It is common practice in Cameroon to hear different government ministers boast of how there is press freedom in the country. They usually base their argument on the proliferation of media houses; there are more than 400 privately owned newspapers, some 375 privately owned radio stations, and 19 privately owned television stations. Government officials would not also hesitate to state that the 1990 Liberty Laws relating to freedoms of mass communication which was enacted after popular pressure, guarantees freedom of expression and the press.
Beyond this fanfare, the realities are different in a country noted for its poor human rights record in general and on freedom of expression in particular. Cameroon is ranked 135/180 in the 2021 global freedom of expression perception index. From political and legal constraints, to the uncompromising attitude of media owners and promoters, the lack of access to information and the working conditions of journalists, the Cameroonian press is not only in shambles, but constantly threatened and unable to fully contribute to the democratic evolution of the country.
Access to Information
One of the huge impediments to journalistic practice in Cameroon is the lack of access to official sources of information. Though the so called liberty laws guarantee such, having access to reliable information has remained a big challenge. Compared to other countries, Cameroon has not enacted the Freedom of Information Act,(FOA) and so no public official is under any obligation to give information to the public, talks less of the press. This has negative effects on journalism practice in the country and there are no indications that there would be a change any time soon.
“Journalists in the private press are the most affected by this situation as compared to their colleagues in the publicly funded media. The various government departments are reluctant to release information to the private press. Some administrations do not hesitate to ask journalists to pay for any information. There is also noticeable discrimination in the award of accreditation for journalists wishing to cover events at the presidency,” says Charles Nforgang, journalist and media development researcher.
It seems to be a generally accepted tendency that happenings and events at the press presidency are covered exclusively by the state media. The President’s outings and visits abroad just like those of other top government officials are usually exclusively preserved for the state media. Presidential telegraphs and press releases from the ministerial council meetings are available only to state media. Some of such releases are only discovered by the private press on social media.
Request for information from journalists to government departments, local authorities and even to other officials in the private sector are hardly responded to or it can take too long for the journalists to get a response. The bureaucracy involved in divulging out public information is such that, each government official requires clearance from his boss; the minister, the prime minister and even the presidency before any comment on burning issues. The situation is further compounded by the fact that most of the government services do not own reliable and updated websites and even when they do, they are hardly updated.
“When I worked as a freelance journalist for the BBC World Service in Cameroon, the lack of or inadequate access to information I would say was one of the greatest difficulties I encountered. Public officials have built guardrails around information. Any journalist seeking access to information is treated with suspicion rather than fed with such information that is the live wire of their work. Access to information is crucial for a free press and a free press is the lifeblood of a thriving democracy. These are absent in Cameroon,” Peter Tah explains
“It is not the responsibility of the National Communication Council to push the government to ratify acts (FOA) of that nature. It needs to go through parliament before the president enacts it. So maybe they are still in the process of having it. I think other laws govern freedom of the press in Cameroon. The 1990 communication laws were voted by parliament and enacted by the President of the Republic.
Those are the ones that are in application in the country today and if you are talking about press freedom, I think the press in Cameroon has the liberty to do what it wants to do. But you know that you hardly can have what you call a completely free environment. So, for now, we pick examples from the number of press organs that we have in the country. From what they see and write about, one can comfortably say that there is freedom of the press in Cameron. Journalists are free to do what they are supposed to do within the framework of ethical practices,” the President of the Government-controlled National Communication Council, NCC, Joseph Chebongkeng Kalabubse stated.
Access to information is not only discriminatory but has a great impact on the work of journalists in terms of content production. Journalists are usually contented with bits of information and in some cases resort to speculations and the use of secondary sources which more often are not reliable. Others simply resort to self-censorship, given that if they want to carry out investigations on sensitive issues like corruption or the abuse of the rights of citizens, they would not be able to have reliable official sources of information that could be used corroborate their reports.
Penalizing Press offences
Cameroon is one of the rare countries on the African continent which practices open or subtle censorship and is yet to depenalise press offences. Government officials have sweeping powers over the press. This censorship dates as far back as the 1950s.
