Ernest Sumelong
3 April 2008
Territorial Administration and Decentralisation Minister, Mafara Hamidou Yaya, Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV, and the bilingual daily, Cameroon Tribune will April 29, appear in the Yaounde Central Magistrate Court to answer charges of defamation, The Post has learned.
The Social Democratic Front, SDF, is suing, following an apparent public statement made by the Marafa to the effect that the National Chairman of the SDF, John Fru Ndi, was seen with a convict in his car during the recent nationwide upheaval.
The party is also suing the Publisher of Cameroon Tribune, Marie Claire Nana, and a journalist of the daily tabloid, Mondo Bakoa Josue, the writer of the article that imputed allegations of abetting violence against the SDF leader.
The Post learned that the various parties involved in the matter have been served with summonses.After the recent national unrest, Minister Marafa, in a public statement over the government controlled medium, CRTV, blamed the SDF for the upheavals, alleging that Fru Ndi was seen with a convict during the protest.
On his part, Fru had said during a press conference recently in Yaounde that the statement was meant to sully his image and that of the party. He had challenged the government to arrest him if the claim was credible. He also vowed to drag the Minister to court for defamation. But ever since the allegations were made, the Minister has neither eaten his words nor even slightly budged from his position.
An SDF Counsel, Barrister Boniface Mbah Ndam, told The Post they are suing Cameroon Tribune for publishing an article, which carried what his party sees as the Minister's false claims, and CRTV, the medium used for the said remarks.
The Minister's linking and chiding the SDF for the nationwide unrest seemed to have been government's position on the issue, given that President Biya, in his address to the nation on February 27, insinuated that "certain opposition forces" were seeking power through violent methods, having failed to do so democratically. But many have suggested that the Minister's statements, linking Fru Ndi with a convict, embarrassed even the government.
Meantime, the party also sued elite of Mfoundi Division of the Centre Province, reportedly for inciting hatred and ethnic cleansing, The Post gathered. After the February violence, Mfoundi elite, among them serving and former Ministers, issued a declaration dubbed "The Mfoundi Declaration", calling for war against those they termed ungrateful trouble making strangers.
They claimed the "strangers" had caused violence on their land and that they were advocating "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" action against the "ingrates". But not long after the declaration, some of the supposed signatories, one of them, the Government Delegate to the Yaounde City Council, began distancing themselves from it, claiming that the said explosive document was signed in error.
It is worth noting that it is about the first time the SDF or any opposition party in the country is suing a minister, in spite of several threats. But fears are rife that the action of the party might come to nought, since it is believed that the judiciary is a mere toy in the hands of the administration.
On how far the SDF would go with the case, Barrister Mbah Ndam said it is an ordinary case of defamation, which the Minister and others would have to answer. He elected to say little on the case but confirmed that the parties in the case have been served and are expected to appear in court on April 29.
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