By George Esunge Fominyen
Last week the offices of Le Messager newspaper were sealed by local taxation services in Douala for unpaid taxes.
"We were accused of arrears of 1.4 million CFA francs," Pius Njawe, the publisher, told a news conference in Douala. "That amount is nothing in comparism to the bill of 12 million CFA francs that we are owed by the Ministry of Finance, (which is the titular head of the taxation department) and other parastatals, "Njawe said.
He has decided to pay the tax bill only after the Ministry of Finance pays up what they owe Le Messager as dues for adverts and announcements.He plans to protest at the Ministry of Finance.
The veteran newspaperman believes the decision to seal his business is an act of sabotage meant to discredit Le Messager which has planned a big celebration of its 30 years of existence in November with many international guests in attendance.
However, with all due respect for what Le Messager and Pius Njawe have achieved in the quest for freedom of expression in Cameroon, there is something odd about this palaver.
Celebrating in crisis
Le Messager is currently facing dire financial times. Pius Njawe himself said the paper has been unable to pay the salaries of its workers for three months (six months according to some workers). Some of the workers have left or been sacked.
This is due to the drop in sales, fall in advertising revenue, unpaid bills by the state for official announcements, the exclusion of Le Messager from advertising and promotional campaigns by some companies due to the paper's editorial stance, as well as the effects of the financial crisis.
"We asked [the taxation service] for a moratorium," Njawe told Cameroon Tribune on Friday 25 September. "We even offered to pay 100,000 CFA Francs to show our good faith, time enough to tackle the situation we find ourselves, but they refused our proposal," Njawe said.
Difficult to tell why the taxation people were not understanding. The financial challenges of independent newspapers in Africa are well documented. Globally, the economic crisis has led to cuts in media staffing and newspapers are folding up.For instance, Cameroon's English Language tri-weekly, the Herald, seems to have shut down since its staff went of strike in May 2009 because of unpaid salaries.
But.... And this is a big BUT... What is mind-warping is the fact that Pius Njawe prefers to spend money and sponsorship to organise a big 30th anniversary bash instead of paying his employees or his taxes.
Is it another example of that great Cameroonian love for celebration, no matter what difficulties we are faced with?
How different is this from Cameroonian authorities who supposedly organised a 100 million FCFA party to welcome a football coach to Cameroon when there are other national teams that cannot even afford a bus to a training camp?
Njawe must have a plan "B"
Pius Njawe is such a veteran of confrontation with the powers that be in Cameroon that one would suspect he has something up his sleeves with this taxation matter. Is it a tactic to draw attention to government's unpaid bills?
This is the man who on 27 December 1997, was arrested and detained for 10 days after publishing (under a pen name) an article alleging that President Paul Biya had suffered from a health malaise; was subsequently tried and fined to pay 500,000 for not disclosing his source and sentenced to two years' imprisonment before a Presdential clemency freed him in October 1998.
It is the same Njawe who was tried alongside Celestin Monga in 1990 and given a suspended sentence of six months for publishing an article deemed offensive to the President of the Republic and parliament.
When you listen to him recount stories of how in the ebbing 1970s and throughout the 80s and 90s they played cat and mouse games with administrative authorities to either escape from official censorship or prevent their copies from being siezed, it is hard not to admire Pius Njawe.
Sadly times have changed since start of the 21st century. Le Messager is no longer the leading (Francophone) private newspaper in Cameroon. Mutations and Le Jour (which split from Mutations) are the today's torchbearers.
Is that why Njawe cannot even find trustees to put together 1.4 million FCFA to pay his taxes? I doubt that. Else, how could he find sponsors to support his planned 30th anniversary celebrations from 14 to 20 November? Or do we prefer to support celebrations than to maintain businesses?
What this imbroglio exposes
Whatever emerges as explanation from both sides, this strory lends credit to claims that doing business in Cameroon is tough. It presents the State of Cameroon as a foul debtor that does not pay its bills - no matter how small (12 million FCFA in this case). As a result small and medium size enterprises that deal with her (the state) are unable to survive - cannot pay workers or run properly.
It is also a pointer to the pauperisation of the journalist in Cameroon or what Francis Nyamnjoh describes as "hand-to-mouth" journalism in Africa (in Africa's Media - Democracy and Politics of Belonging). When professionals have to go for 3-6 months without a salary, either they have other jobs from which they survive or they make ends meet by living on hand-outs (aka Gombo) from events organisers . In Nyamnjoh's words, "any bit of money can lure a journalist to write anything, including blackmail."
In addition, there is the worrying issue of the business model of media organisations in Cameroon (especially if one throws the case of the Herald into the equation). Is the Cameroonian newspaper, radio or TV station an enterprise with a clear business plan including strategies for profitability and sustainability? Or it is an advocacy tool for idealistic men and women with a dream of change who fold up when they run out of pocket money?
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