KUMBA NEWSPAPER REVIEW

NEWSPAPER REVIEW OF KUMBA TOWN

Kumba is undoubtedly one of the largest towns in Cameroon. Not surprisingly, when the government some years ago decided to upgrade towns that had grown larger into City Councils, Kumba was one of them. So from a town with a single Council, Kumba is today a     City Council (Communauté Urbaine) with three Councils: Kumba I Council, Kumba II Council and Kumba III Council.

Like is with the case in other parts of the country, each Council Area is also a Sub Division, which means that today, the City of Kumba has three Sub Divisions: Kumba I Sub Division, Kumba II Sub Division and Kumba III Sub Division. In the South West Region, when the administrative transformation took place, two constituencies benefited from that expansion. The other one was Limbe which is today also a City Council with three Councils and three Sub Divisions.

Unfortunately, although Buea is the regional headquarters, while Kumba and Limbe are Divisional headquarters, Buea was made to remain a single Council area with a single Sub Division. Some observers say it is because Buea has “refused to grow”, which is paradoxical, considering the historical role it has played in the country`s life, right from the German days.

My visit to Kumba took place shortly before the the municipal and legislative elections of 30 September 2013. So while I was there, there was serious election fever in the air.

Kumba is a place with a difference because the very configuration it has, makes it an automatic centre of attraction for business, tourism, education, culture, custom and tradition.

Buoyed by that multi-facetted attraction, I took a look at the prevalence of media work during my trip. However, for reasons of convenience, I limited my work to only the newspapers, thus putting the other media organs out of the scope.

Basically, there are two newspapers produced in Kumba. However, papers from other parts of the country are also available, mainly at sales points where people gather and read the headlines, standing. French language papers are also available on the stands. Kumba has a significant number of Cameroonians of French expression many of whom work in the Divisional or Sub Divisional offices of the public service or other services, or even as businessmen.

One of the two newspapers is `The Detective` whose motto is “Research, Investigation, and Analysis”. Its founder/editor is Ndengu Francis Epie. The paper is located near the Ngassa Supermarket. The other publication is `The Scoop Today`. Its Publisher and Managing Editor is Larry Esong and its motto, “Investigative Convergence for Development”. It can be found along Commonwealth Avenue. I picked up a random copy of each of the two for this review. Both happened to have come out in the same week.

`The Detective` carries a front page story on a Kumba industrialist, Teba Nso, whom the paper says is “embroiled” in a dispute with Buea interim Mayor, Ekema Patrick, over a matter of “trespassing and destruction”.

The paper`s main news story is entitled “Turbulent Tombel: Elung Paul Che assigned to manage CPDM`s bad case”. The article reports claims by the CPDM envoy that the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for Meme, along with an elite Eseme Ndille and two Chiefs are working for the politician Rose Ngassa – outgoing mayor for Tombel and a candidate for the same post.

`The Scoop Today`, leads on the front page with a story entitled, “Municipal and legislative elections: Bloodshed as CPDM and SDF militants clash”. The account continues on page nine and precises that the bloodshed took place in Nkambe, headquarters of Donga and Mantung Division of the North West Region, as members from both parties fought each other.

`The Detective` carries a total of eleven stories on the front page. These include party campaign news, tidbits from PAMOL, health matters, activities of the National Gendarmerie and of BIR as well as the latest about the Cooperative movement in Kumba.

`The Scoop` runs a total of seven stories on its front page. These include news about the incarcerated Former Basic Education Minister Haman Adama. Also included is an item about a protesting state worker who died – and just like we found in `The Detective` - coverage of the reported bloodshed in Donga and Mantung Division. The rest of the `Scoop`s cover stories are about the election campaign.

By and large, both newspapers are rich packages which one would be tempted to read and keep reading for a long time.

FOOTNOTE

This story was first broadcast on FOUNDATION RADIO, `The Voice of the Voiceless`, FM 100, Mile 6, Ngomgham-Mankon, Bamenda, on the 24th of September 2013. The Radio is part of The Fomunyoh Foundation (TFF) whose CEO is Dr. Chris Fomunyoh.