Editorial: Press freedom; Tasks Minister Rene Sadi should complete!.

As part of his committed activities to commemorate this year's World Press Freedom Day, Communication Minister and Government Spokesman, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, and his delegation visited The Guardian Post head office in Yaounde.

In the words of the minister, “...I decided to visit some of you. I could not do this without visiting The Guardian Post, which I consider as one of the best that we have in our country. The Guardian Post is a great newspaper".



He then went on to shower a plethora of encomiums on the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian Post, Christian Ngah Mbipgo, and his staff for resilience, their ultramodern infrastructure, comfortable working conditions and regular payment of staff salary, on or before the 25th of every month.

But he was soon to be briefed, to borrow from John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Ring, that: “All that is gold does not glitter".

The Guardian Post, though a shooting star in the gloomy sky of the media landscape in Cameroon, that is congested with  more than 600 newspapers, approximately 200 radio stations and over 60 Television channels nationwide, has daunting problems.

As Ngah Christian told the minister during the audience at The Guardian Post head office, separatists have attacked and banned the newspaper from circulating in the two English-speaking Regions; because it has refused to give in to secessionist demands.

Ngah explained further that the newspaper is a victim of its middle-of-the-road editorial policy. In that independence, he said even some government services and institutions deny giving adverts to the newspaper. When the adverts scarcely come, Ngah added, it takes two to three years for such bills to be paid.

On aspects of insecurity, which in some media organs has resulted in fatality, Ngah decried his arbitrary arrest in November 2023, over a fake front page of the newspaper that circulated on the social media.

Given the limited time the minister had at The Guardian Post, Ngah could not elaborate more on the problems facing the media landscape. The minister obviously should be abreast with such challenges with the regularity of   screaming international headlines like: "Cameroon drops 20 places on RSF's 2023 Press Freedom Index”, “Cameroon media operating in climate of fear”, “In Cameroon, journalists can't breathe as laws stifle press freedom”, “Media workers in Cameroon face rising violent repression", etc.

In the latest survey by Reporters Without Borders, Cameroon regressed by 20 places, crashing to 138th position worldwide, out of 180 countries.

There is no qualm that under the CPDM regime, the media in Cameroon has had some level of freedom, but statistically based on press freedom indexes, it is still far from satisfaction.

As many journalism associations pointed out while celebrating World Press Freedom Day this year, that media men and women need to be protected; given the number that has died in very suspicious and questionable circumstances in the country.

There is also the need for a Freedom of Information Act, which should give journalists unfettered access to information held by public authorities.

Criminal libel, which is undemocratic, should be scrapped from the media law, while those taken to the National Communication Council, NCC, should not again be dragged to courts of justice for the same misdemeanor.

The NCC decree should be amended to ensure that an entire media house cannot be sanctioned for a fallacy of a reporter.

As Minister Rene said at The Guardian Post: “...Cameroon has the ambition to be a real democracy with the rule of law. I think...The Guardian Post is translating into reality all these ambitions. You deserve our congratulations...I am not flattering you. That is the truth. We consider your newspaper as one of the institutions that contribute to reinforcing our democracy and to confirm that there is freedom of press in Cameroon”.

The Guardian Post congratulates the minister for such glowing attributes, which is a call for us to be more assiduous, intrepid and performant to remain at the apex. 

He is among the few communication ministers to have taken time out of their busy schedules to visit independent media organs, often considered as being critical of government action.

Such criticisms, as long as they are objective, holds the government or any public figure accountable; for the progress of the entire nation deserves to be encouraged and supported.

With the visit, the minister has understood the problems firsthand. As he promised, there are those he can solve at his level. He can, for instance, propose amendments to laws that are repugnant to press freedom.

He can also recommend an increase in assistance to private communication, to empower the press. Such aid should never be perceived as meant to curry favours from the private media, which should be the watchdog of society.

Since freedom is never given on a platter of gold, journalists, while lobbying for a fully free press, should not take freedom as a license, understanding that like the Pope at the Vatican, the press derives its power from the rectitude of moral force.

 

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