Up Station Mountain Club

Brain Seek and Brain Chase: an attempt to complete the story of why highly skilled migrants leave their countries and what can be done about it.

Like many of you reading this article, over the years I’ve read a lot of literature and seen a lot being discussed about ‘Brain Drain’ and ‘Brain Gain’ with regards to the movement of highly skilled migrants around the world. Who gains from whom when highly skilled migrants move from one country to another has been well documented and is not the focus of this article.

By Hinsley Njila (Originally Published on Prince report)

Sport:Le Guen publishes list of 21 players for game against Togo – Henri Bedimo Nsame included

(Originally published on Gef's Football Club)

The Cameroon Football Federation has published the list of 21 players called to camp ahead of the crucial Fifa World Cup qualifier against Togo in Yaounde on 10 October 2009.

The new man in the Lion’s den is Henri Nsame Bedimo who plays for French second division club Chateuroux. This 25-year-old left-back comes as replacement for Tottenham’s Benoit Assou-Ekotto who is suspended for this game.

French media reports had suggested that Henri Bedimo Nsame would benefit from Paul Le Guen’s nod after the coach travelled to Vannes to supervise the player during a French League 2 encounter. The player who had once played for Toulouse Football Club in the French Elite league was recommended to him by a friend.

Apart from Henri Bedimo Nsame, the rest of the players retained were part of the squad that played in an international friendly against Austria in August and the two World Cup qualifiers against Gabon in early September.

Continue reading Le Guen publishes list of 21 players for game against Togo-Henri Bedimo included

New Issue of Palapala Magazine Available Online

From www.dibussi.com

The seventh issue of Palapala magazine, the Cameroonian/Pan-African literary Magazine is now available online. This issue features exciting essays, short stories and poems from budding and established writers from around  the continent.

In this issue's lead article, Denja Abdullahi writes about Abuja, "The City of Poets" which was extolled in verse by the late Mamman Vatsa, executed by the Babaginda regime for allegedly planning a coup:

"If the new overlords of Abuja thought they had silenced poetry after silencing Vatsa, then they were ignorant of the fact that some stowaway poets berthed in Abuja with the ship of government when it moved from Lagos with Babangida’s hurried departure…. The City of Lagos lost the seat of power to Abuja and I dare say it is on the way of losing the fountain of creativity to Abuja. Come to think of it, Abuja … is a more likely place for a poet to fall in love with. Mamman Vatsa was the first poet laureate of Abuja and many more poets have come to love Abuja like Vatsa did in his poems."

Superb Tchoyi on Target again for Salzburg – Is he better than Webo?

The athletic Cameroon forward Somen à Tchoyi scored a goal and dished out a neat assist for his Austrian clubside Red Bulls Salzburg this weekend.

At the 60th minute of their game against  Karnten in the Austrian Bundesliga, Tchoyi sprinted with the ball into the opposition penalty area before slotting it to his team-mate Pokrivac for the curtain raiser. Ten mminutes later the Cameroonian raised excitment in the stands with delicate one-two moves with his attack-line partner Janko before a sweet finish to beat the goalkeeper. It is his 6th goal in the league this season as his club leads the way on the tables with 20 points after 9 games.

With such solid performances at the tip of an attack line there is speculation that Somen à Tchoyi could  replace Webo as the “towering” centre-forward to support Samuel Eto’o in the Indomitable Lions.

Somen Tchoyi in his Lions debut against Cape Verde

How would that function tactically?

Continue reading superb Tchoyi on target for salzburg - is he better than webo?

Freedom of Expression versus Cultural Sensitivity (Restraint, Respect and Revolt)

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

Being a paper presented at the World Summit on Arts and Culture, Johannesburg, South Africa (22-25th September 2009)

It could have been possible to title this panel session “Culture and Democracy” or “Culture and Human Rights” seeing the organic link between our desire as human beings but more so people of the Arts to expand our spaces of freedom of expression beyond the limitations imposed on us by our value systems or ecosystems.

Le Messager, Tax Bills, Media Entrepreneurship and the Cameroonian Appetite for Celebration

By George Esunge Fominyen (originally posted on Gef's Outlook)

Last week the offices of Le Messager newspaper were sealed by local taxation services in Douala for unpaid taxes.

