An American anthropologist with the University of Buffalo, New York (USA), has voiced his profound interest to improve on the poor state of major archival repositories in Anglophone Cameroon. In his working visit to the National
Archives Annex Buea, he explains that the main reason for this project is to preserve documents that were produced by the British administration in many departments in what was once called the Southern Cameroons. All the documents and pictures which are at the risk of being lost will be identified and digitalized. This is because most of the documents are highly endangered and highly deteriorated from natural causes, insects and human manipulation. So, after the first phase of the digitalization, the project will be evaluated in December. He also appreciates the workers for their efforts in preserving the documents, and who have also received training from Dr. Emiliano Degl’Innocenti, an expert in digital humanities.
The Buea archives specializes in the collection of documents like historical books, economic books which deal with agriculture, forestry and finance, and all government documents, official letters, newspapers, etc., their preservation and communication. The documents which come from the government come as raw material, which are now classified according to their subjects.
According to Mr. Forgwe Primus, an Archivist at the Buea National Archives Annex, this project is well timed. This is because it comes at a time when the documents in the Archives were suffering from age, humidity, and lack of storage facilities, and most documents have not been computerized. “There was a need for heavy machines to combat it,” Mr. Forgwe Primus says. So, digitalizing these documents will enable researchers know the content of archival materials, and will thus come to Cameroon to exploit them because Cameroon has a very rich past. This because it passed through three administrations: the Germans, French, and the English. Thus, this rich background needs to be exploited, with the guarantee of long lasting preservation.
However, before the coming of the American anthropologist, the Buea Archives had been carrying out some developments, such as renovating the building and the employment of two permanent trained Archivists, Mrs. Njie Enanga and Madam Laisin Geralda. Furthermore, registration fees had been moderated from FCFA 500 weekly to FCFA 2000, 3000, 5000 yearly for undergraduates, Masters and Doctorate or PHD students respectively. The Buea National Archives Annex was created in 1959. It was housed in the present military headquarters until government allocated a permanent building in 1967, which is its present site.
