Life

30, June 2025

Cameroon literature giant Nsanda Eba dies ⁰

Nsanda Eba who has died was a strong personality of Cameroonian literature – a storyteller who’s book The Good Foot painted Cameroon during colonialism.

His publications including essays spanned roughly five decades, primarily documenting the transformation of Cameroon – from a colonial subject to a ruthless dictatorship.

He will be remembered for his 1977 novel The Good Foot where he recounted with touching humanity the ordeals of a plantation laborer’s family as they reach for social advancement through back-breaking work, unrelenting hope, and an undying belief in the power of education, laying bare in the process the exploitative nature of plantation agriculture and its role in shaping population dynamics as well as xenophobia-tinged politics in modern-day Cameroonian towns like Mutengene and Tiko.

Mbamu, the novel’s teenage character, his childhood and his relationship with his father will continue to strike a human chord with thousands of Southern Cameroonians as it mirrored their own relationship with their dads.

By Miriam Metchane Ewang

27, June 2025

Yaoundé plans new law on organ donation as dialysis cases reach 2.5 million ⁰

Lawmakers in Cameroon are set to review a draft bill on organ donation, collection, and transplantation, as part of government efforts to address growing health challenges linked to organ failure.

The proposed law, presented to the National Assembly today, aims to “fill the existing legal vacuum and create better prospects for people in need of biological material transplants in Cameroon,” according to the explanatory note.

The government highlights that organ harvesting and transplantation procedures are on the rise, particularly among patients with kidney failure. Official figures show that 2.5 million people are currently undergoing dialysis in Cameroon, including 700,000 in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé.

By legislating on organ donation and collection, the government hopes to address three key challenges: closing the legal gap, offering a long-term solution for kidney failure, and reducing public spending on dialysis centers.

The bill points out that kidney transplants can offer a permanent solution for end-stage renal failure at a significantly lower cost for both patients and the public treasury.

A legal framework is increasingly important as Cameroon has made progress in organ transplants. “To date, kidney harvesting and transplants are being carried out at the Yaoundé General Hospital, with 14 successful cases recorded since the first operation,” the government stated.

Source: Sbbc

17, June 2025

Social media now main source of news in US ⁰

Social media and video networks have become the main source of news in the US, overtaking traditional TV channels and news websites, research suggests.

More than half (54%) of people get news from networks like Facebook, X and YouTube – overtaking TV (50%) and news sites and apps (48%), according to the Reuters Institute.

“The rise of social media and personality-based news is not unique to the United States, but changes seem to be happening faster – and with more impact – than in other countries,” a report found.

Podcaster Joe Rogan was the most widely-seen personality, with almost a quarter (22%) of the population saying they had come across news or commentary from him in the previous week.

The report’s author Nic Newman said the rise of social video and personality-driven news “represents another significant challenge for traditional publishers”.

The institute also highlighted a trend for some politicians to give their time to sympathetic online hosts rather than mainstream interviewers.

It said populist politicians around the world are “increasingly able to bypass traditional journalism in favour of friendly partisan media, ‘personalities’, and ‘influencers’ who often get special access but rarely ask difficult questions, with many implicated in spreading false narratives or worse”.

Despite their popularity, online influencers and personalities were named as a major source of false or misleading information by almost half of people worldwide (47%) – putting them level with politicians.

The report also stated that usage of X for news is “stable or increasing across many markets”, with the biggest uplift in the US.

It added that since Elon Musk took over the network in 2022, “many more right-leaning people, notably young men, have flocked to the network, while some progressive audiences have left or are using it less frequently”.

In the US, the proportion that self-identified as being on the right tripled after Musk’s takeover.

In the UK, right-wing X audiences have almost doubled.

Rival networks like Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon are “making little impact globally, with reach of 2% or less for news”, it stated.

Other key findings about news sources:

TikTok is the fastest-growing social and video network, used for news by 17% of people around the world, up four percentage points since last year.

The use of AI chatbots to get the news is on the rise, and is twice as popular among under-25s than the population as a whole.

But most people think AI will make news less transparent, accurate and trustworthy.

