The high cost of living in Bonapriso obliges the residents in the neighbouring areas to go the extra mile to live.
“Where do you live”? “In Bonapriso?”. Once this sort of questions shroud the conversation of two people in Douala, the immediate impression one of them gets is that the other party is a wealthy person because Bonapriso is know as a neighbourhood for the rich.
The houses in the area and the general cost of living makes anyone believe that it is a neighbourhood for the rich. If somebody leaves in the area then he is considered to be very wealthy, firstly because of the cost of an apartment in Bonapriso. An apartment which may just be a room and the living room in Bonapriso may cost 55,000FCFA per month.
Apart from this, it is a clean neighbourhood in a sprawling city with its inhabitants who are mostly ambassadors and other diplomats. It has very good and beautiful buildings. Very close to Bonapriso lies Ngangue, a small neighbourhood which stands between Bonapriso and
Newbell, a notorious neighbourhood in Douala. Ngangue maybe small in area, but it is generally clean, even though it has some swampy areas which cause some parts of the area to suffer from floods during the rainy season.
Most workers prefer to live in Ngangue because it is a peaceful environment. It also has some beautiful apartments which are covered by the imposing structures in Bonapriso. Furthermore, the rents of the apartments are affordable. Apart from the workers who go out every morning, the rest of the inhabitants struggle to meet up with the standards of the people in Bonapriso, reason why at night young girls dress up like prostitutes parade along the streets.
Prostitution is high, like in Akwa and Carrefour jai raté ma vie. In this manner, some prostitutes raise money to be able to live up to standards. Some men sit along the buildings as though they had nothing to do. Most of them end up in game shops, bars. Before now, it was noted to inhabit thieves, but security has stepped up in the area. Young children do not go to school, they just lazy-about. They want to meet up because the cost of living in Bonapriso is high and they need more money.
EFFATAMBENKONGHO
mercredi 26 décembre 2007
Christmas is here again
Preparations intensify in Douala as December 25th draws near.
Every year the entire universe observes December 25, Christians Day, the day Christians believe Jesus Christ was born. This month happens to be the last in the year. As such, many people end the year in feasting. This brings in many changes in towns and most especially in shops. As early as November shops start changing their looks, Managers start putting aside old goods or “out of season goods” replacing them with flowers, toys, cloths, parcelling papers, etc. The towns start taking a different look too.
In Douala, there are preparations for end-of-year celebrations for children in their schools, the towns get lighted with twinkling Christmas lights, public gardens get lighted and the trees decorated. As 25th December draws nearer, preparations hot up. Parents get into the market to buy the variety of toys of different categories, material, shapes, sizes and colour which are strewn all over the place. Parents buy Christmas trees to decorate their homes, flowers to beautify the Christmas tree and the home. Preparations do not only imply decorations, clothes and toys but food as well.
It is also considered a period the family comes together to share a common meal. The common food stuff in the markets during this period is rice, chicken, pork. These are now common in all markets in Douala.
Christmas preparation in Douala is not different from that of other towns But Douala has its peculiarities. At marché de fleur, flowers, both fresh and artificial are sold. This is a centre where flowers grown in Cameroon are sold. Most of the flowers come from the South West, Njombe-Penja and the Centre Province. But here one can also find artificial flowers. In the town there are other supermarkets which sell imported flowers both natural and artificial. Here they do bouquets of a mixture of both natural and artificial flowers.
There are special flowers sold only during Christmas. They are imported only in this season as well as there are people who buy flowers in their homes just during the season. This they believe is a period of peace and love and flowers reflect that.
Talking about food, the people of Douala are specialists in preparing miondo and ndole. In times like these the women who prepare miondo do make their profits because they receive orders for a large quantity, may be for home consumption or some celebrations. People in Douala care little about rice and chicken sauce, but their principal meals are miondo and ndole as well as egusi pudding and miondo. These are the meals a Douala man will fill honoured to offer his guests at Christmas.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO
Every year the entire universe observes December 25, Christians Day, the day Christians believe Jesus Christ was born. This month happens to be the last in the year. As such, many people end the year in feasting. This brings in many changes in towns and most especially in shops. As early as November shops start changing their looks, Managers start putting aside old goods or “out of season goods” replacing them with flowers, toys, cloths, parcelling papers, etc. The towns start taking a different look too.
