Song dedicated to Mama Chantou causes a stir

A song for Chantal Biya is recently been aired before the 1: 00pm news on CRTV Radio. This song praising the charitable works of the Cameroonian first lady is particularly aired before mid-day news. A gospel group express their gratitude to the first lady of Cameroon, whose efforts of assistance to citizens in difficulty have helped many in the country.

The lyrics of the song are in French, English and Beti languages (including ' Akiba' which means thank you). In recent weeks, this song has been played on air daily, prior to 1:00 pm news.


The song in honor of Chantal Biya is not a new generic, but its recurrence and distribution could raise questions. In the reign of Gervais Mendo Ze, the song 'Esae Mbamba" (good work) was not broadcasted around the news prime time. Georges Seba had composed in the middle of the 1980s a song "renewal is given to us. And this in turn was remixed into an instrumental version for the news editions.

The debate on the relevance of these supposedly patriotic songs has already begun in Cameroon, where many intellectuals have condemned this practice. Journalist Scott Onohiolo, with the daily Le Messager opened a forum a year ago to welcome thought on 'the jingle for the 1 p.m. news of the national post. It was asserted that this should be changed. "We are no longer at the time of the National Union of Cameroon (UNC)". When questioned, Crtv officials were on the defensive.