"We were accused of arrears of 1.4 million CFA francs," Pius Njawe, the publisher, told a news conference in Douala. "That amount is nothing in comparism to the bill of 12 million CFA francs that we are owed by the Ministry of Finance, (which is the titular head of the taxation department) and other parastatals, "Njawe said.

He has decided to pay the tax bill only after the Ministry of Finance pays up what they owe Le Messager as dues for adverts and announcements.He plans to protest at the Ministry of Finance.

The veteran newspaperman believes the decision to seal his business is an act of sabotage meant to discredit Le Messager which has planned a big celebration of its 30 years of existence in November with many international guests in attendance.

However, with all due respect for what Le Messager and Pius Njawe have achieved in the quest for freedom of expression in Cameroon, there is something odd about this palaver.

The African Union and the United States of Africa Project. A Dream or Reality.

Mbuli Rene

There has been increased talks in recent years about the need to create a united states of Africa; reinvigorating the dreams of the forefathers of the OAU (Organisation for African Unity) such as Nkrumah, Nyerere and Kenyatta. While controversies persist, leading to divisions amongst African leaders on the form which a united Africa will take, many have simply thrown the idea to the bank of illusions. Such opinions and stand points about the union government as an illusion could stem from ignorance of the origin and relevance of the project as well as the egocentric desire to protect personal ambitions.  It is therefore worthy to set the records straight here while pin- pointing some challenges and making proposals that can be relevant as policy options for the success of this continental initiative.

The UN and its Security Council: Time for change

By Aloysius AGENDIA. Originally published on Sharing Knowledge and Ideas for Positive Change

Over six months ago, I wrote on my blog that I am yet to understand why most supposed media experts, communicators,  political scientists and diplomats turn to misuse the appellation international community.

I said so because most often, the supposed powerful countries team up with their allies and want to call those who defy them as, defiling the international community and unfortunately, this is always largely relayed by the media and the so-called global media. Nevertheless, when one enters into the politics of media and editorial policies, then one may understand why some media prefer the line they chose to take.

 

Picture of the Day: The Biyas Meet The Obamas

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama pose for a photo during a reception at the Metropolitan Museum in New York with H.E. Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon, and his wife, Mrs. Chantal Biya, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) Source

Oh you gotta give it to her: Michelle Obama tried. But even in her chic cowl neck number she still could not over shadow the lady in red (and leading fashionista) in the photo above: Chantal Biya, 39, first lady of Cameroon. Out of the dozens of "couple" photos to emerge last week, Biya's is the only one that caught my attention. And yet, this red number (with matching red hair) is but a toned down version of Biya's legendary glitz and glam. A quick scan of photos snapped of Cameroon's first lady reveal a woman who has cultivated a particular brand of fabulosity which can only be described as: bold, brazen and - yes, beautiful.

––Zandile Blay, Huffington Post

Read more at: Huffington Post

Next Page, A Kindler, Gentler Philosophy of Success

Photo: Your Body's Cells Can Fight Cancer

Your Body's Cells Can Fight Cancer, originally uploaded by fakoman.

That is what we would like, right?

ARROGANT CONTEMPT

The containment of bestiality in the man is apprehension of the consequences of wrongful conduct. That is what provoked and promoted the development of the reasoning faculty ending up with peaceful community life. The reverse would have been anarchy with “the survival of the fittest” as the unique crude law governing interactions.

By Hon. Ayah Paul Abine (Originally posted on Prince Report )

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Lost Treasures of Timbuctu

By Vivien Walt
Timbuctu
Thursday, Jul. 30 2009

Stepping through a low doorway into his small house, Fida Ag Mohammed sits at a table and pats a pile of books in front of him. Even in the dim light it's clear that these are no ordinary volumes. The books are covered with intricately hand-tooled sheep- or goatskin; inside, hundreds of pages of yellowed paper are filled with Arabic calligraphy — the painstaking penmanship of Mohammed's forebears centuries ago. "One of my ancestors from the 12th century began our family library," Mohammed says. "There are hundreds of collections like this."

