Report reveals lapses in access to information in Cameroon.

The draft copy of the research was presented to media practitioners, Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, as well as partners. This was during a one-day workshop that took place in Yaounde on June 6.

Also present during the exchange was the Director of Media Observation and Public Opinion at the Ministry of Communication, Denis Omgba Bomba.

Speaking during the workshop, the Executive Director of NewSETA, Ateki Seta Caxton, noted that the survey carried out in the ten regions of the country found Cameroon wanting when it comes to access to information.

The draft report of the survey on the right to access to information in the country, Ateki revealed that the research saw the participation of some 382 respondents among them government officials, journalists as well as CSOs.

He equally regretted the fact that the landscape for access to information in the country is very vast and holders of information are not bound by any law to give out information.

The objective of the survey, he said, was to improve on access to information in Cameroon. The survey, he added, was to better advocate a legal framework.

“Cameroon does not have a uniform legal and regulatory framework on the rights to access information and there is no law which forces them to do so. So, we are working to develop this law so we are not left behind,” Ateki said. 

Panel members share experiences

Another important part of the workshop was a panel discussion that was moderated by journalist, Prince Mundi Tanda. During the exchange, one of the panel members, journalists and civil society actor, Comfort Mussa, saluted the initiative carried out by NewSETA.

Mussa said the findings will go a long way to fill the gap and advocate a legal access to information in the country.

The issues of access to information, Mussa suggested, should go beyond news and the journalists’ rights to information. 

“We should not limit access to information only to journalists; it should also concern other sectors, individuals as well as persons living with disabilities,” Mussa stated.

Cueing in, the Country representative of the Media and Democracy, Sah Terence, hailed organisers and urged media practitioners to know how to protect their sources. Sah said sources remain the main cause of the difficulty to access to information in their domain. 

On his part, civil society actor, Dr Nsaka Bernard, said the platform gives room for stakeholders to work together and better advocate laws that could be drafted to ease access to information in the country.

The Director of Media Observation and Public Opinion at the Ministry of Communication, Denis Omgba, faulted journalists for their lack of respect for their sources, regretting that journalists sometimes fail to treat confidential and sensitive information given them by their sources, thus forcing them to be reserved and refuse giving out some information sometimes.  

Cross section of officials, participants at the end of workshop

Zoom on survey findings

According to the survey, there is no legal or regulatory framework that grants the right to access to information in the country. 

“There exist legal provisions on data protection found in several laws…like law on banking secrecy, state secret and national security,” part of the survey stated. 

The survey reports that 46.2 percent of senior public officials who took part in the question and answer session acknowledged that there was no law obliging them to give out information.

The survey went further to report that public institutions have no explicit defined law for access to information, as a result access to this information is often denied on claims of protection of national security and other political topics come up.

According to the same survey, 46.4 percent of participants of the survey noted that they were not aware of any law.

The survey, in the concluding paragraph, revealed that journalists and stakeholders sometimes find it challenging to appeal each time they feel the refusal of any information they had requested for was unjustly denied or lacked legitimate ground.

 This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No 3138 of Tuesday June 11, 2024