Lapiro Honoured at Cameroon Music Awards

Written by George E. Fominyen

Monday, 12 April 2010 09:06

YAOUNDE—Organisers of the Cameroon music and cultural awards, CANAL D'Or, have honoured jailed singer Lambo Sandjo Pierre Roger aka Lapiro de Mbanga with a a Life time Achievement Award.

The special tribute presented to his wife Louisette Lambo Sandjo on Friday is in recognition of the artiste's work, especially his engaging lyrics on the social, political and economic situation of his countrymen, often delivered in the "mboko" variant of the country's lingua franca, Pidgin-English.

"I dedicate this award to my husband and to all who are with him in cell number 18," the emotional Louisette told the audience made up of politicians, senior civil servants, top class businessmen, musicians, comedians and journalists.

Lapiro de Mbanga was arrested in April 2008 after the violent riots that rocked Cameroon in protest of high prices of basic commodities and popular discontent over a change in the country's constitution to drop the restriction of Presidential terms.

He was convicted in September 2008 to three years imprisonment for looting, unlawful gathering and blocking the public highway at Mbanga, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Douala, the economic capital and one of several towns swept by riots that claimed more than 40 lives according to the official toll.

"It is hard to hand-over such a prize to someone who is not free but it is a sign of recognition," said Rabier Bindzi, one of the directors of the private television channel, Canal 2 International,which organises the awards.

The wife of the musician who was a candidate for the opposition SDF party during the 2007 Council elections said the tribute would be a sign of encouragement for Lapiro and his family. "I will not cry," she said. "If I do it would be tears of happiness and not of sadness,".

EKAMBI AND WES ALSO RECOGNISED

But Lapiro was not the only musician who was recognised at the occasion. Ekambi Brillant, one of Cameroon's foremost stars to have migrated to Europe and the U.S. in the 1970s, was also presented with a Life-time Achievement Award.

"Many years ago when I got to the U.S. and watched the Grammy Awards on TV, I asked myself when that shall ever happen in my country...It is here today and am happy to see it," the entertainer said before enthralling the audience with a rendition of his famous tune "Moussoloki".

A more contemporary Cameroonian star, Wes Madico, who has sold over 4 million records across the world, could not sing on the first night of the two-part event which held on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 April at two separate locations in Douala. This didn't go down well among some of the guests in the back-rows who nearly became rowdy. But he made up on the second night.

If the spectators at both events seemed to have been having the evening of the year, the viewers may have other impressions.

TO BE IMPROVED

The lighting on the night of the event proper was so poor, the presenters and guests constantly looked like shadows. The decoration of the hall included what was described by a friend as a "white-bed sheet" as back-drop which made it hard for good colour mixes. The sheet was actually there to serve as a screen for the projection of videos of the nominees. But that must be checked in the future.

The presenters were rather verbose, and contributed their quota to the length of the event which lasted from 5p.m. to 3a.m. Cameroon time on day 1 and somewhere after 1a.m. on day 2 (or the after party). Don't ask me why a single awards show had to last 2 days and 2 nights!

Nonetheless, the event which is in its sixth year is clearly THE music and cultural awards event in Cameroon. The Cameroon Ministry of Culture seems to have recognised this by contributing about 10 million FCFA in cash prizes for the winners.