L'Expression de Mamy-Wata

L'Expression de Mamy-Wata, often referred to as simply Mamy-Wata, is a weekly satirical newspaper published in Cameroon by the media company La Nouvelle Expression.^[1] The paper is written in French peppered with loan words from Cameroonian Pidgin English.^[2] In 1999, it had a weekly circulation of 4,000 copies.^[1] On 4 January 1999, Cameroonian police confiscated from 2,000 to 2,500 copies of Mamy-Wata in Douala.^[3] La Nouvelle Expression reported that the papers were taken in response to a cartoon in the 29 December issue that depicted Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, in a spat with his wife.^[1] Reports differ on whether the police ever provided an offiical justification for the seizure; the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that none was provided, but the International Press Institute reported that authorities claimed the newspapers were a "breach of public order". Scholar George Echu has claimed that the incident added Mamy-Wata to "the pantheon of Africa's satricial heavyweights."^[4]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} CPJ.
2. ^ Echu 5.
3. ^ IPI says 2,000, but CPJ says 2,500.
4. ^ Eko 135.

References

• "Africa 1999: Cameroon". Committee to Protect Journalists. Accessed 13 December 2007.
• "Cameroon", World Press Freedom Review: 1999. International Press Institute. Accessed 13 December 2007.
• Echu, George (2003): "Influence of Cameroon Pidgin English on the Linguistic and Cultural Development of the French Language", Indiana University Linguistics Club Working Papers.
• Eko, Lyombe (2003). "Hear All Evil, See All Evil, Rail against All Evil: Le Messager and the Journalism of Resistance in Cameroon", The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon under Paul Biya. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, Inc. ISBN 1592211798.