Ama Tutu Muna

Ama Tutu Muna
Ama Tutu Muna in 2012
Born	1960/07/17 Limbe, Southwest Province of Cameroon
Citizenship	Cameroon
Education	University Degree
Alma mater	University of Montreal
Occupation	Politician
Title	Minister of Arts and Culture
Term	8 years
Children	1
Parents	Salomon Tandeng Muna (father) Elizabeth Fri Ndingsa (mother)

Ama Tutu Muna (born 17 July 1960) is a Cameroonian politician who was the Minister of Arts and Culture from 2007 to 2015.

Early life and education

Muna was born in Limbe in Southwest Province on 17 July 1960. ^[1] She is the youngest of eight children born to Salomon Tandeng Muna, formerly Prime Minister of West Cameroon and then Vice President of Cameroon, and Elizabeth Fri Ndingsa. ^[2] Her brothers include Bernard Muna, Chairman of the Alliance of Progressive Forces, and Akere Muna, President of the International Anti-Corruption Conference Council.

Muna studied linguistics at the University of Montreal in Canada, graduating in 1983. ^[1]

Career

Muna was Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economy in Limbe from December 2004. She was appointed Minister of Arts and Culture in 2007. ^{[1] [3]} Muna initiated the Mbengwi Women Cooperative to combat the plight of the rural woman and founded the North West Women’s Forum. ^[4]

Ama Tutu Muna in 2012

In 2014, Muna was criticised for transferring cultural artifacts from the Northwest Region to Yaounde. ^[5] On May 22, 2015, Prime Minister Philemon Yang gave Muna forty-eight hours to dissolve a new authors' rights structure (SOCACIM) she had created. ^{[3] [6]} She was removed from her ministerial position in a government reshuffle by President Paul Biya on 2 October 2015, amid reports that she had mismanaged billions of francs in authors royalties. ^[7] In February 2016, staff sought to remove from her state-owned ministerial villa at Bastos, but she refused and claimed she had made arrangements to buy it. As of September 2016, she had not moved. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

Personal life

Muna had one son, Efemi Nkweti Muna, who was born in 1987. He was killed in a car accident on 8 February 2014. ^{[11] [12]}

References

1. "The New Ministers". Post Newsline. 10 September 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
2. Clarisse Juompan-Yakam (12 July 2011). "Le Cameroun leur appartient - Les grandes familles du Cameroun - Jeuneafrique.com - le premier site d'information et d'actualité sur l'Afrique". JEUNEAFRIQUE.COM. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
3. "The Rise and Fall of Ama Tutu Muna". The Eye Newspaper. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
4. "H.E Ama Tutu Muna: The Woman Emancipator". The Eye Newspaper. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
5. Muteh, Samson (12 June 2014). "Cameroon's Minister of Culture chastise for "scandalous" and "abominable" acts". The Fomunyoh Foundation. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
6. Bidjocka, Pamela (25 May 2015). "Author's Rights: Prime Minister weighs in". CRTV. Archived from the original on 2016-11-22. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
7. Afoni, Basil (8 October 2015). "Passports of 8 Sacked Ministers Seized". Cameroon Post. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
8. "Cameroon: Biya abandons Ministers to lodge in Hotel Monte Febe 11 months after being appointed". Cameroon Concord. 10 September 2016. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
9. "Cameroon: Ama Tutu Muna chased from the ministerial villa". Cameroon Voice (in French). 17 February 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
10. "L'ancienne ministre de la culture a été 'bousculée', de sa villa, une pratique inhabituelle au Cameroun". Camer.be (in French). 17 February 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
11. "Cameroon's Minister of Arts and Culture's son killed in a road accident". Empower Success in Africa. 8 February 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
12. "Efemi Kwenti Muna, the only son of the Cameroon's Minister of Art and Culture was finally put to rest". Empower Success in Africa. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2016.