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Cameroon - Radio and TV liberalised at last!
MEDIA
Private radio and television stations may from now on broadcast in Cameroon,
10 years after the vote for the law on the liberalisation of social communications
On 3 April 2000, the Prime Minister, Peter Mafany Musunge, astonished more than one commentator by signing Decree number 2000/158, setting the conditions and methods for creating and operating private television and radio communications companies. The new communications minister, Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo, was probably not familiar with this text, since four days earlier he had set up a «technical committee» responsible for polishing up this Decree, and had set a deadline of six months to supply the finished version. The «technical committee» was consigned to oblivion therefore, and the minister was said to be pleased with the «speedy and positive» turn of events.
In actual fact, some people were surprised at the slowness of the authorities in publishing the Decree to implement the law passed ten years earlier by the National Assembly. The Decree, lifting the monopoly held by Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV), the government-controlled company, had been expected ever since the promulgation of law Number 90/052 of 19 December 1990, on The Liberalisation of the Communications Media. During this time, the government made good use of evasive tactics to avoid being committed to an uncertain route, even though public opinion was strongly in favour of it, as people more and more turned their backs on the CRTV in favour of cable operators, carrying Western TV channels.
Reactions
On behalf of the Cameroon Union of Journalists (UJC), its secretary-general, André Parfait Bell, was thrilled by «the fact that the government had finally decided to pass the Decree applying the 1990 law, effectively liberalising the audiovisual media». In a memorandum published on 3 May 1999, International Press Freedom Day, the UJC had demanded that the appropriate law should be enacted. The UJC sees in this decision, plus the appointment of journalist-cum-communicator, Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo, as head of the Communications Ministry, as being «elements which may contribute to a significant improvement in the media environment in Cameroon».
Conversely, promoters of former «pirate» radio stations were more cautious in their welcome of the Prime Minister’s Decree. «I wasn’t surprised by this; I have followed its development from beginning to end», stated Joseph Ndi Samba, founder of Radio Télévision Lumière (RTL ), one of the very first to broadcast to Yaoundé and its surrounding area. This channel (radio at the moment) has actually been broadcasting for 14 months, during which time it has spent 11 million CFA francs compared to an income of 3 million. But «this is a trivial sum compared to what the State has asked us to spend: 10 million CFA francs for radio, and 50 million for television», explained the head of RTL . He warned his fellow countrymen: «Anyone who thinks it is good business to start a radio station, will change their minds very quickly. (...) Those who do it under the conditions required by the Prime Minister’s Decree, will never recover their costs».
As regards the charges imposed on the various radio and television categories, all these promoters complained that they were scandalous. «We are an educational radio station, helping the State to train the people. On the other hand, we cannot pay the state, money which we do not receive», declares Father Jean Marie Bodo, founder of a Catholic station, called Radio Reine. In his opinion, reading the text of the law, «it comes across at once as originating from a police State i.e. the State speaks while waving its big stick! This text is very partisan, it has been written with considerable prejudice».
The promoters of the four radio stations already broadcasting to Yaoundé and other towns across the country, have three months to bring themselves into line with the new Decree. The first two, Radio Télévision Lumière and Radio Reine, intend to broadcast nationally.
Questions
Some people also question the role of impartial arbiter, taken on by the Minister of Communications, who is also chair of the CRTV‘s board, and the only person authorised to issue licences on the duly supported recommendation of the National Audiovisual Council. The newspaper, La Nouvelle Expression, in its issue on 5 April, states that after ten years of useless evasive manoeuvres, the government has successfully pulled off the feat of producing a Decree which makes the Minister of Communications both judge and judged. He can suspend or even withdraw the licence from a contract-holder. The Decree states: «The Minister of Communications may order protective measures to ensure public order for protecting the rights of other media operators».
Other details from the Decree can be called into question, especially Article 9, which limits the term of an operator’s licence to five years for radio and ten years for television. In this regard, radio and TV promoters believe that a licence should be issued once and for all. In their opinion, the authorities would like to punish those sections of the Media charged with being «politically incorrect».
For the operating terms of the licence, it is stated that «no physical or legal person may be a shareholder in more than one private audiovisual communications company». This recalls the ban on establishing a Press group. Further explanations indicate that the government is concerned about the purchase or creation of organs of the Press by lobbies who could be «dangerous» for Cameroon’s political life.
The Decree says nothing about the thorny issue of the «special tax» paid by Cameroon’s 16,000 public employees. This tax is set at 7.5% of their monthly salary. At the moment, these deductions are paid to Cameroon Radio and Television, the state channel. According to its director, General Gervais Mendo Ze, «we’re ready to take on all comers because our channel employs the best journalists and technical staff».
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