Ahead of Grand National Dialogue: Anglophones Begin Seeing Light at the End of the Tunnel

Ahead of Grand National Dialogue: Anglophones Begin Seeing Light at the End of the Tunnel

As the clock is ticking through out the territorial confines of the beautifully unique Central African country, Cameroon, unarguably described as Africa in miniature,  all heads are uniformly turning  towards the nation's political capital, Yaounde as the count down to the highly anticipated grand national dialogue tappers down to the D-day, September 30th 2019.

At the tail end of 2016, lawyers and teachers across the two English speaking regions of Cameroon took the government to task, requesting for reforms in the educational and legal systems of the country that will permit them to better practice in the language they master most. Their demands had nothing to do neither  with the form of the state nor secession.

Meanwhile proponents of secession had long been nursing ambitions of destabilizing the long reigning peace Cameroon had been priding itself of. For years they'd incessantly been looking for avenues to push through their agenda, reason why when lawyers and teachers later took to the streets during the negotiation sessions with government ministers in Bamenda and Buea that were at times ending in deadlock, these agents wasted no time to hijack the peaceful street matches from the lawyers and teachers and converted them into violent  demonstrations involving confrontations with the duty consciousness state forces. 

In defending fatherland with honour and fidelity, the military was soon taken aback when before the twinkle of an eye, incited and brainwashed youths had picked up arms, mostly Dane guns and locally fabricated pistols to face them. No nation in the world had ever folded it's arms to watch citizens pick up arms to fight the army.  Sooner, fire exchanges ensued and before long a multiplicity of non state armed groups sprouted up across the two English speaking regions. As days went by they too began gaining possession of more sophisticated firearms. 

It now became obviously clear that the bird had been dancing on the road because there was a drummer hiding in the bush. At first the secesionist fighters came like Messiah's  to repeat Moses' legacy of freeing the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land.  They were embraced,  loved,  cherished and willfully supported. No doubt on September 22nd 2017, hundreds of thousands  of Anglophone Cameroonian's took to the streets for a peaceful protest.  Some went as far as hoisting flags and nylon papers saying their imaginary country,  Ambazonia was now in existence. Images emerged on social media portraying the military accompanying the population to exercise their constitutional and civic right of peacefully demonstrating. 

Months went by till date, Ambazonia remained a white elephant dream.  The supposed Messiah's  gradually metamorphosed into the complete opposite of what they had portrayed.  The population itself was taken aback when they started facing the wrath of the fighters,  Amba Boys so they call themselves.  After successfully installing themselves on the ground,  from thence henceforth they began showing their real colours.  First they shutdown schools then imposed ghost towns afterwards, weeks of lock down. As if that wasn't enough they started kidnapping wealthy citizens and asking for ransoms worth millions and hundreds of thousands before freeing them.  Those who can't comply to their demands are killed or parts of their body chopped off.  Anybody that tries to criticise them is termed a black leg and his punishment is death or severe torture.  

In all of this,  the Head of State never stayed indifferent  to the plight of citizens in this part of the nation. He kept sending his ministers to the field to meet the people and ask them what they want.  In all the talks, they never mentioned secession. Yet the sessionists kept pushing forth their agenda. It became glaring that abuses on the ground committed by the armed fighters were masterminded from abroad.  Multiple fund raising ceremonies were organised  by some unscrupulous diaspora Cameroonians who've even picked up foreign nationalities to buy arms and send to the ground fighters.  Shockingly,  financial squabbles soon started erupting within their ranks as accusations and counter accusations of embezzlement  arose. Leadership tussles also erupted as the quest for power became the order of the day.  The angel the population thought they had became the real devil they had never wanted to ever have. 

On the 8th of September 2019, the Head of State shocked all his detractors who had judged him as a silencer.  At 8pm on state media in a 30 minutes well loaded speech,  he announced the convening of a Grand National Dialogue to discuss not only the anglophone crisis but other concerns plaguing the entire nation. The big bag announcement was received with immeasurable euphoria nationwide and beyond.  Many began seeing it as the highly sort for light at the end of the tunnel that shall get all and sundry Anglophones out of the ongoing quagmire.  In addition to the announcement he fatherly extended a hand of fellowship to leaders of the various armed groups to come to the dialogue table for as it is said,  nothing pass arrangenent.

