Mayhem at GBHS Nkambe as Students Go on Strike

 NGEH Lorater

An atmosphere of uncertainties, fears and stale familiarity looms high at Government Bilingual High School Nkambe in Donga Mantung Division of the North West Region. While secondary and high school students nationwide are preparing for the practical part of the General Certificate of Education that kick-start this week, the students of GBHS Nkambe abandoned classes to move into the street today May 6, 2013. The students are reported to have stormed the offices of the Divisional Delegate for Secondary Education and the Senior Divisional Officer to express their worries. Sources confirmed that the students stormed the Divisional Delegation of Secondary Education and later the office of the Senior Divisional officer demanding for the reimbursement of Computer fees of FCFA 3000 each reasons being that they paid the money for computer classes but as the year is ending; some of them have never had an effective computer class. According to what we gathered the students stormed the SDO’s office claiming that they have no Geology teacher, yet had each disbursed a sum of FCFA 5000 each for laboratory tests. Besides, students of the Upper Sixth, we learnt are also crying that as the days approaches for the practical GCE, they have not been able to enter into the lab for lack of gas and chemicals whereas each of them is alleged to have paid FCFA 5000 each to the school administration. They also told the SDO that some of them contributed a widow’s mite for a condolence visit to one of their mates who kicked the pocket, yet the administration has been adamant to carryout the visit.  

Even though the Senior Divisional Officer for Donga Mantung Division, Ngone Ndodemesape tried to clam down flaring tempters, the students we gathered have vowed that if the administration doesn’t take stringent measures, there is going to be a rundown. However, the SDO, we gathered told them to go back to school and their worries will be looked into as soon as possible. Notwithstanding, all attempts to get the Principal of GBHS Nkambe could not yield any fruits. When contacted on phone, the Divisional Delegate for Secondary Education, Njobe Cletus confirmed that truly there was uproar at GBHS Nkambe. He also confirmed the claims tabled by the striking students and added that the hierarchy is aware. The Eye is aware as well that there’s the sparkling spark that has ignited the long accumulated grievances of the students. However, suspicions and alerts abound that GBHS Nkambe may sink into the doldrums any moment, anytime as one of the striking students is alleged to have commented. The most serious threat, we learnt is that if measures are not taken, the school could easily be transformed into a sinkhole for character assassination where teachers pay like Apes for Nuts.

It is aired that the students after the assembly started singing and shouting that the want their money back. Some students we gathered removed the flag that was hoisted. The school administration we gathered was helpless and only begged for the flag to be handed back. This act by students of the Upper Sixth caught the attention of some students of the lower classes who also joined them in the strike. It is alleged some students who were writing the end of year examination were caught by the web and had to miss their examination papers today. Yet, it is alleged that the students have vowed that if the money is not reimbursed, no GCE practical would take place at GBHS Nkambe this year.


When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

An Honest Journalist is Rich-Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle

 By Fai Cassian

Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle Talking to the Press

Speaking to journalists at the Bamenda Congress Hall, Ntumfor Nico Halle, CAMASEJ Patron cum CMF National President applauded journalists for the role the Press has played in the fight against corruption and embezzlement of public funds, the advancement of democracy and in controlling election riggers. Ntumfor Nico Halle in his talk to journalists also outlined that a free Press should also be responsible. He added that the Press should help in building a nation and not vice-versa.  Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle cautioned that “if you seek the Kingdom of money, nothing will come” given that “an honest journalist will always be rich”. Harping on the importance of social communication and responsibility Ntumfor Nico Halle said that “peace” should be the “watch-word” of every journalist. To student journalists, he emphasized that they should make the difference tomorrow.

In his conclusion, he reiterated that journalists should not make themselves vulnerable to the political hawk who intend will destroy them with ill-gotten wealth. He said the Press is not just the fourth estate, but the first estate. To this, he re-echoed that the budget for the Press should normally be voted in Parliament so much so that journalists should not be vulnerable to politicians. 

Other speakers included Tafin Tchitchi, the Regional Delegate of Communication for the North West Region and North West CAMASEJ Chapter President, Comfort Mussa. It should be recalled that even though journalism is quite a risky profession, students of some school journalism clubs in Bamenda as well as student journalists of the National Polytechique in Bamenda were also present to demonstrate their love to contribute in the sector.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

Celebrating the Hard-won and Fragile Press Freedom

 

Fai Cassian  in black, Donat Suffo (Le Messager on my right, Motomu Eric back seat 

Free the press! It is a familiar refrain, one that grows louder year-on-year yet never loses relevancy. Why should a free press even be up for discussion? Are we failing to get the message across?

The simple answer is that the press equals power, and wherever power lies there are those who seek to control or influence it. By nature, a free press is untamed; capable of speaking unfiltered to public opinion, it has always been a vital conduit for free expression.

It has therefore been a constant target.

As we increasingly embrace our digital citizenship, the tyrants who oppose free speech are quickly learning how to act as digital oppressors. Targets are more numerous, attacks more complicated and diverse. Our awareness and vigilance must adjust with similar voracity.

Impunity for the killers of journalists extends also to those who murder bloggers. Censorship does not discriminate between editorial platforms. Prisons are built for those who “offend”, regardless of media.

It is impossible to prevent the oppressors of free speech from eroding our basic freedoms. And they do, as the press freedom indexes show, frequently and without heed for the consequences.