All generations still prize trusted brands with a track record for accuracy, even if they don’t use them as often as they once did

The report is in its 14th year and surveyed almost 100,000 people in 48 countries.

Source: BBC

10, June 2025

Frederick Forsyth: bestselling author of ‘The Day of The Jackal’, dies age 86 ⁰

Prolific British thriller writer Frederick Forsyth, who instantly became a global bestselling author when his book “The Day of the Jackal” was published in 1971, died on Monday aged 86, his literary agents Curtis Brown said.

Forsyth famously penned his most famous work about a fictional assassination attempt on French president Charles de Gaulle by right-wing extremists in just 35 days after falling on hard times.

“The Jackal” went on to be made into a hit film starring Edward Fox as the assassin. A Netflix remake last year with Eddie Redmayne in the lead role was released last year.

“We mourn the passing of one of the world’s greatest thriller writers,” his agent Jonathan Lloyd said.

Forsyth died at home surrounded by his family following a brief illness, according to Curtis Brown.

The former journalist and pilot wrote over 25 books including “The Odessa File” (1972) and “The Dogs of War” (1974) and sold over 75 million copies worldwide.

Many of his novels were also turned into films.

“Only a few weeks ago I sat with him as we watched a new and moving documentary of his life … and was reminded of an extraordinary life, well lived,” said Lloyd.

“After serving as one of the youngest ever RAF pilots, he turned to journalism, using his gift for languages in German, French and Russian to become a foreign correspondent in Biafra (in Nigeria),” he said.

‘Spectacular luck’

“Appalled at what he saw and using his experience during a stint as a secret service agent, he wrote his first and perhaps most famous novel, ‘The Day Of The Jackal’,” he added.

A sequel to “The Odessa File”, entitled “Revenge Of Odessa”, on which he worked with thriller writer Tony Kent, is due to be published in August, his publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said.

“His journalistic background brought a rigour and a metronomic efficiency to his working practice and his nose for and understanding of a great story kept his novels both thrillingly contemporary and fresh,” Scott-Kerr added.

Forsyth attributed much of his success to “luck”, recalling how a bullet narrowly missed him while he was covering the bloody Biafra civil war between 1967 and 1970.

“I have had the most spectacular luck all through my life,” he told The Times last November in an interview.

“Right place, right time, right person, right contact, right promotion – and even just turning my head away when that bullet went past,” he said.

Asked why he had decided to give up writing – although he later went back to it – he told AFP in 2016 he’d “run out of things to say”.

“I can’t just sit at home and do a nice little romance from within my study, I have to go out and check out places like Modagishu, Guinea Bissau, both hellholes in different ways,” he said.

Forsyth had two sons by his first wife. His second wife, Sandy, died last year.

Conservative MP David Davis paid tribute to his friend as a “fabulous wordsmith”.

He told Sky News that Forsyth “was a great believer in the old values – he believed in honour and patriotism and courage and directness and straightforwardness, and a big defender of our armed forces”.

Source: AFP

3, June 2025

Bikutsi: Renowned singer Saint Désir Atango who-raped-and-impregnated his daughter in police drag-net ⁰

A famous Bikutsi singer Saint Désir Atango was arrested today in Mfou a town in the Centre region about 30 km from Yaoundé for raping his daughters, one of whom he impregnated.

In public, Saint Désir Atango was an award-winning Bikutsi music singer but at home, he was a depraved tyrant who lorded over his daughters like the leader of a sex cult, keeping his girls from going to school and having sex with them, officials of the Méfou-et-Afamba Division have said.

Saint Désir Atango admitted having sexual relations with his two daughters and even made a son with his first daughter.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that his authority over his daughters was so great that the mother of his children did nothing to stop the abuse, even though she knew he had fathered a child with his oldest daughter.

Our Yaoundé city reporter Rita Akana said the story that is almost totally unbelievable has placed Saint Désir Atango in the spotlight since last week, notably for a dark story of incest with his children.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Rita Akana

28, May 2025

Exit of an icon: African literature giant Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o dies aged 87 ⁰

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who has died aged 87, was a titan of modern African literature – a storyteller who refused to be bound by jail, exile and illness.

