The Chia Report

WIDIKUM: A Forgotten Fondom Comes Alive!

By Innocent Chia
To the cross majority of Cameroonians in Chicago-land, kids and their parents simply called this affable figure “Uncle Joe”. That was before “Uncle Joe” traveled to Cameroon in the mid of 2009 to accept the honor his departing father had bestowed on him as he parted this World to the great beyond. Meantime, without ever letting the cat out of the bag that he was a “Mbeii” – enthroned royalty – Uncle Joe’s home has always been palace-like, bustling with activity and people shuffling in and out. The pots on the gas cooker have always been commercial-type pots, not because of his four kids – Iya, Franchika, Claude and Destiny. Auntie Mabel, with unparallel culinary skills, may have been cut out for her husband’s destiny (no pun intended); feeding large numbers that come and go like at the Widikum Palace she seemed to have been prepping for.

The Chiareport caught up with the Fon – a self-confessed friend of the Chiareport – and the man whose dexterity on computers has earned him a living in Chicago for the last decade, was at ease in his new wardrobe.

Will Mankind Self Destruct or Agree To Save Itself? - Dr Richard T. Munang on Climate Change

Interview conducted by Innocent Chia
 
A little less than a month from today (Dec. 7th – Dec. 18th), in the Danish cosmopolitan capital city of Copenhagen, environmental experts like UNEP’s Richard Tingem Munang will  look to President Obama and his peers to provide political will and leadership on the pressing issue of climate change. While the big boys, and girl, club will be making these far-reaching decisions of global import, a looming concern for activists is what will happen to the Africas of the world that pollute least but are set to suffer most if nothing is done? As climate change Deputy Project Manager at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Cameroon-born Richard T. Munang (PhD) is part of a team charged with the daunting task of saving the world from itself with smart policies that build communities while saving the world.  

Thanks to the convenience of social media networks, Chiareport caught up with Dr. Richard T. Munang for an exclusive focusing on what Climate Change means to Africa and Africans.

Up Close and into the Den of Dibussi Tande - Part II

By Innocent Chia

The Chiareport: There is no denying that many have tried to pigeonhole you: there are those who have regarded your writings to be in favor of a unitary state as Cameroon currently is; there are those who believe you are a middle-of-the-road guy; and there are those who believe you a cautious supporter of the Southern Cameroons secessionists’ movement…. Who are you not?

Dibussi Tande: (Laughs). It was only a couple of weeks ago that someone asked me if I was a “silent supporter” of the Biya regime. When I asked why, the person responded that to the best of his knowledge, I have never insulted either the President or the ruling CPDM, even though I have criticized both. My response was that the facts about the president Biya’s rule in Cameroon are so compelling that giving in to emotion while analyzing the Cameroon situation only obscures those obvious facts.

Up Close and into the Den of Dibussi Tande - Part I

By Innocent Chia 

Why we call anyone or anything any name has always fascinated me. Maybe because my parents went curious on me with the name Innocent. No wonder then, I got tickled with “Scribbles from the Den” as I began to wonder why a Den? The part of a scribbling Scribe was self-explanatory,but why “from the Den”? As much as these seemingly trite questions took up valuable space in my mind, so did I get interested in the trailblazing man behind the powerful, brilliant and introspective pieces. 

If it is the power of his pen, or keyboard, that has put him on the high pedestal in the public eye, I have been fortunate to come close to the son, brother, husband, father, friend and consummate professional. On the occasion of his third title, Scribbles from the Den: Essays on Politics and Collective Memory in Cameroon, I seized a pretext to talk to Dibussi Tande about his book, and much, much more…What he fails to reveal in his treatises is plentiful – for instance, that his fun-loving wife, Therese is fuel to his virtuoso; that his seven year-old son, Mokali is his heartbeat; and that his disgust for Africa’s dictators is only abated by the juicy flavors of well-done slices of barbecued pork or beef on a charcoal grill…