Unfortunately there are still those who've continued to give the dog a bad name in order to hang it.  Most of such are those who see an end to the crisis as a termination of the benefits they've been reaping especially through ill gotten money. Despite the good intentions of President Paul Biya, they still carved baseless arguments like there must be s must be a neutral third party, it must take place on a neutral ground, this and that. Unfortunately all has been planned and come Monday September 30th, the big history making event shall be held at the Yaounde conference  centre with close to 400 delegates to represent the wishes of the Anglophones

Unto Bamenda a New Journalism Association is Born

Unto Bamenda a New  Journalism Association is Born

A new journalism body, christened Association of Cultural Journalists (ACJ) has seen the light of day in the N.W region of Cameroon. This was at the end of a Half-Yearly  Follow Up Workshop for Journalists of Radio, TV, Print Media and Bloggers on Reporting on Cultural Journalism that recently took place in Bamenda on the 25th and 26th of September 2019 organised by the Mbororo Social, Cultural and Development Association (MBOSCUDA) in collaboration with the North West Farmer's Organisation (NOWEFOR), funded by the European Union through United Purpose based in the United Kingdom.

ACJ N.W Pioneer EXCO

In the Month of May 2019, MBOSCUDA carried out a Training and Sensitisation Workshop for Journalists on Cultural Diversity and Cultural Rights Issues in Bamenda with objective to strengthen the capacity of media houses in order to raise more awareness and understanding of cultural diversity and cultural rights as stipulated by the international (UNESCO Convention) and national instruments ( Cameroon Government Initiatives/Policies). 

As a follow up measure to ensure the knowledge passed across and gained doesn't end in vain, a network of cultural journalists in the North West Region was formed and on the 21st of June 2019, its maiden General Assembly was held during which its official name and bylaws were adopted.

Four months after, MBOSCUDA once more rallied the earlier on trained journalists to evaluate the distance covered after the initial training with interest on work done, challenges faced, work still to be done and way forward. The follow up workshop was facilitated by Mr. Nji  Charles, a journalism consultant who evaluated the output of the journalists ever since their training and ranked their performance at 90%, considering the peculiarities of the region amidst the ongoing Anglophone Crisis after personally monitoring what they reported on radio, TV, newspapers and blogs about cultural journalism.

Participants at Follow Up Workshop

This was corroborated by Sali Usmamu, the MBOSCUDA Monitoring and Evaluation officer  who expressed satisfaction with the turnout and participation of members. Accessing the work done, he said  "Most of them have taken some steps towards incorporating intercultural dialogue in their discussions and programs as there are now interesting elements of culture which are  becoming very eminent in their programs and reports." He then ended by letting the participants know that though sustainability is very important, every project has a lifespan. Sali Usmamu assured participants that  MBOSCUDA after terminating the Bridging the Gap project will not end its cordial relationship with the media in the region. Considering the importance of communication in development, subsequent projects of the association will still involve the media in their implementation.   

At the end, an elective General Assembly of the earlier on formed network was held during which a pioneer Executive Council of the Association of Cultural Journalists (ACJ), N.W was democratically voted into office headed by Abongwa Fozo of City FM and Fawah Agatha of Abakwa  FM as Vice President. Other members of the council included Nji  Ignatius of Eden Newspaper as Secretary General, Mokom Thomas of Ndefcam Radio as Vice S.G, Philo Happi of Eden Newspaper as Financial Secretary, Ninpa Francis of Radio Hot Cocoa as Treasurer and Gnoukapasi Martial of Afrique Nouvelle Radio as Public Relations Officer. Wanchia  Cynthia of MBOSCUDA Communication Unit and Jeff Ngawe of The Reporter Newspaper were tasked the responsibility of being advisers of the EXCO.

