Gov’t dangles heavy hammer over perpetrators of xenophobia, hate speech.

The stern warning to engage legal actions against agents of the social ill, which threatens the country’s unity, social cohesion and living together, was sounded last Thursday in Yaounde.

This was during a joint press conference. It was granted by the Minister of Communication and Government’s Spokesman, Rene Emmanuel Sadi; the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji and the President of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism, NCPBM, Peter Mafany Musonge. 

The presser was aimed at deploring the rise of hate speech in the country and measures that government intends to take to address the disturbing phenomenon. 

The outing of government, it should be recalled, came barely days after some elite and individuals of the South West Region made xenophobic comments against non-indigenes resident in the Region. 

In his preliminary statement at the presser, Rene Sadi regretted the rise in the “scourge in national space”, stating categorically that xenophobia and hate speech have “become a serious threat to the stability of our social fabric and to the cardinal values of the Republic”.

Minister Rene Sadi said “the fight against hate speech must be perceived as an absolute priority towards safeguarding democracy and the Rule of Law, and preserving the values of peace, unity and living together”.

Minister fingers politicians, influencers, activists, whistleblowers…

He was clear that “it is now imperative and a matter of urgency” to draw the attention of all and sundry and to urge all to become “collectively aware of the harmful consequences of such practices in daily life” which touches on all social strata. 

Minister Rene Sadi said the regrettable phenomenon is spearheaded by civil society players, intellectuals, politicians, activists of all kinds, whistleblowers and other influencers.

Detailing the most common manifestations of hate speech which he said are expressed vehemently through conventional media and on the social media, Rene Sadi, mentioned “ethnic and social discrimination, stigmatisation, tribalism, irredentist claims, calls for insurgency and sometimes genocide, gender violence, violence against minorities”.

Heavy hammer dangles over perpetrators 

The MINCOM boss said government intends, as a first step, to raise the awareness through education and communication activities nationwide as part of a national education and citizenship training plan prescribed by the Head of State. 

“…the existence and exacerbation of hate speech is a real threat to the social cohesion and stability of our country. It is therefore urgent to provide a vigorous and appropriate response to this issue,” the Minister added.

He was categorical that henceforth, those who continue to fan the flames of hate will face the heavy arm of the law.

“However, in addition to raising awareness among citizens, government may, if necessary, use the legislation in force to bring the perpetrators of hate speech to answer for their actions before the courts,” he warned perpetrators of hate.   

The Minister said by including hate speech in the criminal register of the law, the Cameroonian legislator has taken full measures of the danger it represents for the cohesion of the social fabric and the nation.

“In view of the dimension that this phenomenon is taking on and the danger that it poses to national life, government appeals to the collective conscience, patriotism and sense of responsibility of all, to preserve our valuable achievements, namely national unity, peace and the stability of our institutions,” he said. 

“We must therefore banish hate speech so that Cameroon, which over the years has become a haven of peace, where a plurality of ethnic groups, cultures and religions coexist in harmony, should remain united in the interest of all,” he appealed.  

What the law says 

Rene Sadi reminded Cameroonians that apart from international legal instruments dealing with hate speech duly ratified by Cameroon, a set of legal texts regulate hate speech in the country.  

He cited Law No: 2019/020 of 24 December 2019, to amend and supplement certain provisions of Law No: 2016/007 of 12 July 2016, on the Penal Code, which provides in its Section 241 paragraph (1), (2), (3) different sanctions on perpetrators of hate ranging fines and to imprisonments.

He also cited provisions of Section 241-1 Paragraph (1), (2) and (3) of the same law which punishes instigators of tribal violence with imprisonment of from one to two years and with fines.

Rene Sadi also cited Law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010, on cyber security and cyber-crime in which provides in its Section 77, Subsection 1, Section 91, paragraph (1) sanctions on hate and xenophobia.  

The Government’s Spokesman also cited law No. 2015/007 of 20 April 2015, governing audiovisual activity which provides in its Section 8, Subsection 3 sanctions on content of programmes that incite hatred, violence or discrimination against a person or a group of persons.

 He equally mentioned Law No. 2006/018 of 29 December 2006, governing advertising in Cameroon, in its Section 57, which provides sanctions on whoever engages in advertising containing elements likely to constitute a contempt to a race, ethnic group or religion. 

Zooms on causes of hate speech

Revisiting causes of xenophobia and hate speech, Minister Rene Sadi, cited “socio economic environment, where the cost of living and a certain degree of precariousness provide an easy pretext for some to vilify the better-off and cry social injustice”.

He also mentioned issues at stake in political life, where for some, “the unbridled lust for power has taken precedence over the debate of ideas, disregarding the basic rules of the democratic game”.

These category of politicians, Sadi said, are “transforming the political arena into a battlefield where hatred, invective, verbal violence, bad faith, incitement to insurrection, intimidation and threats of all kinds and many other abuses prevail”. 

He cited the actions of the “so-called Brigade Anti-Sardinards which has made itself notorious through numerous reprehensible acts abroad, which have seriously undermined the image of Cameroon”.

The Minister also mentioned acts and behaviours likely to sow discord and hatred including the ransacking of embassies, the inopportune demonstrations against the visits of the Head of State abroad, the call for a boycott of cultural events organised by artists from certain regions or sympathisers of certain political parties.

“In addition, there is the rise of identity-based closures that undermine the sacrosanct principle repeatedly proclaimed and reiterated by the Head of State, a principle according to which every Cameroonian citizen should feel at home wherever he or she is the country,” he regretted. 

“Unfortunately, various antagonisms between natives and non-natives are increasingly emerging, especially in relation to land claims between farmers and herders, situations that are the result of tribalism and xenophobia. In a short, situations that result in the rejection of Cameroonians by other Cameroonians,” he detailed.  

The Minister also cited a decline in republican and moral values which constitute the prerequisites on which the solidity and stability of the country rests among significant events likely to weaken the State.   

Aside the aforementioned causes of xenophobia and hate speech, the Minister also added that “the set of anthropological opinions, prejudices on the basis of which some ethnic groups confer a pre-eminence on others, thus granting themselves a right to particular privileges within the nation”.

The situation, he said, sometimes “leads to disharmony, even clashes in inter-ethnic cohabitation and requires that we affirm that there is no superior or inferior ethnic group in Cameroon, and that all ethnic components are equal in our country”. 

Enter MINAT, NCPBM bosses 

Responding to questions from the press on some law officials who have become law breakers, thus stirring the rise of hate speech, Minister Atanga Nji said some acts of hate speech are done unconsciously.

 He indicated that sensitisation would be done continually before the law is applied on conscious and notorious perpetrators. 

Quizzed on the efforts made by his commission thus far, Peter Mafany Musonge said his commission has been on the field severally and has partnered with civil society organisations in different Regions to fight hate speech and promote living together.