H.E Ama Tutu Muna: The Woman Emancipator

If there is any area in Cameroon where the Beijing platform can be assessed, it is the Ministry of Culture headed by Mafor Ama Tutu Muna. This woman has shown that women in leadership could mean a lot to Cameroon. Ever since this daughter of the great statesman, late Solomon Tandeng Muna became the Minister of Culture, the ever first woman to lead that Ministry, she has become a symbol that women in leadership position could mean a lot to Cameroon. Hitherto considered a no go zone for women, Ama Tutu has not only dismantled the male barriers constructed round that Ministry but has more importantly handed some key positions to women. Another key innovation has been the transfer of authority from the tortuous and rugged CMC to SOCAM with a woman at the head. Since her appointment, Ama Tutu Muna had helped a great deal in transforming President Biya’s policy of greater ambitions to greater achievements. Even though a cabinet minister, Ama Tutu remains approachable. She talks and acts with untiring sociability.

Yet, it is this quality which immensely complements her multifarious roles. That she now occupies that seat of culture Minister is not fortuitous. Before her appointment as Minister of Culture, she had already learned to cope with the cultural demands of such positions. Hard work and efficiency have continued to be the qualities that define her. When you call at her office, you are taken to a waiting room where you need to be patient as she is on an important or some of those critical files that demands a lot of concentration. Take it as arrogance and you are right for this is positive arrogance that enables that job for which she was appointed to be done effectively. It is this positive arrogance that always determines the quality of ideas and projects that comes out of that ministry and which tells you that she is not a woman who takes task lightly.

Notwithstanding, she has the drive and dedication that defies any facile explanations. Born into a politician’s family, Mafor Ama Tutu Muna was brought up in close knit family where as the only girl she was never allowed to idle while others work. In later life she could not escape to be a workaholic or become a politician par excellence reasons why she formed the Abi Fall Sub Section of the CPDM and is continuing from where the father left with a lot of dexterity. Mafor Ama Tutu is also on record to have initiated the Mbengwi Women Cooperative to combat the plight of the rural woman and besides, she is also the brain behind the creation North West Women’s Forum.



Ama Muna: Minister of Culture