In fact on May 27, 1959 a government ordinance authorized the seizure of newspapers by the Minister of the Interior or the head of the provinces. The law which was later modified also authorized the persecution of journalists for what is described as the publication of ‘false news or rumors.’
Again, Section 305 of Cameroon’s penal code jails individuals and journalists, found guilty of defamation with an imprisonment from six days to six months and with a fine of between 5000Central African Franc,FCFA ( approximately 80 SEK ) and 2 million FCFA, (approximately 32,000 SEK)
Controversial anti-terrorism law
To further silence the Cameroonian media, the government in 2014 enacted the much contested ‘anti-terrorism laws’ that seem to target not only opinion leaders, critics of the regime and activists but most especially journalists. Those found guilty of contravening the said law risks jail terms of up to 20 years and only the military tribunal hears such cases. Under the said legislature, which seriously restricts press freedom, individuals and journalists have been harassed, arbitrarily arrested, tortured, detained or killed.
Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, a journalist and producer, popularly known as Samuel Wazizi who worked for a local Buea-based Chillen Music TV, was arrested in August 2019 in the course of covering the ongoing war in the English-speaking parts of Cameroon. He later died in military custody and it took the Cameroon government almost 8 months to announce his death.
Till date the whereabouts of his corpse is not known. Prior to Wazizi, another journalist, Bibi Ngota died in detention at the Kondengui Central Prison in the capital city, Yaoundé after he was arrested for investigating corruption in the purchase of a military ship, involving top government officials. As I write, other journalists, including, Thomas Awah Junior, Tsi Conrade, Walters Fomunyuh Njoka and Mancho Bibixy are languishing in jail as a result of the law and are being tried by the military tribunal which is making use of the anti-terrorism laws. Other journalists like Radio France International’s Hausa Language correspondent Ahmed Abba who reported about the Islamist Boko Haram Sect, causing mayhem on the boarders between Cameroon and Nigeria was accused of terrorism and jailed and was later forced into exile after his release. Journalists seeking information are thus often intimidated or brutalized and their equipment is confiscated or destroyed.
The Chief Executive Officer,(CEO) of the privately owned Eden Media Group, (comprising a newspaper, magazine and radio station),Chief Zachee Nzongandembou thinks the struggle for Press freedom is a continuous process.
“Over the years even before and especially after the 1990 laws on freedom of association, publishers have been on the neck of the government to repeal all laws against press censorship. We have and continue to battle the government to decriminalize the laws on libel and defamation. In all democratic countries, except Cameroon, libel is a civil and not a criminal offence. In as much as the law prescribes freedom of the press, there are strings attached and dutifully used as weapon each time the government feels uncomfortable with certain reports on its action. In Cameroon, press freedom could be likened to selling a goat and holding the rope. It is like saying; you are free to say whatever you want but that freedom is not guaranteed after you must have said it,” he said.
Censored
Apart from draconian media laws, censorship of the media seems to have witnessed an increase with the creation of the National Communication Council, NCC by Presidential decree in 2012. Charged with regulating the media, the NCC is being considered as government’s covert censorship machine and has constantly banned or suspended media houses over publications deemed libelous or seditious.
“There is no article in the mission of the NCC which says we are here to censor the press. That is not our mission. We are a regulatory board and regulation has nothing to do with censorship and the organ which I have the privilege of heading now is found in every country in the world. We are there to caution the press to work within the framework of professional ethics and deontology. That doesn’t amount to censorship. They do what they do without us interfering. When people complain about what they have done, we call them to order. Not that we are there to muscle the press or prohibit them from doing one thing or the other,” Joseph Chebongkeng, President of the NCC argued.
Few months ago, Cameroon’s Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi issued a statement, reminding publishers of newspapers to implement the law which requires that they provide copies of each of the publications at some government offices before they are circulated, a move considered as another attempt at censoring the press.
