Merry-Making Graces Festivities

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This was during a special luncheon offered by the First Lady of Cameroon, Mrs Chantal Biya.

After the over two hours, amazing march past at the May 20th Boulevard in Yaounde to mark the 35th International Women’s Day on the theme “Promoting Gender and Protecting Women’s Right by 2020: Taking Stock of Actions Undertaken, Setting A New Course”, a cross-section of women gathered at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel to honour a luncheon invitation from the First Lady of Cameroon, Mrs Chantal Biya.

Over ten musical interludes, a special buffet and dancing spiced the reception which was presided over by the First Lady, Mrs Chantal Biya in the presence of several members of government, members of the diplomatic corps and special invitees.

With the singing of the women’s national anthem at the 20th May Boulevard, which signalled the end of the march past, all roads led to the Yaounde Hilton Hotel. At the head of the movement, was the First Lady, as her convoy made its entrance into the premises of the hotel.

Within 30 minutes, all the guests were seated and already savouring good music from a special musical band headed by Dr Félicien Ntoné, a music lover and Deputy General Manager of the Yaounde Teaching Hospital. At about 3:00 p.m. the First Lady made a cheerful entrance into the bouquet hall and received a standing ovation from guests. 

The Masters of Ceremony (MCs) immediately gave a rundown of the event which was not just about eating and dancing, but also an occasion to revisit the rich cultural heritage of the country through musical display.

It all started with a special song from the Higher Teachers Training College choir in Yaounde. It was a song in honour of the woman. This was followed by Princesses Kadidja from the Northern Region and later “Fire Love” a blind musical artist who was out to say that disabled persons too have talents that should be valorised. 

Artists such as Estha took the audience to the South West Region in a traditional dance precisely from Buea in the Bakweri clan. Coco-Christian, another young artist came in with a special number to cement Sino-Cameroon cooperation. The humorist, Kheguegue, brought more comic relief to the already fun-filled ceremony. Alaji Toure was also present to thrill the women and their guests with his guitar.

Celebration at the Hilton Hotel reached apex when artists such as K-tino and Henri Njoh mounted the podium. This was like the icing on the cake as no one was left indifferent to the sound of the music. Even the First Lady, at this point joined the artists on the dancing floor to dance to the joy of everyone.

A dance group from the West Region brought in a special touch to the show in a rhythm “Hands Together”, as they all asked everybody to join hands for peace to reign in the country. They brandished peace plants and even handed a branch to the First Lady as she made her way out of the Yaounde Hilton Hotel. In all, women of Cameroon have commemorated achievements 25 years after the Beijing Conference. However, much is still to be done.