Happy reunification day !

On May 20, 1972, the Federal Republic of Cameroon became the United Republic of Cameroon. Following a referendum, the english speaking part and the francophone one unified in the same unitary State. 

As some express a slight inclination towards secessionism (fr), I highly recommend the reading of this post (fr) by Cameroonian blogger Jasemene Emene Mpacko: it reminds us that despite the difficulties that may sometimes face 200 "ethnic groups" in living together,

  The Cameroonian is a strength that ignores itself, a neglected potential, he/she cultivates futile divisions, but he/she is also a free spirit, a soul of warrior, a heart of gold.

Happy reunification day to all my sisters and brothers of the "Little Africa":-) !

Feowl: data journalism for better electricity supply in Douala

Two months ago my boyfriend desperately tried to make a call to Douala, Cameroon. He was panicked because he had an appointment with his cousin on Skype and couldn't reach him. I told him there was probably a power cut, and advised him to wait. He replied that he was worried. The lack of electricity had just killed 6 people in a bar where his cousin works in the popular area of Bepanda. What happened : electricity was cut, and the owner of the bar turned on his generator. A few minutes later, power was back, and this caused the high voltage that created the fatal fire.

I thought: "This fire could have been avoided if the owner of the bar had known there would be a power cut, and the time when electricity would be back." Fortunately, my boyfriend's cousin wasn't working that night. An ordinary story.

Power cuts are a scourge in Cameroon, like in many other African countries. It goes to the point that only 20 % of the population have access to electricity, according to estimations by local civil society organizations, while the country has the 2nd hydroelectric potential of the continent.

This clearly has consequences on the economic vitality of the country and the social development of the people.

That's where our project comes in. 

What can be measured can be changed


Feowl is a platform that aims to provide data on the issue of electricity supply in Douala, Cameroon's economic capital : it will federate and give voice to those who are deprived of an essential service, and bring to the company in charge of electricity supply data related to real users' needs.

But to be implemented, Feowl needs your support. The project is now competing at the Knight News Challenge. Here is what you can do to show Feowl some love :-)


Click on this link, you will find a more detailed presentation of the project. If you have a Tumblr Account, you will just have to click on the heart icon:

If you don't, you will have to scroll down until you find this:

Just click on the Like button.
In any case, you can still have a look at the beautiful infographics designed by ppfffff-design. Thanks for your support.

Why Cameroon Urgently Needs Open data

Recently I had to write an article, and needed to find a very specific piece of information: the budget dedicated in 2011 by the Cameroonian Government to anti-poaching policies. I thought it would take me 10 to 15 minutes maximum to find it on the web. I finally did, by pure chance, after three hours and a half of unsuccessful efforts. This is precisely one of those moments when I ask myself "When will the government of my country be touched by the holy spirit of open data?"

Wordle 4 Transparency Camp 2010 - From http://digiphile.wordpress.com

What is open data?

According to the Wikipedia definition, open data is a concept based on " the idea that certain data should be freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control." It is declined in various fields, but let's focus on governance. I strongly believe that every decision made, every action taken in the name of the people of a country should be freely and publicly available to that people. Data are the only tangible elements that the people has to judge, evaluate its satisfaction of the social contract signed with the government it elected to run the country for a defined period, i.e. hold its rulers accountable for their policies. The only limit to this assumption is national security, which should be strictly interpretated, in my opinion. When talking about open data in governance, one can directly relate it to the notion of transparency, which I believe is the key to political and economic development (fr) on the African continent.

The example of Intra African Trade

Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications in Kenya, makes in the following video the link between governance, open data and transparency. According to him, the continent could make 400 billion USD per year if it developped intra-trade. But such thing is not possible for the moment, because of a lack of public data in most African countries. Taking the example of maize, he explains:

"We need Africa to put their data out, so that we can eliminate the many middlemen that we have, [who] make the cost of maize impossible, and the trading within Africa impossible."

"There is no continent that needs Opendata more than Africa"




I completely share that vision. And this does not only apply to trade. In a world of transparency, Cameroonian citizens for example have the right to know the exact amount of revenues generated thanks to oil exploitation, or the exact budget invested by the Government to renovation of public hospitals (if such budget even exists), etc. So many questions we could answer thanks to data, thus so many problems we could solve.

Yes. But let's not put the cart before the horse: the concept of transparency needs real democracy to blossom. Whether Cameroon is a real democracy or not, that is another debate...

[VIDEO] Julie Owono interviewed by Vox Africa: What comes next for Cameroon?