In Douala, there are preparations for end-of-year celebrations for children in their schools, the towns get lighted with twinkling Christmas lights, public gardens get lighted and the trees decorated. As 25th December draws nearer, preparations hot up. Parents get into the market to buy the variety of toys of different categories, material, shapes, sizes and colour which are strewn all over the place. Parents buy Christmas trees to decorate their homes, flowers to beautify the Christmas tree and the home. Preparations do not only imply decorations, clothes and toys but food as well.
It is also considered a period the family comes together to share a common meal. The common food stuff in the markets during this period is rice, chicken, pork. These are now common in all markets in Douala.
Christmas preparation in Douala is not different from that of other towns But Douala has its peculiarities. At marché de fleur, flowers, both fresh and artificial are sold. This is a centre where flowers grown in Cameroon are sold. Most of the flowers come from the South West, Njombe-Penja and the Centre Province. But here one can also find artificial flowers. In the town there are other supermarkets which sell imported flowers both natural and artificial. Here they do bouquets of a mixture of both natural and artificial flowers.
There are special flowers sold only during Christmas. They are imported only in this season as well as there are people who buy flowers in their homes just during the season. This they believe is a period of peace and love and flowers reflect that.
Talking about food, the people of Douala are specialists in preparing miondo and ndole. In times like these the women who prepare miondo do make their profits because they receive orders for a large quantity, may be for home consumption or some celebrations. People in Douala care little about rice and chicken sauce, but their principal meals are miondo and ndole as well as egusi pudding and miondo. These are the meals a Douala man will fill honoured to offer his guests at Christmas.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO
Journalists Challenged to Champion APRM Course
The various speakers saw the journalists as actors to better disseminate information on APRM
Journalists from West African Countries present in Accra, Ghana for a three day workshop on Reporting Africa in a Global Context have been called upon to champion the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM course. The speakers, who were members of the National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council in Ghana and Reuters Foundation, stressed the importance of the APRM in Africa and they saw the journalists as the best actors to disseminate the information.
Dr. Francis Appiah, Executive Secretary, Ghana’s APRM Governing Council giving a talk on an Overview and Challenges faced by APRM stated the need for the APRM in Africa. He said is because of a need for a bridge between Government and the Civil Society for development dialogue. Dr. Appiah said the APRM is a people centred process and the assessment of the country for the people and by the people using the four pillars of the APRM which are Democracy and Good Political Governance, Economic Governance & Management, Corporate Governance and Socio-Economic Development as guidelines. He said there have been misconceptions by some African leaders that the program is imposed by the western countries, but it is unique, he said, African designed and led by Africans. Adding that the process is voluntary and no government is forced into it.
Prof S.K.B Asante talking on Regional Integration and Economic Blocks and the role of NEPAD and APRM, he saw the need for African leaders to get together and develop themselves economically. He said Africa had poor infrastructure which couldn’t link them, reasons why the president of Libya saw the need in 1999 for African becoming one, having a common economy, bring about production to meet challenges, stimulate regional trade, etc. Prof Asante said it is disheartening that Africans trade just 11 percent among themselves but more with their colonial masters. Participants also explained how government in their countries places economic blocks through high taxes on goods coming from another African country than those from the Western Countries. He said the more they trade out of their region the more dependent they become.
On Reporting Africa, by the Reuters Foundation facilitator, Nicholas Kotch, he called on Journalists to write accurate reports. He said it is not about singing government’s song and the reports he said must not only be negative but adventurous.
Sam Cudjoe talking on Corporate Governance in Africa said it is the way corporations are directed, monitored and supervised. He said government has to promote an enabling environment and regulatory framework for business, good business ethics and accountability of Corporations with the critical players being directors and officers.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO
Journalists from West African Countries present in Accra, Ghana for a three day workshop on Reporting Africa in a Global Context have been called upon to champion the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM course. The speakers, who were members of the National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council in Ghana and Reuters Foundation, stressed the importance of the APRM in Africa and they saw the journalists as the best actors to disseminate the information.
