L'Expression de Mamy-Wata

L'Expression de Mamy-Wata, often referred to as simply Mamy-Wata, is a weekly satirical newspaper published in Cameroon by the media company La Nouvelle Expression.[1] The paper is written in French peppered with loan words from Cameroonian Pidgin English.[2] In 1999, it had a weekly circulation of 4,000 copies.[1]

On 4 January 1999, Cameroonian police confiscated from 2,000 to 2,500 copies of Mamy-Wata in Douala.[3] La Nouvelle Expression reported that the papers were taken in response to a cartoon in the 29 December issue that depicted Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, in a spat with his wife.[1] Reports differ on whether the police ever provided an official justification for the seizure; the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that none was provided, but the International Press Institute reported that authorities claimed the newspapers were a "breach of public order". Scholar George Echu has claimed that the incident added Mamy-Wata to "the pantheon of Africa's satirical heavyweights."[4]