By Louvier Kindo Tombe
The fund dub ‘CAMASEJ Emergency Assistance Fund’ (CAMEAF) was officially launched in Yaounde, on May 3, 2022, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD).
‘Here, we want to help journalists and newsroom publishers who are in difficult situations’, says Jude Viban, National President of CAMASEJ.
‘Be it health, be it that they are having some legal fees to pay, be it that they are detained or on exile because of their work. We feel that if we support in these areas, it will be a booster for them to carry out their job without fear or favour, and it will go a long way to promote press freedom’, he continued.
Speaking during the launching that took place at the head office of the ‘Guardian Post’ daily newspaper, the pioneer coordinator of CAMEAF, Ajumane Francis Akam, revealed that both employed and freelance journalists, registered with the fund, will have equal chances of benefitting.
The fund was launched with an initial amount of FCFA 500.000 raised by media men and women.
The cream of media practitioners present at the launch, saluted the Emergency Assistance Fund and promised to contribute to its success.
The publisher of The Guardian Post daily newspaper, Christian Ngah Christian, pledged to support the initiative with the sum of FCFA 200.000 (100 from him and 100 from The Guardian Post staff).
The CAMASEJ Emergency Assistance Fund (CAMEAF) is now officially launched, and the process to render it fully operational is still underway.
‘All of what has been presented here today, plus the recommendations received from media professionals will have to be submitted to the general assembly by July 2022 for validation’, Jude Viban said.
‘We want a decision that will be taken by everyone for the interest of the journalism profession’, he added.
Worth noting is the fact that the launching of CAMEAF coincided with WPFD celebrations organized by the Yaounde Chapter of CAMASEJ.
A penel discussion with journalism students from the Siantou University Institute on the theme; ‘Journalism under Surveillance’ was part of the activities.
The president of CAMASEJ Yaounde Chapter, Ndi Eugene Ndi, seized the occasion to send a strong message to the government of Cameroon.
‘The government should help ease access to information, without which journalists will turn to other sources of information which may likely attract surveillance and hinders the work of journalists’, he said adding that;
Today, journalists tools like mobile phones, digital recorders, laptops, social media handles, … and you name the rest, are increasingly under threats and surveillance’.
