Atanga Nji loses case against The Guardian Post, others

The National Communication Council, NCC, has dismissed a petition filed against The Guardian Post and other newspapers by Paul Atanga Nji, Minister in Charge of Special Duties at the Presidency.

Atanga had in the petition to NCC on November 25, 2014, accused The Guardian Post and others of publishing false information about him to the effect that he misappropriated public funds when he served at the Cameroon Postal Services, CAMPOST.

The Minister in his complaint claimed that the newspapers soiled his image in the eyes of the society given his social status as Minister, Permanent Secretary at the National Security Council and CPDM Section President of Mezam I.

A team comprising of the newspaper’s Publisher, Ngah Christian Mbipgo, Sylvanus Ezieh, deputy editor and author of the article in question, including Sixtus Mbom, desk editor, argued before the NCC spiritedly with a pool of supporting documents that Atanga was merely trying to employ gimmicks using his political standing to lure the Council into sanctioning the newspaper for uncovering his financial impropriety.

They told the Council that the newspaper merely relayed information which was made public by reputable state institutions like the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Supreme State Audit and CAMPOST.

After listening to the newspaper argument, the NCC observed that, had Atanga sincerely believed that his hands were clean, he should have sued The Guardian Post in a competent court of law which has jurisdiction to hear defamation cases.

The story published on Tuesday 18 November 2014, had as headline: “Corruption: Atanga Nji at special criminal court tomorrow.”

In the article, the newspaper reported that Atanga had been summoned to appear before the Special Criminal Court, SCC. The reporter indicated that it wasn’t yet clear why he was summoned, but that following investigative reports by some anti-corruption institutions.

Atanga was being accused of embezzling hundreds of millions of FCFA at CAMPOST. Atanga’s summons at the SCC, the reporter suggested could easily be connected to the allegations contained in the reports.

In the NCC decision; non-suit decision No. 00003/NCC of February 24, 2015, they ruled that The Guardian Post had merely relayed information previously made public by credible state institutions.

The Council then decided to put an end to proceedings initiated by Atanga NJi after they disclosed that competent NCC departments had carried out investigations and found out that there was absolutely no justification to take further action in the case.

“…Moreover, the aforementioned provisions cannot be applied in this case to the respondents who, having made use of a professional approach to investigate and cross-check facts, demonstrated that the information contained in the aforementioned contested publication was taken from official documents, whose copies were attached to their defense statements… “Considering the spirited defense made by Ngah Christian Mbipgo and Ezieh Sylvanus; publisher/editor and deputy editor (author of the article) correspondingly, in the midst of Members of the Council, the NCC Members were unanimous that the information published by The Guardian Post was derived from official documents.

With regards to the tarnishing of the image of the petitioner, it is established that the contested article contains no accusation, but information previously made public by accredited institutions,” the decision states in part.

On another count, the Council also exonerated The Guardian Post of another claim by Atanga that the newspaper had tarnished his public image by referring to him as a cadre at CAMPOST whereas he was simply a client.

Here the Council ruled that it was an erroneous statement which The Guardian Post rectified on its own initiative in the issue following the contested edition.

It should be recalled that Atanga had also summoned three other news organs; Le Jour, L’oeil du Sahel and The Post over the same news story. These news organs had equally ran the article on his summons at the SCC and his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of CAMPOST funds.

Other Sanctions By The Council While The Guardian Post, The Post, Le Jour, L’oeil du Sahel were acquitted for no professional fault committed in their news reporting, several other news organs were ditched heavy sanctions for what the Council described as violation of ethics and deontology of the journalism profession.

While ‘La Depeche du Cameroun’ was indefinitely closed down, ‘La Nouvelle’ and ‘Le Courrier’ were each suspended for six months. The radio program “Ambouteillage” on ‘Amplitude FM’ was suspended for one month alongside its presenter.

Apart from ‘Le Courier,’ their sanctions are all unconnected to Paul Atanga Nji.