Dr. Francis Appiah, Executive Secretary, Ghana’s APRM Governing Council giving a talk on an Overview and Challenges faced by APRM stated the need for the APRM in Africa. He said is because of a need for a bridge between Government and the Civil Society for development dialogue. Dr. Appiah said the APRM is a people centred process and the assessment of the country for the people and by the people using the four pillars of the APRM which are Democracy and Good Political Governance, Economic Governance & Management, Corporate Governance and Socio-Economic Development as guidelines. He said there have been misconceptions by some African leaders that the program is imposed by the western countries, but it is unique, he said, African designed and led by Africans. Adding that the process is voluntary and no government is forced into it.
Prof S.K.B Asante talking on Regional Integration and Economic Blocks and the role of NEPAD and APRM, he saw the need for African leaders to get together and develop themselves economically. He said Africa had poor infrastructure which couldn’t link them, reasons why the president of Libya saw the need in 1999 for African becoming one, having a common economy, bring about production to meet challenges, stimulate regional trade, etc. Prof Asante said it is disheartening that Africans trade just 11 percent among themselves but more with their colonial masters. Participants also explained how government in their countries places economic blocks through high taxes on goods coming from another African country than those from the Western Countries. He said the more they trade out of their region the more dependent they become.
On Reporting Africa, by the Reuters Foundation facilitator, Nicholas Kotch, he called on Journalists to write accurate reports. He said it is not about singing government’s song and the reports he said must not only be negative but adventurous.
Sam Cudjoe talking on Corporate Governance in Africa said it is the way corporations are directed, monitored and supervised. He said government has to promote an enabling environment and regulatory framework for business, good business ethics and accountability of Corporations with the critical players being directors and officers.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO
West African Journalist trained on Reporting APRM/NEPAD
They were trained in a three-day workshop which took place in Accra, Ghana.
About some 15 journalists from Anglophone West African countries have received training on the Africa Peer Review Mechanism, APRM, which is an initiative of New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD for African Countries to do a comprehensive national self assessment exercise. The three-day workshop took place in the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, in Accra, Ghana.
In a welcome address by Rev.Prof. S.K Adejepong, Chairman of the National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council, NAPRM-GC, he said the role of the media in this process is critical, because without the media, he said it will be difficult to achieve the objective of domesticating APRM. He said in Ghana they have decided to domesticate APRM making it part and parcel of their governance, culture and infrastructure. Rev Ajedepong added that they have been able to execute their mandate with the help of partners, key among them being the Mass media, who he said have in many instances made their channels available for the information and education of the Ghanaian population about the APRM and governance in general.
According to the chairman, the workshop with the theme ‘Reporting Africa in a Global context’ has a programme content that seeks to provide participants with enhanced reporting skills, in-depth analysis and presentation of the APRM/NEPAD and governance issues in a more reader and audience-friendly format and increase among APRM/NEPAD secretariats and other governance news sources, the need to collaborate with journalists in accessing information. He believed if this objective is achieved, it will go a long way to contribute significantly to the realization of the NEPAD and APRM goals informed by the need for good governance on the
African continent. Other speeches and remarks came from the representative of NEPAD, Kenya, Jerry Okungu, Reuters Foundation, Nicholas Kotch, among others. The workshop was opened by the Ghana’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Hon.Mrs.Oboshie Sai Cofie.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO in Accra, Ghana
About some 15 journalists from Anglophone West African countries have received training on the Africa Peer Review Mechanism, APRM, which is an initiative of New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD for African Countries to do a comprehensive national self assessment exercise. The three-day workshop took place in the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, in Accra, Ghana.
In a welcome address by Rev.Prof. S.K Adejepong, Chairman of the National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council, NAPRM-GC, he said the role of the media in this process is critical, because without the media, he said it will be difficult to achieve the objective of domesticating APRM. He said in Ghana they have decided to domesticate APRM making it part and parcel of their governance, culture and infrastructure. Rev Ajedepong added that they have been able to execute their mandate with the help of partners, key among them being the Mass media, who he said have in many instances made their channels available for the information and education of the Ghanaian population about the APRM and governance in general.
