The Presidency of the Republic is leaving no stone unturned. The government of Paul Biya is not taking any chances. Gradually, the government of Biya is trying to be susceptible to Cameroonians. BaretaNews has the feelings that the android generation is getting into the skin of Paul Biya. We are seeing how active the President Facebook page has become, he engages albeit slowly with the Cameroons People. We have seen how the President has been trying to woo youth by offering laptops to University students. BaretaNews is confident that all these are geared towards the 2018 Presidential elections.
A confidential communiqué has been leaked to BaretaNews. The communiqué from the Presidency of the Republic signed by the Secretary General on 5th April 2016, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh is addressed to the Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s office giving firm instructions on Government directives. The communiqué gave firm instructions to the Prime Minister to ensure that government ministries and institutions should hence be aggressive in communication with the Cameroonian people. The communique further stated that government ministries must hence explain government actions and make information more accessible to Journalists and the media.
BaretaNews recalls that Cameroun Journalists lack access to information. The government of Paul Biya is too secretive when it comes to giving Cameroun journalists access to information. Information that could lead the journalists to objectively report, investigate and hold government officials accountable. This has been lacking in the Cameroons. The recent decision which was marked confidential is meant for the Government institutions and Ministers to loosen up and provide information to Journalists. It seems the government intends to use Cameroon journalists to sell its image both home and abroad. Worthy of note is that the government knows they have no power to control social media thus loosening up to journalists might be a good way to woo the journalists to play the PR role. CRTV and State run radios is not enough. The regime needs private journalists hence.
BaretaNews speaking to STV Journalist and social critic Mr. Peter Nsoesie, he rubbishes the government moves and wrote ” I think that Biya is pulling a stunt as elections draw near. He wants all government structures to start publicizing all that they do around government actions. And many journalists will be caught in his web. Hence becoming PR officers for these structures. This is not the information we want, one that glorifies the system. We need a freedom of information act which compels officials to be accountable to the masses through the press. If Biya is so upbeat about this then the press must be allowed to probe into the functioning of public structures. The Press must have access to official information so they can trace their governance. In this way, the press will play its role of holding officials accountable. Nonetheless, we can turn this other form of a campaign to our advantage by questioning them. We must take on the relay from their publicity investigate and dig deeper to justify the veracity of what they say. In that way, we can set the agenda and leave the public the make their choice ”
BaretaNews calls on Cameroun journalists to use this information for the good of the Cameroonian people and do everything in their power to wade off any games and/or corruption the government might want them to engage just in a bid to protect the image of Biya and CPDM.
God is still saying something.
