It is sad that we find ourselves at a point where there are just a few trusted media sources in our country. Even registered and licensed media houses have joined the band wagon in search of buzz; leaving to rot all the ethics required of media outlets. Misinformation is the order of the day and there is a silent agreement between the informers and the informed that news does not need to be verified since all has become just ‘entertainment.’
A supposed 22 year old lady who started business at age 16 and is now a millionaire or billionaire depending on which blog or TV station you hear it from has been the talk of the country for about a month now. She made her influencer debut when she allegedly bought Ko-c’s album for a million francs during his album release press conference; money being the greatest influencer of them all.
She followed up that gesture with other monetary donations and in less than no time, she became a sensation in Cameroon. A few days ago, she gave an incoherent interview to Vision4 which more than 15,000 Cameroonians tuned in to watch online. To open the interview, Vision4 did an unconvincing report on her business activities which she claims are the source of her wealth.
She owns a couple of cosmetic distribution stores and a school. When I watched, I hoped the interviewer will ask more questions about the school but he himself did not seem to want answers, he was rather gunning for some viral moments. The said school includes a four story building facility which definitely costs in the hundreds of millions. According to this lady, she built her fortune by adding 1000 frs on products she will buy from other vendors and resell. It is hard to imagine how in six years, that will lead to the amount of money needed to build such a property.
The lady made no mention of fund raising or bank loans to support her project. She claimed all her wealth is from selling random products she will buy and markup by a little. Let’s not forget that the cosmetics industry is one of the most saturated in Cameroon (It seems like almost every light skinned girl has a brand.)
How many of us have bought a full tray of groundnuts before? I know I have but when this lady does it, it becomes a news item. Since we now live in a community where poverty has led us to defending and justifying any means to the paper, everyone is drinking her coolaid and bloggers are cueing to wash her image. I even saw some people I respect (or used to respect) writing about her PR genius.
“Trending 22 year-old self-proclaimed billionaire Croqueuse de diamant has donated boreholes to some localities in Douala; BOKO VILLAGE, MAKEPE Marie Lumière, BEPANDA and PK9” is one of the headlines carried by many blogs. This particular headline shows how much most of these so called media platforms have become a sour soup.
The pictures (here attached) the said lady released to announce her supposed donation do not show any boreholes. No blogger cared to inquire if those projects were started before she came to the limelight. It amazes me that in this very Cameroon I know, four boreholes will be constructed and delivered in less than a month. In one of the photos, you can tell those tiles which seem to be on the fence of someone’s property have been there for not less than 6 months. We see her holding pipes of water flowing but we do not see the boreholes in question. I understand that critical thinking is contraband in Cameroon but let’s be serious for once.
Also attached are actual photos of a borehole in process. Those photos show a borehole project carried out in BUEA by Terese Endeley-Tande’s foundation Wholesome Health Promotion. That we chose to celebrate such lies is an insult to the few people who are actually dedicating their lives doing real work to impact our society.
What I write here will not change what the bloggers or media outlets will do but I hope that you can, for your own sake, try to be more critical of the news you are fed.
Stop promoting deception. Thank you.
- Tino Foy