Abongwa Fozo, ACJ N.W President

On behalf of MBOSCUDA,  members of the newly elected maiden bureau of the association were immediately installed into their various functions by Sali Usmanu who first expressed satisfaction with the gender consideration of the team before cautioning them that  "leadership begins with yourself." He  then congratulated the elected members for the confidence bestowed unto them by their peers while promising that MBOSCUDA will always be available to lend a helping hand for the betterment of the newly formed journalism association in the region. 

Legalisation modalities of the association are soon to be completed after which the body shall effectively commence work, that of upholding the practice of cultural journalism reporting and sourcing for funding for cultural journalism practices especially from international bodies like UNESCO.

COMINSUD Orientates Journalists on GBV Communication

COMINSUD Orientates Journalists on GBV Communication

An orientation workshop with radio broadcasters and social media platform actors on communication approaches and content for mass sensitization on Gender Based Violence and Sexual Reproductive Health was on Thursday September 19th 2019 held at Blue Pearl Hotel, Bamenda.

Organized by Community Initiative for Sustainable Development (COMINSUD) with funding from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), the one day conclave brought together 35 media actors within the N.W region drawn from 10 community radio stations and 5 social media platforms to share strategies on communication that leads to changes in attitudes, behaviours and practices for GBV prevention and seeking responses for GBV survivors and those in need of Sexual Reproductive Health services.

Since the advent of the ongoing Anglophone crisis, many women, girls and children are becoming more and more vulnerable to GBV as a result of school shutdown and internal displacement leading to high risk behaviours like drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, rape and promiscuity. Several instances have been reported of state and non state fighters indulging into rape usually after drugging themselves.

The United Nations Fund for Population Assessment has since March 2018 in collaboration with the Delegations of Women Empowerment and the Family and Public Health, Medecin du Monde Suisse been carrying out different interventions like assessments, capacity building, awareness raising and direct actions to prevent and respond to GBV in the N.W region. COMINSUD is thus being supported by UNFPA to carry out extensive sensitisation, dissemination of GBV/SRH referral pathway and connect survivors as well as interested needy persons to qualified and specialized service points.

Article 1 and 2 of UN General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defines  Gender Based Violence as  any act that results in or likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women because of being women and to men because of being men including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.

To reestablish victims of GBV, there exists the Listening and Orientation Unit at the Bamenda Regional Hospital where all medical attention offered to rape survivors is free of charge. Moreover, the regional delegation of Women Empowerment and the Family has a Safe Space in charged of counselling and follow up, referral and provision of a dignity kit to each GBV survivor containing basic needs. Currently, there are plans to open Shelter Homes for survivors.

The workshop ended with attendees being provided a sensitisation manual on the subject, recorded spots and microprograms on Family Planning, Safe Delivery, GBV, Menstrual Hygiene, STI/HIV, T-shirts, posters and information leaflets to support community sensitisation via broadcast and social media. Broadcast agreements were also signed with the selected radio stations and social media actors that shall be carrying out the campaign.

UNESCO Trains Journalists on Migration Reporting

UNESCO Trains Journalists on Migration Reporting

Some thirty media men and women drawn from the audiovisual, print and online media in Cameroon have been intellectually edified on how to better cover and report migration stories. This was during a three day Forum on Migration Issues and Training Workshop on Investigative Journalism Techniques for Migration that took place from the 28th-30th of August 2019 in Douala.

L-R: Mr. Kassie Claude (Bureau Chief, UNHCR - Douala), Madam Bongouen Hortense (Focal Point - MINCOM), Mr. Salah Khaled (UNESCO Central Africa Regional Director)

Organized by the Multisectoral UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa as part of implementing the project “Empowering Young People in Africa through Media and Communication” with funding from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and support from the Cameroon government, the workshop attendees were schooled on how to pass unto young people, quality information on the risks of irregular migration and the opportunities they have back home in terms of entrepreneurship and employment. 