His work spanned roughly six decades, primarily documenting the transformation of his country – Kenya – from a colonial subject to a democracy.

Ngũgĩ was tipped to win the Nobel Prize for Literature countless times, leaving fans dismayed each time the medal slipped through his fingers.

He will be remembered not only as a Nobel-worthy writer, but also as a fierce proponent of literature written in native African languages.

Ngũgĩ was born James Thiong’o Ngũgĩ in 1938, when Kenya was under British colonial rule. He grew up in the town of Limuru among a large family of low-income agricultural workers.

His parents scrimped and saved to pay for his tuition at Alliance, a boarding school run by British missionaries.

In an interview, Ngũgĩ recalled returning home from Alliance at the end of term to find his entire village had been razed by the colonial authorities.

His family members were among the hundreds and thousands forced to live in detention camps during a crackdown on the Mau Mau, a movement of independence fighters.

The Mau Mau uprising, which lasted from 1952 to 1960, touched Ngũgĩ’s life in numerous, devastating ways.

In one of the most crushing, Ngũgĩ’s brother, Gitogo, was fatally shot in the back for refusing to comply with a British soldier’s command.

Gitogo had not heard the command because he was deaf.

Getty Images Kikuyu tribesmen suspected of belonging to the Mau-Mau movement are interrogated by a police inspector. 1952. — Kenyans were frequently interrogated under suspicion of being Mau Mau rebels

In 1959, as the British struggled to maintain their grip on Kenya, Ngũgĩ left to study in Uganda. He enrolled at Makerere University, which remains one of Africa’s most prestigious universities.

During a writers’ conference at Makerere, Ngũgĩ shared the manuscript for his debut novel with revered Nigerian author Chinua Achebe.

Achebe forwarded the manuscript to his publisher in the UK and the book, named Weep Not, Child, was released to critical acclaim in 1964. It was the first major English-language novel to be written by an East African.

Ngũgĩ swiftly followed up with two more popular novels, A Grain of Wheat and The River Between. In 1972, the UK’s Times newspaper said Ngũgĩ, then aged 33, was “accepted as one of Africa’s outstanding contemporary writers”.

Then came 1977 – a period that marked a huge change in Ngũgĩ’s life and career. For starters, this was the year he became Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and shed his birth name, James. Ngũgĩ made the change as he wanted a name free of colonial influence.

He also dropped English as the primary language for his literature and vowed to only write in his mother tongue, Kikuyu.

He published his last English language novel, Petals of Blood, in 1977.

Ngũgĩ’s previous books had been critical of the colonial state, but Petals of Blood attacked the new leaders of independent Kenya, portraying them as an elite class who had betrayed ordinary Kenyans.

Ngũgĩ didn’t stop there. The same year, he co-wrote the play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want), which was a searing look at Kenya’s class struggle.

Its theatre run was shut down by the government of then President Jomo Kenyatta and Ngũgĩ was locked up in a maximum security jail for a year without trial.

It was a fruitful 12 months, however – as Ngũgĩ wrote his first Kikuyu novel, Devil on the Cross, while in prison. It is said he used toilet paper to write the entire book, as he did not have access to a notebook.

Getty Images Writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o (L) and his wife arrive at the 38th annual NAACP Image Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium — Wa Thiong’o’s second wife Njeeri worked with him at the University of California

Ngũgĩ was released after Daniel arap Moi replaced Mr Kenyatta as president.

Ngũgĩ said that four years later, while in London for a book launch, he learnt there was a plot to kill him on his return to Kenya.

Ngũgĩ began self-imposed exile in the UK and then the US. He did not return to Kenya for 22 years.

When he finally did return, he received a hero’s welcome – thousands of Kenyans turned out to greet him.

But the homecoming was marred when assailants broke into Ngũgĩ’s apartment, brutally attacking the author and raping his wife.

Ngũgĩ insisted the assault was “political”.

He returned to the US, where he had held professorships at universities including Yale, New York and California Irvine.

In academia and beyond, Ngũgĩ became known as one of the foremost advocates of literature written in African languages.

