical perspective, those who would not have written something, anything, would not have existed!  However, writing is more than a mere proclamation of existence. Writers who have made their mark in life, whose proverbial pens have left strokes on the body politic of humanity are those who are engaged in the eternal struggles of human existence, ­the fight for justice, fairness, human dignity, as well as the right to appreciate the sacred and the aesthetically pleasing things of life.

(Book Review) Landscaping Postcoloniality: The Dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon Literature

Joyce B. Ashuntantang. Landscaping Postcoloniality: The Dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon Literature. Langaa Publishers, 2009. 188 pages. Available on amazon.com and African Books Collective.

 Synopsis
This a foundational text on the production and dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon literature. The Republic of Cameroon is a bilingual country with English and French as the official languages.

Ashuntantang shows that the pattern of production and dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon literature is not only framed by the minority status of English and English-speaking Cameroonians within the Republic of Cameroon, but is also a refl ection of a postcolonial reality in Africa where mostly African literary texts published by western multi-national corporations are assured wide international accessibility and readership.

Book Review: The Travail of Dieudonné by Francis B. Nyamnjoh

Reviewer: Peter Wuteh Vakunta, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

The Travail of Dieudonné is the tale of a triple estrangement. Nyamnjoh’s protagonist is physically separated from his homeland (Warzone), beloved wife (Tsanga) and opulence associated with materialism. The writer adumbrates: “Dieudonné misses his home village to the point of tears…” (153). Mimboland, his country of choice, is a dichotomized world where the haves and have-nots cohabitate. While Beverly Hills swims in the niceties of life, Swine Quarter—home to the underprivileged—is likened to a “bleeding ghetto” reputed for its “muddy meanders of footpaths and shacks whose walls were delicately sustained by ant-infested wood, human excrement, dog shit…multitudes of rats and cockroaches that celebrated impunity.”(149)

Book Review - “This is Bonamoussadi”: A Poetic Foray into the Valley of Despair

By Dibussi Tande (Originally published in Palapala Magazine)

Oscar Chenyi Labang. This is Bonamoussadi. Lulu.com, 2008, 60 pages.

What is it that we did
Mother of the earth
That we have remained this cursed (56)

It is still not clear how Bonamoussadi, the popular student residential area on the outskirts of the University of Yaounde campus in Ngoa-Ekele came into being. When students returned in September 1987 for the beginning of a new academic year, they discovered that houses had sprung up ex nihilo on the vast wasteland between Regional Centre for Labor Administration (CRADAT), the University Restaurant no. 2 and the football field. It was rumored that university lecturers whose trade in dog-eared polycopies had become less profitable with the proliferation of photocopy machines on campus had decided to grab state-owned land on which they constructed mini cités (student housing) for rent. Before long, high ranking government officials, the military top brass, friends and relatives of the well connected, and other hangers-on joined in for a piece of the action.

(Book Review) "Under The Broken Scale of Justice" by Justice Nyo' Wakai

Justice Nyo' Wakai. Under The Broken Scale of Justice: The Law and My Times. Langaa Publishers, 2008. 204 pp.

This book explores the latent and sometimes overt undercurrents that have shaped the judicial history of Cameroon since the United Nations Trusteeship period. It is an insightful account by a critical observer privileged to serve as Director of Public Prosecutions and a judge in a post-independence context characterized by dual and often conflictual legal systems inspired by French and English colonialism.

Justice Nyo'Wakai demonstrates how the conflict of judicial concepts, procedures and usages have led to the Francophone judicial system trying to impose itself on the Anglophone judicial system in Cameroon.

 

New Book Coming Out Soon - Imperialistic Politics in Cameroon by Carlson Anyangwe

Carlson Anyangwe. Imperialistic Politics in Cameroon: Resistance & the Inception of the Restoration of the Statehood of Southern Cameroons. Langaa publishers, 2008. Available soon on amazon.com and other online booksellers.

Book blurb

It always comes as a surprise to many that the British-administered UN Trust Territory of the Southern Cameroons was not granted independence like other colonial territories but was allowed to fall prey to the territorial expansionism of the contiguous state of Cameroun Republic, a former French-administered UN Trust Territory granted independence on 1 January 1960. Th is book focuses on the unresolved Southern Cameroons colonial predicament, giving insightful accounts of how Cameroun Republic hijacked the Southern Cameroons and is holding its citizens under colonial bondage.

Book Review: Times and Seasons by Dipita Kwa

From the Blog on Cameroon Literature in English

Dipita Kwa. Times and Seasons. Cook Communications, 2008. 275 pages. $15.98 Available at lulu.com.

How does it feel to live without an identity, without a deeper meaning of the word me because you know nothing about yourself? How can you measure the intensity of the pain you feel in your soul when you face the horrible prospect of totally losing the chance of eternal happiness in the loving arms of a man because of a dark past you don’t know?

Dipita Kwa invites you to take this thrilling ride with Ewande Tikky, a deeply distressed, honest and courageous young woman in love, into the heart of the village of Mukunda – the land of mysteries – to the home that holds the hideous memories of her birth.

Book Review: The 1961 Cameroon Plebiscite: Choice or Betrayal (An Eyewitness Account of a UN Plebiscite Officer)

John Percival. The 1961 Cameroon Plebiscite: Choice or Betrayal. Langaa Publishers, 2008. Available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, African Books Collective and Michigan State University Press.

The United Nations-organised plebiscite on 11 February 1961 was one of the most significant events in the history of the southern and northern parts of the British-administered trust territory in Cameroon. John Percival was sent by the then Colonial Office as part of the team to oversee the process.

This book captures the story of the plebiscite in all its dimensions and intricacies and celebrates the author’s admiration for things African through a series of reminiscences of what life was like in the 1960s, both for the Africans themselves and for John Percival as a very young man. The complex story is also a series of reflections about the effect of the modern world on Africa. It is a thorough, insightful, rich and enlightening first-hand source on a political landmark that has never been told before in this way.

Now Available! Their Champagne Party Will End! Poems in Honor of Bate Besong

Joyce Ashuntantang & Dibussi Tande (eds). Their Champagne Party Will End! Poems in Honor of Bate Besong. Langaa RPCIG, Cameroon, 2008. 76 pages. Paperback. Available from African Books Collective (UK) £12.95 and amazon.com and affiliates (international) $19.95

 

Indeed, they have sworn fealty to their masonic lodges
& to each other to bankrupt our national coffers
The curse on the heads of the corrupt banditti.
There is evidence that evil still survives absolutely
And the only good is a cripple, chained to the dungeon of
Mockery and dust.

But their champagne party will end…

(Bate Besong - Culled from “Their Champagne Party Will End” in The Grain of Bobe Ngom Jua, 1997)