“Press Censorship has never, at any point in time been abandoned. It is not news that the government here is one of the big jailers of journalists in the world. Journalists are being trailed by security operatives who force their way into private gadgets like phones and laptops to get implicating information to nail them. The government is not returning to press censorship; it is just dusting this legislation to brandish to press organs which are becoming more and more authoritative in reporting,” Chief Ngandembou stated.
Administrative Tolerance
The selective issuing and granting of licenses to media outlets is another impediment to Press Freedom. The government, through an unofficial strategy known as “administrative tolerance,” is able to justify the muzzling of media houses it considers vocal or having too much freedom. Under what is known as ‘administrative tolerance’ in Cameroon, ‘unlicensed’ news outlets are allowed to go functional.
However if at any point the government disapproves of their investigations and reporting, it can crack down on the outlet in question for operating without a license. This policy has been used severally to shut down media houses without due process.
While working for the privately owned Equinox Radio and Television in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala in 2008, I and other colleagues were bundled out of the studio and the radio station shut down. The Governor of the region at that time, Fai Yengo Francis, without any due process simply sent policemen and soldiers who also sealed the doors of Equinox TV the following day.
No official document was presented to justify this action. This was in the wake of the 2008 nationwide hunger strike and the impression the government gave was that Equinox Radio and Television was very vocal and reported in real time what was happening around the country. It was rumoured that the government used administrative tolerance to close down Equinox Radio and Television and only allowed it to reopen after about five months. From the legislature to covert censorship regulatory structures there is a high cost for free expression and press freedom in Cameroon.
Working conditions of Journalists
Journalists in Cameroon work under precarious conditions. Their salaries are not only low–approximately 50000 Central African Francs (some 800 SEK) per month but are not regular. It is common to find media houses owing journalist up to six months of salaries. Worse still many work without an employment contract. They work for long hours and struggle to obtain work equipment such as tape recorders, cameras, headphones, and desktop computers. Internet facilities are a luxury in some newsrooms. Under such conditions it is difficult for journalist to be able to independently carry out investigations without being influenced by politicians and event organisers. It is common practice to find journalists hang around event venues, waiting to collect ‘transport money’ popularly called ‘gombo’ to enable them return to their newsrooms.
Also, a majority of journalists in the private sector are not affiliated to the National Social Insurance Fund,NSIF, and thus are not entitled to any pension or medical coverage . Although private media owners are expected to make such contributions for their staff, many fail to do so and the government is not mounting any pressure to fulfill their obligation.
We have living examples. I know of a journalist who worked for a private radio and television station in Cameroon, without an employment contract and no enrolment at the social insurance fund for seven years:( 2006-2013). Her employment contract was just a verbal agreement and like in many media organizations, any attempt to demand that her rights as a worker be respected was faced with threats of suspension or dismissal.
The journalists and their trade unions seem powerless when it comes to ensure that the rights of journalist are respected. In 2009, the Cameroon Journalist Trade Union, CJTU, proposed what was referred to as a collective convention for journalists. The document which was some sort of pressure for the government to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement between employers and journalist in order to improve the latter’s working conditions and career has not been signed 12 years after. Some employers who spoke under conditions of anonymity argued that they cannot sign such an agreement unless the government guarantees some form of tax cuts and customs duty exemptions on materials such as newsprint. Without the implementation of the proposal, journalists in Cameroon are yet to dream of a day where they can live fulfilled lives.
A brief survey conducted during this investigation revealed that there is a great difficulty to have an independent media. The twelve journalists who responded described their working conditions as deplorable. Only three respondents were affiliated to the National Social Insurance Fund. Four had employment contracts and all of them were of the opinion that the collective bargaining convention could be a part of the solution to the problem they are facing as media practitioners.
Cameroon’s media will continue to lag if key issues such as production costs, government’s patronage through financial aid, access to state information, and adequate training of journalists are not addressed. Without these steps, the people of Cameroon will continue to be deprived of their right to critical, reliable information, and a variety of opinions. In such a situation, it goes without saying that public officials would continue to escape scrutiny and the accountability that only a free and vibrant press can demand.
Photo Credit:Online publications
