Amidst rising coups in Africa: Gov’t dangles axe over individuals, media organs predicting same for Cameroon.

The warning is the content of a statement which Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi issued Monday September 25. The outing comes in the wake of inferences, analyses and media commentaries and publications, vsis-a-vis Cameroon and other countries across Africa, that have suffered military takeovers.

Those who have been engaged in such analyses and predictions, the minister wrote, must desist with immediate effect.

He stated that persons who continue to make obscure predictions about the future of Cameroon risk being considered as calling for the destabilisation of the country.

Those who have stayed on this line in recent times, he stated, could be dragged before competent judiciary institutions to justify their actions in line with the laws in force.

Despite the sensitive tone of promising to go tough, Rene Sadi urged the citizenry to remain patriotic, vigilant and confident in the government in place and the person who has been entrusted with the power to preside the destiny of the nation.

Respect for sovereignty

Besides the call for caution, Cameroon as a country, Minister Rene Sadi said, is constantly attached to the principle of respecting the sovereignty of every country and how it manages its internal affairs.

Options and solutions to challenges countries face, the minister stated, are specific to each country.

The government of the Republic, Rene Sadi said, condemns in strong terms every unconstitutional form of accessing power.

Faced with what he considers “fantasists predictions”, the Communication minister asserted that Cameroon is a state of law with vibrant institutions which clearly spells out mechanisms for accessing power.

Context

Minister Rene Sadi’s warning comes after the August 30, 2023, coup in neighbouring Gabon, set the stage for heightened analysis, coupled with seven other coups that have taken place in other African countries between August 2020 and August 2023.

Besides Gabon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea Conakry have suffered military takeovers.

With Gabon being a neighbouring country to Cameroon, the swift turn of events there have affected media content, debates, analyses and commentaries from within and beyond on the political future of the nation.

The National Communication Council, NCC, has slammed a one-month suspension on at least one media organ for publishing content around the same subject matter that provoked reprisals from authorities.

Days back, the President of the same NCC, Joseph Chebongnkeng, issued another statement, calling for media practitioners nationwide to be extra vigilant in the discharge of their profession.

He also reminded them of the social climate in the country and the need to maintain a high level of professionalism.