Those collections — stashed in libraries, locked away in closets or buried in the desert sands — have been preserved, in large part, by Timbuktu's isolation from the rest of the world. Landing in this blisteringly hot Malian town in the southwestern corner of the Sahara feels a little like arriving at the end of the earth. Dirt tracks melt into the featureless desert sands. Chickens peck in the shade between mud-walled houses. Little wonder that Timbuktu is a byword for remoteness. (Read: "Out of Africa: Saharan Solar Energy".)

But Timbuktu's manuscripts might just change that. The books date from between the 14th and 16th centuries, a time when the town was a thriving trading hub and intellectual center for West Africa. Now, scared that Timbuktu's 50,000 or so surviving books might disintegrate or be sold off to foreign collectors, African and Western organizations are racing to salvage the treasures, preserving them from the ravages of climate, dust and the passage of hundreds of years. Millions of dollars have been spent in laborious conservation and cataloguing of the works. A sleek new museum, completed last April, is scheduled to open to the public in November. The museum will display tens of thousands of Timbuktu's books to the world, and, its backers hope, shatter any lingering notion that Africa has no historic literary tradition of its own. (Read: "The U.N.'s World Digital Library".)

There is a catch, though. As Timbuktu opens to outsiders and word of its treasures spreads, so too does the interest in the books from outside collectors. In some ways, saving these old manuscripts could imperil them further. In decades past only the hardy visited Timbuktu; the journey required days of travel up the malaria-infested Niger River. Today, dozens of tourists arrive several times a week on small commercial planes from Bamako, the capital of the former French colony. Timbuktu has become a favorite jumping-off point to explore the world's biggest desert. As the modern world rushes in, attitudes among Timbuktu's youth — the generation who will take custody of all those precious manuscripts — is changing fast. Entertainment in Timbuktu these days includes sitting under the stars watching European football matches on satellite television. "This generation has the Internet, they see movies, they go away to study," says Mohammed, who is astonished at the changes he has seen in his 42 years. To look after the books "we choose a child who can take care of the manuscripts: someone who's always going to stay here." But kids keep leaving, the world keeps rushing in. Timbuktu's books have survived centuries of isolation. Can they survive their modern-day fame?

READ REST OF ARTICLE ON TIME.COM

Why the U.S. Needs Africa

By Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda (Originally published in the Washington Post)

Africa and the United States may be on the verge of a new partnership, not one of dependency and aid but one of shared ideas, vision and investments that increase our mutual prosperities. To begin this improved relationship, both must accept urgent and substantial changes in the nature of our bond.

Africa needs to acknowledge a key tenet of President Obama's July address to Ghana's parliament: that a vibrant private sector is critical for capable, reliable and transparent societies. Without a dynamic private sector, no society can prosper. The African continent has been slow to foster conditions that build active private enterprise.

Up Station Mountain Club is Now Africa's No. 1 Blog!

According to the mostt recent rankings of African blogs by Afrigator, the leading African blog aggregator, Up Station Mountain Club is the #1 African blog (ranking determined by traffic). Thumbs up to all the bloggers and commentators who have made this the most visited corner on the African blogosphere.

Here is the list of top 20 African blogs. More on the Afrigator website.

Technology: Limbe, the Next Silicon Valley?

The founders of Limbelabs, a technology consultancy and startup incubator, explain why they choose to set up shop in Limbe and not Douala or Yaounde.

Of all the questions we receive about the origins of Limbe Labs, the two we hear most often are, “Why Limbe?” and, occasionally in the same sentence, “Why Cameroon?” Both are entirely valid questions—for Cameroonians, Africans and outsiders alike. Why indeed?

When one thinks about ICT innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa, a short list of emerging and established technology centers often spring to mind. Ask anyone with a passing interest in African tech about the locations of these hubs and you’re likely to hear a familiar list of cities: Nairobi, Accra, Lagos, Kigali, Kampala, Johannesburg and the Silicon Cape, among others.

Bolloré in Cameroon: another fox in charge of the hen-house?

I’ve just seen a totally good rant by Ekoko Mandengue here. I’ve just got to quote you the first paragraph, then I’ll get down to what I wanted to write.

Today, unskilled Chinese laborers are building our sports stadiums, shadowy Corsican Mafia interests run our national lottery -PMUC, SNEC has been sold to Moroccans and the Bolloré cartel brazenly fights- off Portuguese business interests as it seeks total control of all critical transportation infrastructure inside Cameroon(Bolloré already has controlling stakes in CAMRAIL and major logistics companies operating in Cameroon). Our children will not look kindly on us: the Indians will soon be growing our cassava in Nanga-Eboko, and Chinese immigrants are already frying our puff-puff. At this rate , the kuli-kuli and adakwa sold on our street corners will soon be flavored with Shanghai spit …

Bassong’s injuries and supposed voodoo in African football

(Originally published on Gef's football club)

Early September 2009, I read an interesting blog about the use of the para-normal in African football.

The blog said "there has long been a history of using far more extraordinary means to gain a psychological advantage over an opponent, to make one team feel invincible and the other quite neurotic. Voodoo. Miracles. Juju. Fetishism".

It was actually a review of a new book on African football entitled "Feet of Chameleon" by a British writer called Ian Hawkey. But it still managed to enrage a number of Africans and non-Africans about the off-handish way in which westerners treated the game as played in Africa.

 But utterances by Cameroonians on football forums since the young defender Sébastien Bassong got injured playing for Cameroon and now for Tottenham have caused me to think that it is not westerners who spread these stories about African football and mysticism.

Africans are the guilty party. Cameroonians have taken it to another level with their attacks on Rigobert Song Bahanag on internet forums.

Continue reading bassong's injuries and supposed voodoo in african football

J.M Atangana Mebera on the Hot Seat of a G11 Birthed by President Biya

Co-written and Edited by Innocent Chia

After terminating Ayissi Mvodo and imprisoning Titus Edzoa the hope of the Biya administration was that, falling short of beheading the Ewondo snake, it had immunized itself from the venom. There was an intimate Bulu / Fang understanding that it was a far safer bet dealing with their Ewondo devil-cousins that they knew than any other angel they could hardly contain. The Ewondos remained, by and large, a constituency on which President Biya could count on so long as he could sow enough enmity between blood brothers while keeping their divided communities ultimately allegiant to the King. Jean-Marie Atangana Mebara was stepping into the shoes of his brothers and knew full well the path on which they had trod. His challenge was to succeed where they had failed. Was there any chance of surviving in the Bulu / Fang set-up?

Continue reading J.M Atangana Mebera on the Hot Seat of a G11 Birthed by President Biya at www.chiareport.com

Picture of the Day: Edouard Tamba & Nadine Kouamouo

Cameroonian bloggers, Edouard Tamba (Le Messager and Le Blog de Tamba) and Nadine Tchaptchet-Kouamouo (Babiwatch) display their awards won at the recent Highway Africa conference in Grahamstown, South Africa. Edouard took home two awards for "Best story on ICT use in communities" and "Best story on ICT and public governance", while Nadine won the "Best Woman ICT reporter" award. (c) Babiwatch

Troll Profiles

Kangsen Feka Wakai

 Someone somewhere, and I am certain it wasn't online, once wrote that to know a country's soul, all one has to do is read its writers.  But in this electronic age, where books are somewhat being relegated to antiquarian status—at least in certain parts of the world, the blogosphere seems have inherited the role of mirroring a [virtual] community's [nation or country will is not appropriate in this case] mood.  

Footprints of The Great Souls

Tony Vinyo (Presented at The Annual Convention of the Bui Family Union in Chicago)

Lift a hand,share a smile
ride with the butterfly that
rocks the sky.
Tiny flap,invisible caress,
careless whispers that bear dissent.
It is,and will be,that the self
comes above the rest,
but another placed in good stead
keeps pace with values that bind.

Front Page News (Poetry)

Ewusi Kale

Over Seer is back in town
From his bacchanal en province francaise
Check out his new swag…..his shinny fore head
And BULGING SUIT!
I hear he’s been living high
Off communal cheese….
Hope he is alone…with his band
Of well fed-toads, when he farts;
Let them wallow in their stench.

Photo: The Musicians

Of Expensive Holidays And Uncommon Men

The confusion generated by revelations about the holiday transactions of Paul Biya in France and the manner of response of regime insiders only highlighted the sins of hubris, and undermined the decency the sovereign people deserve from their leaders.

By Tazoacha Asonganyi  (Originally Published on Prince report)