Ridiculous: Private media in shock as gov’t allocates paltry 56 million FCFA as subvention.

The announcement of the funds allocated to the private media was disclosed at the start of the 4^th session of the National Commission for assistance to private enterprises which took place in Yaounde.

The meeting Thursday was chaired by the Minister of Communication, Emmanuel Rene Sadi. He doubles as chair of the commission.

The announced subvention, it was said will be shared to over 50 privately owned newspapers and online portals operating in the country.

In reaction to the amount announced at the meeting, representatives of private media organs had staged a walk out.

Their action, it was disclosed was in protest of the disdainful treatment accorded the private media by the state.

It took several hours of negotiation for the representatives of the private media to call off the protest and continue deliberations at the meeting.

Meanwhile speaking earlier, the Minister of Communication had revealed that some seventy-six private media organs in Cameroon had tabled their files to benefit from the government assistance.

Amongst the organs, he said are 70 newspapers and six online media platforms.

The number of beneficiaries eligible for the 56 million FCFA media aid from government was, however, not mentioned.

The amount which The Guardian Post learnt amounted to over 120 million FCFA in previous years, dropped considerably this year.

In his opening remarks, the Minister of Communication detailed the raison d’etre behind the delay and drastic reduction in the amount set aside for private media aid for 2022.

Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi disclosed that, “our country is not indifferent to the consequences of the multiple crises that the world is going through and which greatly affects the economy, hampering the efforts made by government to carry out its activities”.

The communication boss went further to add that: “The late release of the funds devoted to the support of the state for the private press as well as its drastic reduction are among the consequences of what I just mentioned”.

The minister, however, called on members of the media aid commission to take their job seriously in examining the various files of who will benefit from the government’s financial aid to the press.

He also assured them of promising days in future. 

“I urge you to work in serenity, objectivity and impartiality, virtues that have always characterised this gathering,” he said stating that “The objective is to contribute to make press companies more viable in order to help the actors. The achievement of the goals also depends on certain prerequisites including the reorganization of professional practices”.

“I can assure you all that that I am willing relentlessly to pursue the plea made some time ago for a substantial increase before the establishment of a more prominent support mechanism to media of the private sector,” he added.

‘A big slap on private press’

Speaking to the press, the Publisher and Editor-in-chief of The Guardian Post daily newspaper, Ngah Christian Mbipgo, lamented over the amount disbursed to the private press.

Ngah, who represented the private English language newspapers said, “even if they give us 1 billion, it will not be sufficient for 76 media organs. I lack words to express myself. I felt like crying when I heard the minister announcing the amount. This is a big slap on the face of the private media in Cameroon. It will go down in history that today is a black day for the private media in Cameroon”.

“For the state to dish out 56 million FCFA and announcing it in public is a big shame to Cameroon. With this amount, we will have newspaper publishers who will go home with less than 300,000 FCFA. I don’t know what that can do,” he said.

Other members of the commission had equally expressed dismay.

Most of them said the amount was an insult to the private press in Cameroon.

To them, this goes to show that the private press is not taken into consideration by authorities.

Despite the discontent, owners of privately-owned newspapers and online portals to benefit from the media have been reminded that all hope is not lost.  

According to the Director of Private Media and Advertising, Ngankak Kisito, measures are being taken to make sure that the exigencies of the private press are attained in foreseeable future. 

“This however doesn’t mean that the government is neglecting the private sector. It is just a constraint and everything is being done by the Minister and his collaborators to make sure that the amount of money witnesses an increase in the years to come”.

Borrowing a leaf from other countries

Observers are unanimous that government’s paltry sum offered the private media in Cameroon is clear demonstration of Yaounde’s hatred for the local press.

Some have disclosed that in neighbouring Gabon, the aid package to media organs, which are less than 25 in number, is FCFA 1 billion, while a similar amount is also given to the private press in countries like Senegal and Mali. In Cameroon, over 70 private media organs are left to share a paltry sum of 56 million FCFA. For successive years, the amount allocated to the private media in Cameroon has been on a steady decline.

The constant slash in the money allocated for this purpose, is in sharp contrast to promises made by former Communication Minister, Issa Tchiroma in 2010.

Minister Tchiroma had disclosed then that he was working hard to step up the aid package to at least FCFA 200 million.