On November 4, 2011 I was interviewed by Panafrican TV channel Vox Africa  on the challenges Cameroon will have to face during Paul Biya's 6th term. Here is my take on the necessity for the country to reorganise the political scene:

Cameroon: Diaspora Fail to Participate in Elections

Post originally Published on the Global Voices Online Special Coverage Page on Cameroon Election 2011. Also available in French.

Seven million Cameroonian voters were called to elect their next president on October 9, 2011. However, the question of the abstention seems to be the great winner of this ballot, in particular that of Cameroonians living abroad.

This year's election was significant for the reason that since August 8, 2011, [fr] Cameroonian citizens in the diaspora were allowed to vote for the first time.

Cameroonian Voters in Dakar.
Photo G. Esunge Fominyen on www.gefominyen.com (CC).

The Cameroonian population living abroad is estimated at between 2.5 million [fr] and 4 million people [fr]. According to an article published on allafrica.com [fr], this number varies because of administrative reasons:

Dans une récente interview, le Minitre des relations extérieures, Henri Eyebe Ayissi, expliquait que « d'une part, la carte consulaire du Cameroun ne couvre pas tous les pays d'émigration. D'autre part, même dans les pays pourvus de postes consulaires, la situation est très contrastée. D'une manière générale, nos compatriotes de la diaspora ne se font pas systématiquement enregistrer auprès des services consulaires. Outre une certaine indifférence, l'explication réside, soit dans l'ignorance de cette formalité, soit dans le fait que ceux qui se trouvent en situation irrégulière hésitent à sortir de l'anonymat.»

In a recent interview, the Minister of External Relations, Henri Eyebe Ayissi, explained that "on the one hand, the Cameroonian consulary card does not cover all countries of emigration. On the other hand, even in countries provided with consulates, the situation is very contrasted. Generally, our fellow citizens from the diaspora don't systematically register themselves with consulate services. In addition to a certain indifference, the explanation resides in the ignorance of such a  formality, or in the fact that those who live abroad in an irregular situations hesitate over renouncing their anonymity."

The decision to allow Cameroonians from the Diaspora to vote might be related to economic reasons. According to a 2011 World Bank report, Diaspora For Development in Africa, the potential savings of Cameroonian migrants within Cameroon is equivalent to 3.8 % of the GDP. Moreover, bank and other informal money transfers are estimated between 9 and 24 % of the GDP.
A financial manna perceived by every Cameroonians. Hotmongo ironically commented on this subject on Twitter :

La participation de la diaspora a l'économie c'est western union. LOL

The participation of the diaspora in the economy is Western Union. LOL

According to the Cameroonian Electoral Commission (ELECAM), 25,578 Cameroonians abroad registered on the voter list. At the time of the adoption of the voting decree, website Bonaberi.com [fr] published an article in which the author already doubted ELECAM's ability to register the estimated 2.5 million voters abroad :

Une opération dont on doute de sa réalisabilité, à deux mois de la date de l’élection présidentielle.

One can doubt of the feasibility of the operation, two months from the presidential election.

In fact, the presidential decree was signed on August, 8, 2011, and the deadline for voter registration was on August 31, 2011. Short delays added to a call from diaspora to boycott the election might have led to this result.

The CODE (an association gathering democratic and patriotic organisations of the Cameroonian diaspora - Collectif des Organisations Démocratiques et Patriotiques de la Diaspora Camerounaise) led the boycott movement. On its blog [fr], the organisation explains:

- [Nous] Réaffirmons notre farouche opposition à la mascarade électorale qui se déroule
actuellement au Cameroun et en diaspora ;
- Dénonçons par conséquent la poursuite d’un processus électoral mafieux, totalement
illégitime, et qui n’a pour but que de maintenir Paul Biya au pouvoir pour le grand
malheur du peuple camerounais.

- [We] reaffirm our staunch opposition to the electoral masquerade which is currently going on in Cameroon and in the diaspora;
- We therefore denounce the mafia electoral process as totally illigetimate, which only aims at maitaining Paul Biya in power for the great misfortune of the Cameroonian people.

In the following video posted on YouTube by Seumoprisma on October 8, members of the CODE in Belgium demonstrate to reminded Cameroonians in the diaspora that they must not vote on October 9 and instead call for Paul Biya to step down:

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kt6I5Zp_2zQ[/embed]

According to an article by the daily newspaper Le Jour, published on 237online [fr], among the 40,000 Cameroonians counted in France, only 900 went to vote. Paul Biya, the outgoing president, got 64.97% of the popular vote.

Ebot Tabi comments on Twitter:

If you look at the number registered and compared to the number of voters, you see that only the Biya people did vote