Throughout his career – and to this day – African literature was dominated by books written in English or French, official languages in most countries on the continent.

“What is the difference between a politician who says Africa cannot do without imperialism and the writer who says Africa cannot do without European languages?” Ngũgĩ asked in a seminal, fiery essay collection, named Decolonising the Mind.

In one section, Ngũgĩ called out Chinua Achebe – the author who helped to launch his career – for writing in English. Their friendship soured as a result.

Away from his literary career, Ngũgĩ was married – and divorced – twice. He had nine children, four of whom are published authors.

“My own family has become one of my literary rivals,” Ngũgĩ joked in a 2020 LA Times interview.

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o sat with his son, Mukoma — Ngũgĩ’s son Mukoma (right) is also an author

His son, Mukoma wa Ngũgĩ, has alleged that his mother was physically abused by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.

“Some of my earliest memories are me going to visit her at my grandmother’s where she would seek refuge,” his son wrote in a social media post, which Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o did not respond to.

Later in his life, Ngũgĩ’s health deteriorated. He had triple heart bypass surgery in 2019 and began to struggle with kidney failure. In 1995, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and given three months to live.

Ngũgĩ recovered, however, adding cancer to the lengthy list of struggles he had overcome.

But now one of African literature’s guiding lights – as Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie once called him – is gone, leaving the world of words a little darker.

Culled from the BBC

13, May 2025

Yaoundé: Father of Cameroonian musician Lydol arrested for fatal stabbing of 6-year-old ⁰

A deeply disturbing incident has shaken the Ngoa Ekelle neighborhood in Yaoundé. The father of renowned Cameroonian musician Lydol has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a 6-year-old child to death.

According to eyewitness accounts, the incident followed a physical altercation between Lydol’s father and the child’s father. In a shocking and horrific act of revenge, he is reported to have turned his anger on the innocent child, resulting in the child’s death.

The victim was rushed to the Yaoundé Military Hospital but tragically succumbed to his injuries.

Following the incident, bystanders who witnessed the gruesome act attacked the suspect before he was taken to the hospital for treatment. He has since been arrested by authorities.

Alarming Developments: There are unconfirmed reports suggesting that this may be the second murder involving the suspect within the span of two weeks. He is reportedly under investigation for another violent incident that occurred last week.

The case has sparked widespread outrage and grief, especially given the suspect’s close relation to a public figure. Cameroonians are calling for justice for the young victim and a thorough investigation into all allegations.

By Alain Agbor Ebot

12, May 2025

French Cameroun: MNJTF Force Commander commissions St. Joseph Nursery School in Mora ⁰

In a significant boost to educational development in the Lake Chad Basin, the Force Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), Major General Godwin Mutkut, has commissioned the newly constructed and fully equipped St. Joseph Nursery School in Mora, Cameroon. The project forms part of the MNJTF’s Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) initiative aimed at promoting education and rebuilding community infrastructure in conflict-affected areas.

The newly inaugurated facility features two modern classrooms and a staff room, designed to provide a safe and conducive environment for early childhood learning. Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Major General Mutkut emphasized the central role of education in fostering long-term peace and development.

“Education is not just a priority—it is a necessity,” he declared. “We must lead by example and invest in our children’s future to counter the narratives of those who oppose learning. Without education, there can be no progress.”

General Mutkut also highlighted the MNJTF’s broader efforts in implementing quick-impact projects across the Lake Chad region. These initiatives are intended to alleviate the suffering of communities impacted by terrorism and insurgency, while fostering stronger ties between the military and local populations. He called on the Mora community to take full ownership of the new facility and ensure its proper care and maintenance.

In her remarks, the Director of the school, Ms. Justine Suke, expressed profound appreciation to the MNJTF and the African Union for making the project a reality. “This school will lay a solid foundation for the future of children in Mora and neighboring communities

Source PRNigeria

23, April 2025

Teachers strike shuts down schools across Cameroon ⁰

Cameroon faces a major education crisis as a four-day national teachers’ strike begins on April 22nd. The “Ecole Morte” movement, led by the Collective of Teachers’ Organisations of Cameroon, unites more than a dozen unions demanding urgent reforms.

