Realizing that such a population was neglected by the government for over 50 years, for it is inaccessible by land and air; and completely deprived of information for the inhabitants rarely received the national radio station, newspapers, and the only community radio had a 12 kilometer coverage; MIVA Netherlands decided to donate a Multimedia Center that can reach the unreached communities of the Manyu Division, with a goal to improve the lives of women, vulnerable children, the marginalized; and to empower and develop Manyu communities through information and communication.

Manyu Community Radio (MCR) went On Air in October 2012 with modern digital state of the arts equipment, despite the fact that the system used in Cameroon is analog. MCR is a Multimedia centre complex which includes; a broadcasting studio, a production studio, an internet cafe and a public secretariat; Considering that the vast Manyu Division of over 9,565 kilometres square has been deprived of information for over 50 years, the Minister of Communication accorded MCR the right to broadcast on a 1000 watt transmitter, far beyond the required coverage of a community radio, to enable the close to 300 000 inhabitants and their neighbours receive information from Cameroon.

Manyu Community Radio (MCR) is now faced with the enormous challenge to ensure the inhabitants of the enclave Manyu region some of whom listened to a Cameroonian radio for the first when MCR went on air in 2012, enjoy the radio. The pressure from the community as regards, health, human rights, educational, environmental, economic and cultural programs, is high. MCR is sometimes used as a telephone for most communities to pass across their messages – as a means of connecting communities and sharing experiences and above all as an important development tool for all information that need to help the Manyu people improve on their lives. The internet café and the secretariat have also enabled the community to be linked to and access information from the rest of the world.

The internet is also exploited by the journalists for radio news, programming and broadcasting.

Though MCR broadcast for 10 hours a day and 7 days a week in English as a main national language, ‘pigin’ – a local parlance, and three (3) main indigenous languages are also widely used. The community is demanding an increase in broadcast time, there is thus a need for more broadcast time and a technical sustainability plan like installation of solar energy considering the volatile nature of energy in Mamfe managed by a sole company.

The fact that there is no energy at all at the site where the transmitters are located also poses a challenge to the cost of energy to keep MCR on air. The transmitters run solely on generators for ten hours a day while the low frequency runs partly on generators and partly on energy form the company. Despite all these challenges, the contribution MCR is making to improve the lives of its listeners keeps the flame of the board and staff alive. In three years, MCR has broadcasted more hours than any radio which ever existed in Manyu Division. There is no doubt that with all its equipment, and services offered to the Division, and being a non-partisan radio, MCR will for a very long time be the major source of information, entertainment, education and development in the region.