Afrique Media Case: Suspension decison was taken since June- Essoka

On June 4, 2015 the Decision No. 00015/CNC of the National Communication Council (CNC) headed by renowned journalist, Peter Essoka, in his capacity as vice president and ‘acting president’ announced the suspension of a media house and a number of Cameroonian journalists.

The Pan-African television channel, Afrique Media, was on a one-month suspension while two of its journalists, Juliana Magne Tadda and Bachir Ladan were each given a six-month suspension.

A few days after the sanctions, an official of Afrique Media, Albert Patrick Eya'a, said on Canal 2 International that his media house had indeed received a suspension from CNC and even though he took note of the letter, he did intend following it.

The CNC, after observing that the channel was still running its program, the acting president, Peter Essoka, said that "the role of the board was to ensure general ethics as well as the profession's ethics. Therefore the competent local authorities implemented a sanction by closing it down. The shutdown of the channel was effective from the afternoon of Thursday, August 6, 2015.

"The penalty give to the TV station was a decision made in June so we waited for its administration to implement it since it was their duty. The sub-prefect of Yaoundé II agreed to the suspension but was recently informed that they continued to run the station. So we are investigating the matter to find out if it was failure on the part of the administration. The board shall ensure general ethics and ethics of the profession. Afrique Media was found guilty of all these principles of journalism. That is why they were suspended. There were two journalists we suspended for six months and then their station or channel for a month,” announced Peter Essoka via CRTV Centre.

The reason for the penalty imposed on Afrique Media was due to the “recurrence of professional blunders” and the so-called Pan-African television guests who “utter unjustified accusations and hate speech likely to harm the image and honor of individuals, foreign institutions and countries,” Essoka added

More than two months after the suspension, Afrique Media was closed down by the Police Commissioner, Evelyn Ngoe Besumbu, accompanied by his elements on the instructions of sub-prefect of the district of Yaoundé II and in the presence of Gustave Sing, the Director of Africa Media.