29 Final Project
nyamungusha2
Censorship In Cameroon: Freedom of Press and Expression
I think it’s always interesting to live in a country and not know anything that goes on in the country. I grew up in Cameroon and for a long time, I admired Paul Biya (current president), not knowing that he wasn’t a good president at all. The treatment of the people under his leadership, regarding censorship, freedom of press and expression are not the best. Censorship is the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, news, films etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable or a threat to security. When looking at censorship in the case of Cameroon, all the media outlets can publish what they want, when they want. But as we dig deeper, we’re able to see that, that is not the case. Cameroon has a reputation with not only censorship and how difficult it is for publishers and companies to publish but also harassing journalist in a way that is very threatening.
After colonisation, Cameroon’s first president Ahmadou Ahidjo served for 22 years (1960-1982). Many citizens knew that corruption was going on even though he always tried to deny that fact. “Many of the immediate post-independence leaders, such as Nkrumah of Ghana, Ahmadou Ahidjo of Cameroon, Nyerere of Tanzania and Touré of guinea, opted for one-party political systems with strong central governments, with virtually no devolution of power to local political jurisdictions, a process that effectively deprived people at the local level of the opportunity to participate in public policy” (Fombad, 211). I think this evidence shows how Ahmadou Ahidjo, from the beginning of his term, decided to make decisions on the country and what goes on in the country by himself. Not only did he continue his term this way for 22 years, but it went into the next leader who was his apprentice at the time, Paul Biya. After the death of Ahmadou Ahidjo, Paul Biya took over in 1982 (and is still president now) and the “dictatorship” or better yet, one-party rule continued with him. “It was subjected to a quarter of a century of stern dictatorship under Ahmadou Ahidjo. This was continued under his successor Paul Biya, until political agitation in 1990 forced him out of one-party slumber onto the multi- party bandwagon” (Fombad, 211). So, as we can see, Cameroon is fairly known in practicing democracy (or so they say).
Democracy has always been the go-to political system that leaders in Africa proclaim, because they see that the U.S is doing it, so they just say their country is democratic when I reality it is not practicing the benefits of democracy.” Contemporary experience shows that the term ‘democracy’ itself, which ordinarily has a wide variety of connotations and emotive associations, has been much abused” (Fombad, 212). Many political leaders in Africa coined democracy for their countries but still proceed on to do the same they were doing (corruption). Democracy is a diversion, and gives the people of said country, false hope in letting them think that they have “freedom” in things when they do not.
In October 2016, the government of Cameroon was getting a lot of criticism on social media for the way they handled a train accident that happened in a small town, which claimed the lives of more than 80 people and injured 600. The government’s response toward the backlash was that social media is dangerous and from then, the state-controlled newspaper ‘Cameroon Tribune’ and said “social media was fast becoming a threat to peace and a secret instrument of manipulation, advancing character destruction, destabilization of public opinion and deformation of facts among others’ (global voices,). So, in this instance we’re able to see that the Cameroonian government had total control of the press and especially what they could and could not publish.
In November 2016, protests broke out against French rule in Cameroon’s English speaking, northwest and southwest regions. “Protesters amplified demands by Anglophone lawyers and teachers to have the common law and English education system in their regions” (global voice). The protesters relied heavily on social media, specifically Facebook to mobilize and inform people about what was going on in Cameroon. The government didn’t like what the protesters were doing, and it led to a 3-year separatists war against the English-speaking part of Cameroon and the French speaking part as well. “Clashes between separatist groups and state police and military have led to at least 2,000 deaths and about 500,000 people displaced.” This was the beginning of everything, because after this separatist war, in January 2017, the nation of West Africa shut down the internet in the English-speaking regions for one year (until March 2018). I believe that this crisis was an important crisis in Cameroon because it showed how much the government wanted to undermine the people’s freedom to express themselves with the internet.
I think it’s important to know this background information about Cameroon because from the start of the independence to the Anglophone crisis; we can see that although Cameroon declares that they are a democratic country and “practice” democracy. It is not shown at all, especially after this crisis. Cameroon government sees the internet as a dangerous place, that influences their citizens opinions and thus proceeds to shut it down. It shows just how much “freedom” the people of Cameroon have within their country. In which censorship was the first thing that Cameroon tried to control, because they know how much of an influence newspaper have on the people. I also believe that the Cameroonians rely heavily on Facebook, because they want to inform people about what is going on in their country; things that their leaders can’t see and want to raise awareness to the situation.
