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Cameroon: Setting Records Straight
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Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé)
21 April 2008
Posted to the web 21 April 2008
Tche Irene Morikang
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, Ephraim Inoni, on Thursday April 17, 2008, opened up to the British Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC. The exclusive interview was part of a special report on Cameroon on the occasion of the launching of a BBC FM relay station in Garoua.
In the interview, broadcast over the BBC on Friday, April 18, the Premier, in total spontaneity and nimbleness, responded to scores of questions from BBC reporters in both English and French. The Interview, which was later on broadcast over the Cameroon Radio and Television, CRTV, gave a bird's eye view of the prevailing socio-political situation in Cameroon, as well as threw light on some government policies and actions. No stone was left unturned. Even taboo subjects such as the G11, the Albatros affair, the "plethoric" cabinet portfolios, rumours of an imminent cabinet reshuffle...were brought up.
That the Prime Minister, Head of Government, decided to grant the interview in the first place is laudable. It translates government's resolve to communicate more and dispel rumours by giving the story from the horse's own mouth. Thanks to the Premier's interview Cameroonians, as well as millions of BBC listeners, got precise information on several issues fuelling the rumour machinery on Cameroon. These include: the recent constitutional amendment, the fight against corruption, putting in place of ELECAM, the deployment of troops in some major towns, actions to curb price hikes, the sustainability of the measure to increase salaries of civil servants...
In effect, the option of the government to communicate more can be traced to recent instructions from the Head of State, Paul Biya, calling on members of government not only to work harder, but also to make known what they were doing. The President himself, set the example in October last year when he granted an interview to the French television channel, France 24. Since then, several members of government have taken the bull by the horns by reaching out to the public.
The obligation for government to communicate accentuated with the social upheavals of last February. After the incident, the government of Cameroon opted to make itself understood, both at home and abroad. Natural. Nature abhors vacuum. And in times of crises, any communication deficit can be easily filled with counter information. The last couple of months have therefore been the most "communicative". The Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation threw light on the possible causes of the incident, the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals made known the legal actions taken against the perpetuators of the acts of vandalism that characterised the protests, while the Minister of Commerce has been keeping the public informed on measures taken to ensure the drop in the prices of basic commodities such as fish, rice, flour, oil, chicken, salt, sugar, dairy and agricultural products, beef, pork and building materials.
The Minister of External Relations, on his part, has been receiving heads of diplomatic missions resident in Yaounde to brief them on the socio-political situation in the country. Normal. We are in a global village, what is happening in Cameroon has a direct repercussion on the country's image abroad and even bilateral relations with other nations. Added to these, are the numerous interviews granted by members of government to national and international media.
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It's an honourable move. Rather than wait to allow rumours spread like wild fir, rather than wait to counter and dissipate wrong information, it is honourable for the government to persist in this option. We are in a communication era. One might have all the good intentions, all the ideas and projects, but if the target population is not aware of what is being done or what is in the pipeline for them, the efforts are as good as inexistent.
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