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Cameroon opens museum dedicated to oldest, influential kingdoms

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The Cameroonian government has inaugurated a historical museum which is dedicated to honouring its oldest and most influential kingdoms.

Known as the Royal Bomaun Kings Museum, it was inaugurated on Saturday, April 13, in Foumban, the Bauman Kingdom’s traditional capital, located in the western part of the country.

The edifice which is next to the royal palace of the Bamouns, has been described as an architectural masterpiece, pays homage to the emblem of the Bamoun – a double-headed snake, a spider, and a double-mounted gong, and houses over 10,000 historical artefacts most of whom are century-old objets d’art.

It was inaugurated by King Nabil Mbombo Njoya, the 20th ruler of the Bamouns, alongside Culture Minister, Pierre Ismaël Bidoung Mkpatt.

Foremost Cameroonian historian and anthropologist, Professor Francois Bingono Bingono, who was among the visitors at the opening of the museum, spoke glowingly of the project.

“I was privileged to visit the museum. I can tell you that it is not only the culture of western Cameroon, the culture of the Bamouns that is celebrated inside those walls.

“I recognized the culture of the forest, meaning the culture of the inhabitants of southern Cameroon, a heavily forested region.

“I also recognized the cultures of the regions of East, Centre and South Cameroon. One can also come across the cultural heritage of Loum, of the Hauts-Plateaux department, and that of northern Cameroon.

“This museum is the ideal place for those who wish to go back to their roots or take a deep dive into the culture heritage of Cameroon.

“You can see valuable items inside such as thrones and chairs used by the King. Really anything that has to do with the Bamoun dynasty from the first rulers to the current monarch.

“This is patrimony that is handed down to future generations. For the Bamouns, it represents an achievement and a celebration of their culture. For Cameroonians at large, it is part of their history.”

The Bamoun Kingdom is one of the oldest in sub-saharan Africa with historians dating its creation to the late XIVth century.

Culture

Legendary American music icon Stevie Wonder becomes full Ghanaian citizen

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Legendary American singer and songwriter, Stevie Wonder, is now officially a Ghanaian citizen after he took an oath of allegiance administered by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Wonder who was granted citizenship of the West African country on Monday which marked his 74th birthday, is one among a number of American celebrities who have decided to trace their family roots back to Africa.

While granting the icon the country’s citizenship with a certificate at a ceremony in the presidential palace, Akufo-Addo said it was a big honour to the country and Africa that such greats were coming back to the black continent.

He was also presented with a birthday cake with a Ghanaian flag iced on top.

After the ceremony, Wonder told the BBC that gaining Ghanaian nationality on his birthday was an “amazing thing” moment for him and his family.

The superstar was born and bred in the US state of Michigan but has long had an affinity for Ghana.

As far back as 1975, Wonder had openly expressed a desire to quit music and move to Ghana, a country he believed his ancestral lineage could be traced there while in the 1990s, he made frequent trips to the country as well as headlining a Ghanaian music festival where he again expressed a desire to set up a home there.

Wonder had, in an interview, confessed that his love affair with Ghana was ignited by the people he met whilst there including the late Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings, who in the 1990s hosted him at the presidential residence.

“I remember the late President Rawlings, who allowed me to be a co-pilot on a flight,” Wonder had said.

“I was able to fly with him from one end of Ghana to the other end. The north to the south, and it was amazing.”

Aside Stevie Wonder, other American-African celebrities who took up Ghanaian citizenship included writer, W E B Du Bois, who moved to Ghana and was buried there in 1963, while Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali all paid high-profile visits to the country to reconnect with their African roots.g

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Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie fires shots at Davido, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Asake in new single ‘Brag’

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Ghanaian rapper, Michael Owusu Addo, popularly known as Sarkodie, has sparked a new round of storm after he fired shots at Nigerian Afrobeats singers, Davido, Wizkid, Burna Boy and Asake in his new single, “Brag.”

In the single which dropped on Friday, May 10, Sarkodie boasted about his 2016 sell-out performance at the O2 Arena, claiming he paved the way for the Nigerian acts.

The Ghanaian rapper said he laid the light for Nigerian Afrobeats top artistes and as such, they should be grateful to him and his pioneering role in projecting their careers.

The “Painkiller” hitmaker boasted about selling out the O2 in 2016, long before the Nigerian stars and created the platform they are now enjoying.

He went on to place himself in the same league as Grammy Award-winning Burna Boy and Ghanaian rapper, Black Sherif.

Sarkodie also stated that his main competitors in the music industry were American rappers Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, noting that he wasn’t on the same level as African rappers.

A line from the song goes:

“Wizkid came, I was already doing it, Davido started, I was improving it, then Odogwu came through Black Sherif & Asake.”

The release of “Brag” has however, elicited controversy and heated debates within the African music community, with fans weighing in on Sarkodie’s bold assertions and the perceived rivalry between him and the mentioned Nigerian artists.

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