Southern Cameroons Congress of the People Reacts to the Creation of ABC Amba TV

The Southern Cameroons Congress of the People (SCCOP) has welcomed the announcement by the Interim Government of Ambazonia, creating a state-owned satellite television – ABC Amba tv. In a press released signed by its Spokesperson, Dr. G Fohtung, the organization salutes particularly;

“… the simplicity, lucidity and honesty that was contained in that announcement, and the explanations provided. We must never relent in our efforts to re-educate our people to begin to expect truth in simplicity from their leadership. We salute this announcement because through this action, our revolution has registered one more victory towards the empowerment of our Fourth Estate, a diversified and engaging media space.”

SCCOP, in the press release extols the importance of the Fourth Estate (or fourth power) (news media or press) as a segment of society that wields a significant influence on society especially in information dissemination and the democratization process.

“As we all know Freedom of expression is important for democracy, because it enables the public to participate in making decisions based on the free flow of information and ideas. Without it, people would be unable to make informed decisions.” The release stated.

The release goes further to state examples of official/public/government friendly media houses that follow an editorial policy to suite a specific policy agenda such as; CNN which is Pro-Democrats, Fox News- Pro-Republicans, Russia Today -Pro-Kremlin.

Consequently, “it is it is totally OK for ABC Amba TV to be a Pro IG News outlet that will advance an IG-Centric narrative in favour of our revolution. We encourage our people to support this initiative as we continue to support and strengthen this Interim Government.”

SCCOP therefore calls on the people of Ambazonia not to however forget that the SCBC, which has been the nightmare of the Yaoundé Regime, leading to many high level diplomatic initiatives by the colonial regime seeking to shut down the channel. The staff and board of the SCBC therefore have a vision to professionalize it and improve its service to the Ambazonian people and beyond.

“Therefore, the Congress of the People calls upon all Ambazonians to massively support the SCBC board and management to take this channel to the next level. We all attest to the fabulous job they have been doing; SCBC can finally become the people’s channel in ownership and management, developing an editorial policy that fosters unity amongst our people and strengthens our revolution. We therefore invite our people to examine the sustainability model they will propose and massively support them so that together we can give LRC a double-Nightmare. We will be running campaigns and mobilizing our people from far and wide to support and keep the SCBC alive.”

“The journey towards the creation of a vibrant, democratic and developed state of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia has entered full gear as we come of age and make these significant strides towards developing a vibrant media space. Competition (of ideas as in the case of goods and services) and contestation (engaging with diversified views all intended to advance our struggle) is not only a sign of maturity but can be healthy once certain rules of engagement are respected. Our people will be offered a diversity of products to enrich their consumption experience and will simply vote with their wallets to continue supporting the media outlet that is meeting their expectations.” The release noted.

The management and executive board of SCBC, recently had series of disagreement with the Communications Department of the IG, relating to the ownership and editorial policies if the television. This has led to the creation of the ABC AMBA TV by the IG as an exclusively state-own television.

James Agbor