GEF's Outlook

Le Messager, Tax Bills, Media Entrepreneurship and the Cameroonian Appetite for Celebration

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.

The News Media and the Pope in Cameroon

By George Esunge Fominyen

The Pope has left and Cameroon is not so hot in the news anymore. That is the way news organisations work. Still, it was fun to read distant papers like the Seattle Times mentioning Cameroon. And I'm still to get over some of the interesting, absurd (would you say bizzare?) stories that popped-up in relation to this Papal visit. From the controversy on condoms and the spread of HIV, through echoes of Cameroon's First Lady's head gear at the welcome ceremony to maize named after the Pontiff.  Here's how the media covered Pope Benedict XVI in Cameroon...

Timothy Kasolo: Journalists Need to be Trained to Blog

By George Esunge Fominyen

Timothy Kasolo is a Zambian journalist cum entrepreneur cum blogger. He was recently in Dakar to collect an award (coupled with a $2000 cheque) on behalf of lusakatimes.com. This online/citizen media  project had won the prize for the Best African Civil Society Organization’s Blog in the Waxal Blogging Africa Awards.

The ceremony included a debate on the marriage between blogging and journalism. So how do the likes of Timothy deal with this union? I stole into Timothy's time at the reception (with clicking plates and spoons in the background) for a conversation on the matter. One thing he said was that journalists need to be trained to be good bloggers but started by introducing lusakatimes.com...

Timothy Waxal Award Winner.mp3 -

Conversation With...Rosebell kagumire -Award Winning Journalist-Blogger

By George Esunge Fominyen

Rosebell Kagumire, winner of the  Waxal Award for Best English-Speaking African journalist's blog, says ordinary Africans can use blogging to change people's perception of Africa. She spoke to me after receiving her award in Dakar, Senegal on Monday, 9 March 2009.

This investigative journalist for "The Independent" news magazine in Kampala - Uganda thinks if blogging is made close to everyone in Africa it could serve as a counterweight to the depiction of Africa by international media like the CNN and the BBC as a place of suffering, despair and poverty. She supposes it might even make these media view Africa differently.

My conversation with Rosebell also delved into the difference between blogging and journalism and how she copes with both caps...

Best English Journalist Blogger - Rosabell Kagumire

Bomb Scare at Douala Airport?!

George Esunge Fominyen

Rather unusual occurrences have been replete in Cameroon in 2008. The most recent is this reported bomb scare on an Air France flight on the night of Monday 22 to Tuesday 23 at the Douala International Airport.

Freedom of Expression Discussed at PIWA Workshop

By George Esunge Fominyen

The Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) organised a Strategic Workshop on its ICT Programme on 25-27 September 2008. The event brought together ICT experts, communication researchers, bloggers, citizen journalism organisations,and heads of journalism Schools. These are excerpts of discussions on Freedom of Expression and the development of New Media.

Can Citizen Journalists Change the Face of Journalism in Africa?

By George Esunge Fominyen

The African blogosphere is growing each day. Citizens are using cyberspace to report about issues relevant to their lives and breaking news events. They are occupying a space which mainstream media professionals are still to take advantage of. People are increasingly depending on weblogs to satisfy their thirst for information and the need to communicate (interact). Will this citizen journalism kill the trade as we know? Does this new breed of journalists need to be trained? Is there need to regulate their practice? Some ICT experts, communication researchers, bloggers, journalists and media owners discussed these issues at a workshop that held in Dakar in September 2008. Ndesanjo Macha, the sub-saharan Africa editor of Global Voices Online was part of them.  On the sidelines of the workshop he shared his views on the matter in a conversation with me...

Masha on gef outlook - gef

Cape Verde versus Cameroon: For Heaven's Sake Where Did These Guys See Nkong?

On 6 September 2008, Cameroon's Indomitable Lions beat Cape Verde 2-1 in Praia. The victory enables Cameroon to qualify to the next stage of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Cameroon's winning goal was scored by Somen Achoyi who came in as a substitute to earn his first national team cap in style. But by some miracle most foreign media reports said the goal was scored by Alain Nkong...?

A Letter to Charly Ndi Chia: President of the Cameroon Union of Journalists

By George Esunge Fominyen

Dear Uncle Charly,

I gather congratulations are in order! On 12 July 2008 you became the president of the Cameroon Union of Journalists (CUJ)! Accept, dear Uncle, my hearty albeit belated wishes of success. I am sure you would remember that we whiffed over this possibility the last time we met face-to-face. Based on the ideas you espoused, my friends from overseas had felt you could be the man for the job. I shall do well to inform them that you finally docked your reservations and took the plunge into this boiling water.

Eto’o, the Indomitable Lions, Cameroonian Journalists and Journalism

By George Esunge Fominyen

  The African qualifiers to the 2010 World Cup have started. In their opening match, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions beat the Cape Verde national team 2-0. This victory was over-shadowed by the row between the Cameroonian players and sports reporters. The height of which saw Samuel Eto’o physically assault Bony Phillipe (a reporter working for RTS radio) at a bungled press conference in Yaounde. There are two ways of analyzing this fracas between the star “Lion” and the press. Route 1: Eto’o was wrong and should be punished. Route 2: Cameroonian journalists merit such disrespect because they brought this upon themselves.