Cécile Eke drops ‘Ongola’ album dedicated to Ongolas

Cécile Eke has launched her first album, ‘Ongola’ in a live performance at Cabaret La Chaumiere in Douala.

The album which was made up of 9 cocktail and outstanding tracks was dedicated to ‘Ongola’ families who were evacuated forcefully from ‘Ongola’ and had their properties seized.

Cécile in an interview with Culturebene.com also revealed that Yaoundé was not endowed with buildings, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, etc. It was rather the village of the people (Ongolas) before it became the capital of Cameroon and this resulted in rendering the people homeless.

“Ongola, now Yaoundé is where I came from and the tracks in the album are a tribute to the families who stayed behind because they were in favor of Yaounde being the capital and were expropriated by the government including mine. But its people who are left standing to continue to have a culture and maintain cultural values even though the city has a little depraved including Ongola”, she said.

Eke went on to talk about some of the titles on the album and explained what they meant. To her, the songs are based on events that happen around us.

“The album includes titles that talks about people who are never satisfied with who they are. Like the title ‘Foe T’, we must love who we are. I also spoke of peace because there is the lack of tolerance even in our Churches. Church was full today but there is so much war yet, there are a lot of people who claim to be staunch Christians. So, there's very little tolerance. I also addressed men who despised their wives under the excuse of dowry; the woman is used as a material from the furniture in the house”.

The beautiful songstress also stated that ‘Ongola’ will be presented to music lovers at Bois d' Ebene Yaoundé on November 14 after the concert in Doula. She however stated that the date could change because of the different schedules of the people she works with.

“For now, this is the announced date but that could change depending on availability of the people I work with because it is a live event. I play with professionals who play very often with the national orchestra. So, there are things that can change the calendar”, she added.

The former singer of the group ‘Band Caillou’ found inspiration from the rhythm ‘Ekan’ mixed with Afro pop. She also stated that the album launch which was well received in Douala hits the airwaves soon.