Mr. Salah Khaled, UNESCO Regional Director for Central Africa in justifying the context of the workshop said “The project is basically working with the journalists to enhance their capacities in telling the stories to young people aspiring for a possible potential future in other places outside Cameroon and aspiring to travel to Europe, hoping for a better future without knowing the risks they could face and probably perish in the Mediterranean or in other countries by showing the youths of this country and the entire Central Africa Sub Region the huge economic potentials and opportunities that they could have in their own countries.” 

Mr. Salah Khaled, UNESCO Central Africa Regional Director

After being declared open by Madam Bongouen Hortense, Focal Point personnel from the Ministry of Communication, working in collaboration with UNESCO to implement the project, participants within the three days exchanged with the various facilitators on various migration related topics and investigative journalism techniques on migration issues.

Peter Tambe of P-News Magazine had once migrated out of Cameroon only to realize the grass wasn’t actually greener on the other side of the fence as he had thought. Today, he is back to fatherland and practicing journalism. Cautioning young people on the dangers of irregular migration, he said “Staying here, you could help to build your country while going out there, it is what others tell you it is but it’s not really what you think it is. Back home, you know what it is and you can make an idea on how to build it up. Going to somebody’s land is like going to a place you’ve never seen, a place that only lives in your imagination but home is not imagination. Home might be bad like many people think but it’s not that too bad and if it’s bad, it’s for all of us to fix it up.”

Officials & Participants

Due to its geographical, socioeconomic and political peculiarities, Cameroon is an exit, entry and transit zone for migrants. Findings have shown that neither are migrants the poorest in society nor do they originate only from poor countries. Among the many reasons that provoke (irregular) migration are climate, sociopolitical instability, natural disasters, studies and the quest for better life, better opportunities.

Massabe Rafiatou, a returnee migrant is one of the many victims of irregular migration that have faced the thick and thin of the practice. Luckily, after all the hurdles encountered, she was fortunate to have been brought back to her country of origin thanks to the IOM and the Cameroon government. Today, she is gradually reintegrating herself back into the society. She now belongs to an organization that is educating youths on the risks and dangers of irregular migration. UNESCO brought her at the workshop to tell her story.

WhatsApp Groups; New Form of Social Security

WhatsApp Groups; New Form of Social Security

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, former employees of Yahoo! Koum named the app WhatsApp to sound like "What's Up" indicating it's intended usage, for chatting. WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in over a hundred countries, according to Android device usage data. It allows you to send messages, pictures, videos and even voice recordings over the internet.

According to 99Firms.com, WhatsApp 2019: Stats and Facts show that WhatsApp has 1.5 billion active users in over 180 countries. The average user checks WhatsApp more than 23 times per day. 58% of users access WhatsApp several times per day. WhatsApp is the third most downloaded Android app in the world. WhatsApp is banned in 12 countries. Internet Live Stats estimates the Cameroonian population having access to the web  to be at 4.3 million people (out of 22 million inhabitants).

In 2015, a good chunk of the Cameroonian population most especially the youths became versed with WhatsApp following the introduction of 3G and 4G networks by mobile operators in the country thus simplifying access to the internet. When many users especially those who just bought new android phones became versed with how to create a WhatsApp group, a new trend ensued. Users started creating groups out of excitement and for adventure, adding members even without their consent to such groups. At some point in time it became a nuisance as users kept finding themselves in funny WhatsApp groups they couldn't identify themselves with. And so within ten minutes for example, 10 new persons will be added at the very time when 7 are leaving the group.

People left because they weren't consulted before being added, because the groups hadn't defined objectives or they couldn't identify themselves with the members and those that had laid down rules kept facing a major setback of the rules being broken by some recalcitrant members. Of recent, the phenomenon of creating WhatsApp groups and adding people to it has reduced.

Nowadays, it is assumed that there exist hundreds of thousands of WhatsApp groups for all walks of life: journalists, teachers, medics, lawyers, associations, churches, political parties and any other professional field one can think of. Even families now have WhatsApp groups in which family issues are discussed. Unfortunately, most  professional groups have been converted to chat groups. Even when there are calls for order to reign, such calls are often discarded. It is for this reason that in a journalism, medical, sporting, teaching group for example, often one will anxiously go online to check for latest gists only to find hundreds of unread messages which upon reading through, very little will be found concerning the profession. Instead, it will be realised that few persons had been chatting or quarreling in the group on issues that don't even concern the profession and piling up messages.