Now getting into the topic of censorship, Cameroon does not allow their citizens to voice their opinions; not just the citizens but also newspapers and journalist as well. Kiven Brenda, a renowned female journalist in Bamenda, talks about how the Northwest Security officials confiscated her laptop for 2 years and she hasn’t received it back. There’s been constant threats on her life which has pushed her to stop writing and stop journalism so that she can remain safe. She says, “My laptop is still at the Judicial Police, seized February 2017. That is my work instrument where I stored all my data. I lost them all as I am not sure the laptop will ever be returned to me again.” Also, another example to focus on would be, Atia Tilarious in Buea. He spent 8 months in the prison of Yaoundé for simply being a journalist; he also focuses on how every journalist is considered a “potential” terrorist as the government uses the anti-terrorism law to silence the press. Atia says,” We focus more on what the armed groups and soldiers have done, but we fail to present the picture of the suffering masses. Those whose houses have been burned, destroyed, families killed, what has become of them, it’s a difficult thing for journalists to cover at this age and I think there is much more we must be doing.” I think it’s important to see that, the anglophone crisis created a huge problem with the northwest and southwest regions but also took away the rights of journalists, who now must hide in order to stay alive.
Charles Fombad says, “Freedom of expression is not only a fundamental human right but also constitutes one of the essential elements in the establishment of a democratic society. No country can seriously profess to be a democracy, or pretend to be making efforts towards this, if its citizens cannot freely express their opinions.” I agree with this quote, because Cameroon is considered as a democratic country, and yet these journalists in the North and Southwest regions can’t not only express themselves but publish what is going on in their country. It’s important to note that censorship plays an important role in African society because that is how most people can get information on these countries. But if nobody knows that this is still going on in Cameroon, they can’t help them. Therefore, people are being detained, people are scared to publish and even write because they are fearing their lives, which they shouldn’t have too because it’s a “democratic” country. “Prior censorship or pre-publication review and approval… as regards the first, Section 14 obliges each press organ to submit signed copies or brush-proofs of its papers to the administrative authorities, four hours before their circulation for a weekly, and two hours for a daily. The entire newspaper or part of it may be ‘censored’ where ‘there is conflict with the principles of public policy’” (Fombad, 215). So, I we can see here, the administration is providing a very controlling schedule on how before publishing companies publish their work, they must run it through them first. While comparing that to the U.S, people can publish whatever they want; thus, freedom of press. This is something that the administration of Cameroon felt was necessary for their country that is democratic. Limiting freedom of press, speech and expression does not count as democratic and never has been.
Lastly, one more story that I wanted to include was that of Tsi Conrad. He is a 35-year-old journalist, documentary filmmaker and a human rights defender from Bamenda. He was arrested in December of 2016 for reporting a demonstration where the security forces reportedly shot at the demonstrators. After months of what amounts to harassment by the Cameroonian authorities for his journalistic work, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison; for “acts of terrorism, secession, spreading false information, revolution, insurrection, contempt for public bodies and officials and hostility against the nation. These citizens and journalists are fighting for their lives every day, and yet no one is hearing them. So many people are in prison in Cameroon because they chose to express themselves; they chose to do their job as a journalist ad now are being sentenced or dragged out of their house for such things.
Now, in 2023 it doesn’t look like much has changed. People are still being detained wrongfully and being accused of being “terrorists” simply because they expressed themselves and were doing their jobs. Censorship in Cameroon is a big problem, especially in the Northwest and Southwest regions. People are not being given the right to free press, speech or expression; even though that is what the country is supposed to stand for. Journalists are risking their lives to let us know what is going on in their country and just maybe, we can be able to help in some way. To conclude, when we go back to the beginning of Cameroon and their independence, the idea to “allow” citizens to have freedom of press and expression was already set in stone. The president wanted to undermine the rights of the people, while also trying to make them think that they have a say in anything but that’s wrong. To recite: censorship is the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, news, films, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable or a threat to security. Cameroon puts on a face by claiming to be a democracy in which people have the rights to express themselves and publish what they want. But inwardly, as we dig further, the more of a mess Cameroon is when it comes to freedom of rights for its people. We must be able to be aware of the things going on around the world, and not remain oblivious to them.
Works Cited:
“Free People Detained for Expressing Their Opinions in Cameroon.” Amnesty International, 29 Jan. 2022, https://www.amnesty.org/en/petition/free-people-detained-for-expressing-their-opinions-in-cameroon/.
Fombad, Charles Manga. “Freedom of Expression in the Cameroonian Democratic Transition.” The Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, 1995, pp. 211–226., https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x00021030.
Daniel, Ekonde. “Cameroon’s 3-Year Separatist Crisis: Online Threats, Attacks on Identity and Freedom of Expression.” Global Voices Advox, 18 May 2020, https://advox.globalvoices.org/2020/05/18/cameroons-3-year-separatist-crisis-online-threats-attacks-on-identity-and-freedom-of-expression/.
“Netizen Report: The Rising Cost of Cameroon’s Internet Shutdowns.” Global Voices Advox, 16 May 2019, https://advox.globalvoices.org/2018/02/02/netizen-report-the-rising-cost-of-cameroons-internet-shutdowns/.
Mbaku, John Mukum, and Joseph Takougang. The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon under Paul Biya. Africa World Press, 2004.