According to the chairman, the workshop with the theme ‘Reporting Africa in a Global context’ has a programme content that seeks to provide participants with enhanced reporting skills, in-depth analysis and presentation of the APRM/NEPAD and governance issues in a more reader and audience-friendly format and increase among APRM/NEPAD secretariats and other governance news sources, the need to collaborate with journalists in accessing information. He believed if this objective is achieved, it will go a long way to contribute significantly to the realization of the NEPAD and APRM goals informed by the need for good governance on the
African continent. Other speeches and remarks came from the representative of NEPAD, Kenya, Jerry Okungu, Reuters Foundation, Nicholas Kotch, among others. The workshop was opened by the Ghana’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Hon.Mrs.Oboshie Sai Cofie.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO in Accra, Ghana
Training on better Environmental preservation
A three-day seminar has taken place in Douala organised by the International Organisation for the Protection of the Environment in Central Africa, Enviro-Protect. The seminar with the theme: Environmental Norms Applicable in Cameroon took place at Bano palace in Akwa, Douala. During the seminar organisers stressed that in every sector environmental norms are involved and if company operators can respect these norms it will go a long way to reduce the risk of environment degradation. According to the seminar organisers the preoccupation of the environment is insubstantial and many times in some areas environmental norms are not understood and so they are not respected. The specific objective of the seminar is to train participants on the methodology to elaborate the environmental norms, understand the relevance of the norms and to learn the regulation of the environmental norms applicable in Cameroon. During the seminar issues were handled on environmental management, norms of products and environmental norms, norms of soil and water management.
Talking to the president of Enviro-Protect, Dr Tiani Kéou François outlined some of the norms, which included norms of pollution, management of corporations, natural resources. He stated three categories of norms, environmental, economic and social norms.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO
Talking to the president of Enviro-Protect, Dr Tiani Kéou François outlined some of the norms, which included norms of pollution, management of corporations, natural resources. He stated three categories of norms, environmental, economic and social norms.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO
Muslim Pilgrims Frustrated at the Airport
They have been waiting for the aircraft since Saturday December 1.
For about three days now Muslims going on a pilgrimage to Mecca to visit the tomb of the Muslim messiah Prophet Mohamed, have been left abandoned at the Douala International Airport. The pilgrims who boarded the airline, CAMAIR were supposed to have travelled on Saturday night, December 1. Unfortunately, when they had already checked in and were at the boarding gate, the aircraft was said to have developed a fault in Garoua and could not fly that night. The passengers were abandoned at the boarding gate for hours without any information from the CAMAIR officials on what was going on. According to one of the pilgrims the fact that they were left at the boarding gate made them feel as though they were in prison in their own country. They got angry when the police tried to stop them from leaving the boarding gate they had to force their way out of the boarding gate.
It was later explained that another aircraft has been put in place for the pilgrims to travel but it was later explained that the second aircraft had also develop a fault.The pilgrims have expressed disappointment and they are very disgruntled because they were left with nothing to eat or even water to drink. The Muslims are supposed to be in Mecca by Thursday December 6. By press time, they had just received a promise from the CAMAIR officials that they will do all for them to travel by 6:00pm on Monday, December 3.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO
For about three days now Muslims going on a pilgrimage to Mecca to visit the tomb of the Muslim messiah Prophet Mohamed, have been left abandoned at the Douala International Airport. The pilgrims who boarded the airline, CAMAIR were supposed to have travelled on Saturday night, December 1. Unfortunately, when they had already checked in and were at the boarding gate, the aircraft was said to have developed a fault in Garoua and could not fly that night. The passengers were abandoned at the boarding gate for hours without any information from the CAMAIR officials on what was going on. According to one of the pilgrims the fact that they were left at the boarding gate made them feel as though they were in prison in their own country. They got angry when the police tried to stop them from leaving the boarding gate they had to force their way out of the boarding gate.
It was later explained that another aircraft has been put in place for the pilgrims to travel but it was later explained that the second aircraft had also develop a fault.The pilgrims have expressed disappointment and they are very disgruntled because they were left with nothing to eat or even water to drink. The Muslims are supposed to be in Mecca by Thursday December 6. By press time, they had just received a promise from the CAMAIR officials that they will do all for them to travel by 6:00pm on Monday, December 3.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO
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