Our right to seek, receive or impart information through any media may be enshrined in international human rights law, yet the media must fight daily to remain a bulwark against intrusions on free speech. As a check on power, an independent press acts as society’s window through which the abuses, digressions, untruths and self-interests of the powerful are revealed for public scrutiny.

According to corrupt governments, violent criminals, and fundamentalists of every description, this window would be better permanently bricked-up.

In Africa as we are commemorating this day, 41 African journalists are in prison, Committee for the Protection of journalists say. In fact, it is stressful that the world continues to see journalism as a threat, I do not know why.

They are detained for telling the truth. It is nothing but that truth that we continue to be good customers of the prison yards.

In Cameroon, the death of Bibi Ngota remains one of those shocking moments of journalism. Yet, and again here comes the National Communication Council whose ax lies on our fore-head waiting for anyone to mimic and learn the worse. The worse is that you are either banned or sealed. Bamenda journalists would always live to remember how the door of Foundation Radio was sealed by the Senior Divisional Officer. It is strange that journalism offers the best opportunity for a job and in the next minute you can find yourself looking for a job because the media outfit has been sealed or closed. It is not only about job security but also it is about the threats of life. Death and more so untimely death.

Wherever you live, whatever you do, pause for a moment and reflect on what kind of a society would be in front of you, were it not for the presence of an inquisitive media.

Who makes decisions on your behalf, and just how transparent is the process?

This, ultimately, is why we defend journalists and a free press worldwide.

Yet the Internet is undeniably raising the stakes. Checks and balances that provide the counterweight to power, of which traditional media were for so long custodians, are shifting rapidly beyond media-defined parameters.

The Internet invites censors into our homes, often unwittingly, and in the process has made freedom of expression a concern for anyone who signs on to social networks, communicates via email, and owns a smartphone or tablet device.

Or at least it should be of concern. Paradoxically, the great digital revolution that has introduced a truly globally connected age provides yet another mechanism for control, an opportunity for speech to be curtailed. Online news media, forewarned by the experiences of the written press, may be better prepared to combat this. But are we as individuals?

Online and off, new challenges or familiar threats are no less shocking. Each year heralds a roll call of journalist casualties, imprisoned media professionals or publications threatened, intimidated or financially strangled to the point of closure.

Above all, with a sense of solemn reflection, 3 May is an occasion to remember colleagues targeted for their work, especially those killed in the line of duty.

That ‘duty’ was not simply to bring us the news. Their work – by nature risky, sometimes dangerous, yet always outspoken – went beyond the headlines that became unintentional obituaries. Their work signifies a belief in a principle, exhorted by democracy and made tangible with every article, picture or broadcast.

It is that principle behind which we stand proud. It is upon that principle that our industry is founded, and that journalism thrives.

 But when impunity pockmarks the environment, the independence of the judicial system is questioned, and security services and political authorities are mired in corruption there is no level playing field for anyone, least of all journalists. Corruption maintains a rotten system, whether it is financially, ideologically or power driven. In such contexts, the powerful see journalism as an inconvenience. The easiest solution is to eradicate the journalist.

It sends a potent message to the media, who will inevitably self-censor or remain silent over contentious issues, as well as out into wider society; this is how things are, do not question them. The quality and depth of information available diminishes, checks and balances vested upon our media become meaningless, its public service role impossible to perform.

Any individual, organisation or institution connected to the murder of a journalist, and that remains at liberty today, reinforces this.

The notion of ‘getting away with murder’, in whatever context, challenges our perceptions of just what kind of a society we live in. We are far less comfortable when a journalist operating within a democracy is murdered with impunity, as it brings the idea of chaos too close for comfort.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

I negotiated for Free, Fair and Transparent Elections With Mr. Biya –Fru Ndi

Ni John Fru Ndi (SDF chieftain)

By Fai Cassian Ndi

Ni John Fru Ndi (SDF national chairman) has declared that the negotiations between the SDF and President Biya were to guarantee a free, fair and transparent senatorial election in Cameroon. Ni John Fru Ndi made the state to journalists at his Ntarinkon Residence in Bamenda on April 29, 2013 after Supreme Court proclaimed the official results of the last April 14 senatorial elections in which the ruling CPDM won 56 seats and the SDF won 14 seats. Ni John Fru Ndi however regretted that the outcome of the election is not what he negotiated for, adding that the election was marred by numerous irregularities, including the caging of councilors as well as oath taking in some localities. He said it is regrettable that all these malpractices took place in the eyes of security agents, journalists and even ELECAM officials.

When quizzed whether he would accept if appointed senator by President Paul Biya, SDF chieftain said that as a politician he would prefer to go to the senate on the mandate of the people and not through appointment.  But yet Fru Ndi added that if he is appointed minister, he would never accept and that if he is appointed to any other position of responsibility he would have to think over it.

On why the SDF party had prepared a petitioned against the conduct of the election but dropped it later, Fru Ndi reminded journalists that he told Alexis Dipanda Mouelle that he was never going to appear in his court for any political complain after the court failed him in the aftermath of the 2011 presidential elections by rejecting all petitions filed by disgruntled political parties.

Taking on those who say the SDF headquarters has been moved from the North West to the West Region, he said that “North West remains the stronghold of the SDF. It is not because the SDF has no senators from the North West that people should think that the headquarters of the party be transferred.”

However, public opinion is still skeptical as to whether Ni John Fru Ndi told journalists was what he agreed with President Biya before the elections. It is even alleged that Fru Ndi might have been scammed by Paul Biya. This is so because following the results of the polls, the SDF chieftain was instead humiliated and put to shame in the North West Region.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa