Muna Tutu, Hoza discuss US-CMR cultural relations

Cameroon’s controversial Arts and Culture Minister Ama Tutu Muna and the United States Ambassador to Cameroon met this week to solidify US-Cameroon cultural relations.

Hoza commended the Culture Minister for her leadership and partnership with the US in cultural preservation programs such as the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).

The US diplomat sought Tutu Muna’s counsel in moving forward a current AFCP project to restore an 18th century slave port in Bimbia, South West region of Cameroon.

“The United States places a priority on our partnership with Cameroonians and enhancing the capacity of local communities through the AFCP to cherish, protect, and preserve their own cultural heritage sites,” Hoza stated.

Their meeting came at a time the U.S. is sponsoring $61,400 (FCFA 30 million) in funding for a cultural preservation project to preserve the architectural heritage of The Achum House at the Bafut Palace.

Funded through the Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation, the program, like others before it, demonstrates United States’ respect for Cameroon’s unique national heritage treasures.”

On a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé recently, His Majesty the Fon of Bafut Abumbi II expressed his gratitude and appreciation towards the United States for the $61,400 grant to conserve the early 20th-Century Achum House in the Bafut Palace.

“Your support came at the perfect time. We are grateful for this partnership and would like to dedicate a section of our Bafut museum to highlight U.S. support of our efforts. When future generations visit, they will not only learn about the history of the Bafut culture, but also of those who helped to preserve it,” the Fon stated.

Since its inception in 2001, the Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation has supported more than 640 projects to preserve cultural heritage in 100 countries. In Cameroon, the Fund has contributed more than $140,000 since 2005 to preserve three cultural sites.