Cameroon: Communication minister abandons private media

Jean Pierre Biyiti bi Essam, the controversial minister of Communication, of the republic of Cameroon, believes only government-run media organs, such as CRTV and Cameroon Tribune, are doing a good job.

By Yemti Harry Ndienla

Bi Essam, who seems to be having problems with the private media told public audio-visual media executives from Francophone countries during the opening of a conference in Yaounde, that private media in Cameroon are very unprofessional.
That private media organ frequently misleads the public through false information and sensationalism because of their quest for profit.
This unprofessional attitude of the private media, the minister said, has created a vacuum which the public media needs to fill. He did not say exactly what vacuum had been created.
Biyiti bi Essam challenged the conference participants who were meeting under the theme: “Public media, the stakes and challenges of new governance”, to define new orientations that will make for more viable public service broadcasting in Francophone countries.
While stating that Cameroon was following a gradual but sure democratic process, the country’s Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni, intimated that Cameroon government was determined to assist the public audio visual media to promote key values like good governance, democracy, human rights and the fight against poverty which are highly needed in the country and called on the media to be a strong force in the promotion of moral awareness.
However the prime minister regretted that Cameroon’s social, political, economic and cultural values have been undermined by many Cameroonians due to the new information and communication technologies.