New minister should stop our marginalization - Anglophone Musicians

Popular Anglophone artist and national president of the Cameroon Association of Female and Male Musicians of Integrity, ACAFEHMI, Adeline Mbenkum says artists from the North West and South West are looking up to the new minister of culture, Narcisse Kombi Mouelle to bring equality in the treatment of artists in Cameroon, particularly in the annual sharing of money representing royalties for copyrights.

Speaking to The Cameroon Journal in Yaounde, Saturday October 10, Mbenkum disclosed that they are hoping that the much anticipated change had come to the arts and culture ministry.

She revealed that among the recent 1,200 musicians who received copyrights money from the arts and culture ministry, almost all Anglophones were paid one hundred thousand francs each while many “francophone artists walked away with as much as 1.8million FCFA.” She said the situation was similar last year, and that it would appear there is no clear-cut specification as regards the categorization of artists.

Mbenkum said she does not understand how musicians with her longevity in the profession could be classified under category four or five. “I think it is a deliberate attempt to spite Anglophones. Prince Yerima Afo-akom was part of the team that drew up the least for the allocation of money to musicians, but we later gathered that the committee is just make believe as the decisions as to who is paid what, are made in higher quarters.”

Brice Eyang, a renowned guitarist who owns a music band, corroborated Mbenkum’s claims. “Before I became a police officer some 17 years ago, I knew Mbenkum and the Tribute Sisters. To this day she is still active in the music industry. I don’t know how it happened that she is at the bottom of the classification while some children who just came in are in higher categories.”

He equally told The Journal, “I am Francophone, the lead singer in my band is an Anglophone lady and one of my guitarists is from the northern region. My band can be looked upon as Cameroon in miniature and that is because I don’t judge people based on region of origin, rather I look at the competence and put them where they deserve.”

To Takam II, the injustices in the distribution of copyright money at the arts and culture ministry under Ama Muna is more of a clan issue. Lamenting almost in tears, he said “It depends on who knows who and not who deserves what. I can proudly say I have been the voice of the West region folklore music for decades. We have other big artists from the region like Talla Andre Marie, but they do not do traditional music. Yet I am at the bottom of the classifications.”

Commenting on the sacking of Ama Tutu Muna, Mbenkum said it was well-timed. “We saw the degree of insubordination to the personality of the prime minister, head of government acting on the instructions of the head of state… This change restored the authority of the state,” Mbenkum maintained.

According to the ACAFEHMI president, artists were already really confused under Ama Tutu Muna as minister of arts and culture. “Artists didn’t know where to go, they didn’t know who to believe, they didn’t know what to look up to, and they didn’t know where the truth was any longer. As such, this change was very timely not because someone was sent off but because it gave the opportunity to solve the problems that are pending in the author’s rights sector,” Mbenkum said.almanach diaspo copie

Asked if the crisis that has been rocking the management of author’s rights is not caused by artists themselves, Mbenkum noted that officials have always manipulated artists whom they think are not conscious. “Henceforth, it is going to be difficult for anyone to manipulate artists in order to get their money because associations like ACAFEHMI have been sensitizing them,” she vowed.

Like Mbenkum, Takam II, Brice Eyang and Papillion hold that the appointment of a new arts and culture minister was a welcome gesture by the head of state. They stated that Muna’s sacking is going to pave the way for new developments in the music sector.

Takam II and Papillion went further to state that the former minister’s accounts at the ministry should be thoroughly scrutinized. They expressed hope that the new minister is going to stop the cacophony which reigned during Ama Muna’s tenure in office. They look forward to the proper reclassification of artists.

While some artists see Ama Muna’s firing as a welcome relief, another group however, is giving the impression that the sacked minister had achieved a lot. The group, about 200 of them celebrated at Ama Muna’s residence last Monday after she handed over.

When The Journal attempted to get to Ama Muna through a close aide over the weekend, the aide said the she was not willing to make any public statement.