On the other hand, there are WhatsApp groups that are really meeting up with their objectives. In such, professional problems are shared and solutions provided. New discoveries and latest information concerning the profession are also shared for members to learn. It is certain these days that belonging to a WhatsApp group is seemingly unavoidable. Once you have an android phone plus internet access, be rest assured to find yourself added into a group or creating yours.

Wikipedia defines social security as "any government system that provides monetary assistance to people with an inadequate or no income." Social security may also refer to the action programs of an organization intended to promote the welfare of the population through assistance measures guaranteeing access to sufficient resources for food and shelter and to promote health and well-being for the population at large and potentially vulnerable segments such as children, the elderly, the sick and the unemployed.

Within the past years, several WhatsApp groups have been providing social security to members and non members through financial and material contributions to celebrate marriages, births, graduations etc and mourn with the bereaved, some of whom have benefited hundreds of thousands from group members. Some groups have been carrying out humanitarian responsibilities where needy cases in the society are identified, brought to the group and members contribute money to rescue the situation.

In a sports WhatsApp group like YOSA OYE AHEAD AHEAD fans and supporters of the lone division 1 club from the North West Region, Young Sports Academy have been contributing money to support their darling team. In journalism groups like Media People Bamenda MPB, Journalists of Integrity, CAMASEJ North West etc, huge amounts of money have in the past been contributed by members to support the burial, wedding or bereavement of one of theirs. Even flagship radio talkshow programs like Press & Associates aired weekly on Ndefcam Radio Bamenda on July 3rd 2019 donated a cash sum of 342.000F to the management of the Bamenda Regional Hospital as its own effort to support the  maintenance and sustainability of the recently constructed VIP modern toilets in the hospital. This  whopping amount was raised through the program's WhatsApp group coupled with other channels.

Nowadays, almost every ex student association of every school has a WhatsApp group, batch by batch. In these groups like SHESA, SABESA, LESA, SOBA, PEMEXSA, BOBA, SAJESA etc, hundreds of thousands and even millions have constantly been raised to support their alma mater, organise parties, reunions and support mates in need.

Often than not, the financial contributions are hardly ever done by up to half of the group members but the credits reaped from the positive  outcome of the gesture are often enjoyed by the entire group. The total amounts contributed are often juicy and if 3/4 of group members were to chip in their tokens, most WhatsApp groups would've been providing social security to members and non members worth hundreds of thousands and millions. Some would've been realising multimillion worth projects on the field.

On Saturday the 11th of August 2018, two nurses, Azah Nancy (wife) and Njong Padisco (husband) were murdered in Nyen village in Mbengwi central sub division and accusing fingers were pointed at government soldiers. Before being killed, the wife was pregnant and the couple left behind five children, now orphans. One year after, to mark their memorial, a WhatsApp news group Mbengwi Online through Mobile Money contributions from members raised over a hundred thousand Francs to support the education of the kids that are now without parents. This is just one of the several humanitarian works most WhatsApp groups have been carrying out.

Bakah Derick is a Bamenda based journalist. Just like any other user of social media, he belongs to several WhatsApp groups that have been of great impact to members and the society at large. Talking about the concrete realisations carried by some of the groups to which he belong, he said "WhatsApp Groups have been a great resource. I am into some serious media  professional groups in which we discuss work related issues but I have noticed a new trend with people contributing to assist others get healthcare services or during weddings. Though these contributions use to sound like freewill, I just noticed of late that people complain if the group doesn't  contribute for them when they are sick or lost someone. I have never benefited, I don't expect it though but for those who complain I think they see these groups as a source of social security."

It is for this assured social security provision that some members enjoy belonging to certain WhatsApp groups for no one knows tomorrow as they may in turn be the ones to enjoy benefits like hospital bills payment, school fees payment just to name these few after having contributed for others.