Minister's claim that Cameroon has no jailed journalists is completely wrong

By Amindeh Blaise Atabong*

Yaounde, Cameroon - Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Minister of Communication, has once more maintained that no journalist is detained in Cameroon or has been arrested for their work, even as there is a plethora of impeccable evidence to prove the contrary. Tchiroma, who assumes the responsibility of government spokesman, has repeatedly claimed Cameroon is among the freest countries on the continent in terms of press freedom, and that journalists go about their job freely, without government reprisal. People wouldn't even believe him if he said the truth, at least in the last two years.

A mountain of evidence points to two facts: Journalists have been arrested and detained for months for regular journalism practice and Cameroon has been ranked very low by different press freedom perception indexes.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Minster of Communication in one of his press outings.

On May 2, 2017, Minister Tchiroma declared over the state broadcaster CRTV that no journalist was held in Cameroon for their work. Much earlier on February 15, 2017, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists that government was completely transparent and people could easily speak up their minds. Tchiroma was categorical that no journalist was in prison in Cameroon and that journalist should not “pretend to be arrested for their work.” He had made same claims to reporters during a press conference in the nation’s capital Yaounde, prior to the subsequent declarations.

The government minister may have gotten his fact wrong for one reason – most journalists who are arrested and detained are usually not formally charged over long periods. This is in gross violation of portions of Section 119 of Cameroon’s Criminal Procedure Code which stipulate that the time allowed for remand in custody shall not exceed 48 hours, renewable

once.

But by the time Tchiroma was making his claim, Radio France Internationale's Hausa service reporter, Ahmed Abba had been held incommunicado for close to three years after being arrested in Maroua for covering the activities of the terrorist group Boko Haram. He was later charged of “non-denunciation of terrorism” and “laundering of the proceeds of terrorist acts,” and sentenced to 10 years in prison on terrorism charges. Only an appeal saw his release in late 2017.

Arrests of journalists and confirmations

On February 9, 2017, three journalists were arrested in Buea: Amos Fofung Nkonchoh, South West/Littoral bureau chief of The Guardian Post daily newspaper; Atia Tilarious Azohnwi, political desk editor of The Sun weekly newspaper; and Mofor Ndong, publisher of Voice of the Voiceless newspaper. They were first detained at the Molyko and Buea Town police stations in Buea, before being transferred to the judicial police headquarters in Yaounde. The journalists were subsequently transferred to the Yaounde central prison in Kondengui.

Authorisation issued by Yaounde Military Tribunal to visit journalist detained in prison

After the journalists were arrested and detained, Minister Tchiroma still claimed no journalists was in detention for their work. Yet, by February 20, 2017, an official government body - the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms (NCHRF) - had declared that at least five journalists were under arrest.

When this reporter approached authorities to ascertain the whereabouts of the journalists, the military prosecutor of the Yaounde Military Tribunal issued him an authorisation on July 13, 2017, to visit one of the journalists, Atia Tilarious Azohnwi, in prison. This attested to the effective detention of the journalist. Upon visiting the detention facility, this reporter realised at least four other journalists to include Thomas Awah Junior of Aghem Messenger magazine, Hans Achumba of Jakiri Community Radio and Tim Finnian of Life Time newspaper were also under detention. 

Discharge order of journalist issued by prison administrators

This reporter visited the detained journalists on at least three occasions when they were held. On one occasion, journalist Amos Fofung told this reporter he was really never ‘arrested’ in the first place. “I was invited to give a statement and return home but when I got there, the police commissioner told me it was late and I could only return the next day. But it never happened until months passed by,” Amos narrated. He disclosed that it is difficult to disassociate his arrest from his work.

Since the arrest and detention of the journalists, this reporter has addressed two correspondences to the minister of communication to find out if he still stood by his claims. But the minister would not respond to any. Before the close of the year 2017, some of the detained journalists were released on separate occasions, after having spent over six months in prison ‘awaiting’ trial which never came. While others stayed back, this reporter obtained release orders issued by penitentiary authorities for some of the freed journalists.

After some of the journalists were released, Minister Tchiroma still had time to tweet on September 20, 2017: “In Cameroon, there's no risk in practising journalism or voicing one's political views.” Tchiroma’s statement is not factual as there are so many pressures and constraints on journalists and most are too intimidated to voice out threats to their practice. The minister also basks on the multiplicity of fragile media organs to mean press freedom.

One of two correspondences addressed to the Minister of Communication still awaiting response

Cameroon ranks low

Minister Tchiroma may be among the isolated number of Cameroonians who hold that there is press freedom in the country. Cameroon finds itself at the bottom position of different press freedom rankings. On Reporters Without Borders’ 2018 World Press Freedom index, Cameroon is ranked 129 out of 180 with a score of 40.92. Don’t think the situation was any better the previous years.

Freedom of journalists in Cameroon is also under threat. Freedom House rates Cameroon as ‘Not Free’ in terms of press freedom. In Cameroon, journalists’ best effort can often be thwarted by government repression, unlike the ungrounded claims made by the government spokesman.

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This story was first published in the print edition of NewsWatch newspaper on Monday July 23, 2018.

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*Amindeh Blaise Atabong is an investigative journalist based in Yaounde, Cameroon. He has reported extensively on cross-border conflicts, civil unrest, elections, governance and other topics from Cameroon, Central Africa Republic and Nigeria.