At the heart of their six key demands: the organisation of a national forum to rethink the education system, the upgrading of teachers’ special status, and a collective agreement for private school teachers. The strike follows a warning issued in March.

While the government has opened talks, including a meeting at the Ministry of Public Service on April 17, unions say the steps taken are not enough. Teachers are calling for immediate action to address chronic problems and ensure a stable environment for their profession.

Source: Africa News

17, April 2025

Afrobeats star Davido says Nigerian culture is having a moment ⁰

“We’re very popular, not only in music,” the 32-year-old Afrobeats star told AFP during a recent interview in Paris, pointing to the film, food and fashion influence his country is increasingly exporting to the rest of the world.

Even amid criticism from some that American artists are starting to crib from Afrobeats’ sound, his response is: “I like it.”

And yet, the Nigerian-American artist — a self-described citizen of the world — sees the future of the continent tied to those who stay home, rather than its influential diaspora.

“Everybody always has the American dream,” he told AFP. “Every kid that grows up in Africa wants to visit America. That’s cool. It’s okay to visit, but don’t leave your people and go there.”

Those might be tough words to swallow for his compatriots battling the worst economic crisis in a generation.

In recent years, “japa” — the Yoruba word for “escape” — has become country-wide slang for emigrating to greener, and richer pastures.

Davido, born David Adedeji Adeleke in Atlanta, in some ways straddles the tension between a growing, bustling Nigeria of more than 200 million people and a world that finally seems to be waking up to the so-called Giant of Africa.

Speaking to AFP ahead of the release of his new album, “5ive” — out Friday — he confidently says the record “is going to touch every part of the world.”

“We have music for the French people. We have music for the Caribbean people. We have music for the Americans, Africans, everybody,” he said.

“It’s like a full, global package album.”

– Eight million monthly listeners –

With some more than eight million monthly listeners — including Britain’s King Charles — Davido is riding, and shaping, the global Afrobeats craze.

But Davido himself is also a product of African music.

Nigerian-American singer, songwriter and record producer Davido, poses during a photo session in Paris on April 14, 2025.

“I grew up in an African household where we were always throwing parties, music was always playing in the house, going in the car to school, my parents playing music,” he enthusiastically recalled.

As a teenager, a cousin in the industry took him to a studio, where “for the first time, I saw somebody create music… African music.”

“That’s when I fell in love with it,” said Davido, spotting a grey conical woollen cap and jewellery dangling over a black T-shirt.

A few years later, he was mixing and mastering his own tunes by the age of 16, drawing inspiration from artists such as P-Square, a Nigerian duo that drew some of their hits from American influences such as Michael Jackson.

Davido now sees artists’ musical influence flowing across the Atlantic in the other direction.

“It’s a privilege for another culture to try to imitate what you’re doing,” he told AFP in response to a question about critics who accuse American artists of trying to mime Afrobeats’ style.

“In Nigeria we do hip hop too. We have rappers that rap. We have people that do R&B.”

“Music is a universal language. So I don’t see any problem with that.”

Davido counts among some of his popular tracks “Unavailable” and “Aye”.

– ‘African music has changed narrative’ –

For all his worldly outlook, Davido said he hasn’t lost focus on Nigeria.

'African music has changed the narrative of how Africans are looked at around the world,' says Nigerian-American singer Davido — ‘African music has changed the narrative of how Africans are looked at around the world,’ says Nigerian-American singer Davido © JOEL SAGET / AFP

“We’ve been going through hard times,” he told AFP. “Nigeria is a very rich country with so much talent, so much grace, so much opportunity.”

“I was asked a question saying, why don’t we sing about (Nigeria’s struggles) in our music?” he recalled. “I was like, man, that’s not the type of music my people would really like to hear.”

“I have sung about it in the past. But I’m very vocal about it more in Africa than in America.”

As he prepares to embark on a world tour — including stops in Paris, London, New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles — he knows where at least part of his success has come from.

“African music has changed the narrative of how Africans are looked at around the world.”

Source: AFP