By Kini Nsom
Charly Ndi Chia, ace journalist and Editor-in-Chief of The Post newspaper, is the new President of the Cameroon Union of Journalists, CUJ.
New CUJ Executive
He was elected during the fifth Ordinary General Assembly that took place on Saturday, July 12, in Yaounde.Another ace journalist, Henriette Ekwe, triumphed as the First Vice President while senior journalist and lecturer, Nta a` Bitang emerged as the second Vice President.
Christophe Bobiokono of Mutations daily and Martin Nkemngu of Cameroon Tribune were elected Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General respectively. Four advisers were elected as follows; Mpessa Mouangue, Robert Abunaw, Aretha Louise Mbango and Richard Touna of Repere Newspaper.
The publisher of the Northern based newspaper, L'oeil du Sahel, Guibai Gatama, got the post of Treasurer while Alex Gustave Azebeze , a Douala based journalist, was elected Financial Secretary. Their mandate is two years.
The meeting that began at 11:30 am ran into a storm when the out gone executive failed to fully render the accounts of the Union. The outgoing President, Celestin Lingo, who went on a medical trip to Germany, is said to have left with records of the Union.
Speaker after speaker condemned the opaque manner in which the former President managed the affairs of the Union. The General Assembly noted with concern the irregularities and inertia that paralysed the functioning of the organisation for over four years.
Consequently, the General Assembly set out a priority plan of action which the new executive council will follow. In this vein, the Assembly demanded that during the first three months of taking office, the new executive has to take all necessary measures to throw more light on the management of the Union's patrimony by the old executive.
The new team was also charged with the task of carrying out consultations to renew the Cameroon Media Council and take action to either re-dynamise or create provincial chapters throughout the country. It was equally resolved that members of the executive shall henceforth be evaluated on individual basis as set out by the Constitution.
Martin Nkemngu steered the meeting as the Chair of the General Assembly Bureau. He later stepped down during elections (when it became clear that his name was in the list of candidates) ceding his place to Junior Binyam of Mutations to conduct the elections.
Lobbying, shooting and protracted arguments characterised the putting up of the list of candidates. When the chips finally came down, only one list emerged.
Barrack Obama List
While presenting his list in a short campaign speech, Charly Ndi Chia qualified it as the Barrack Obama list. He said his team is made up of dyed-in-the wool professional journalists who have the wherewithal to deliver the goods.
The lone list was elected without any hitch. Two abstentions were registered. In his acceptance speech, Ndi Chia said the new executive will work as a team to fully face the challenges. He promised accountability, transparency, honesty and humility to members of the Union.
To him, the private-public journalist dichotomy will be laid to rest during his tenure of office. He said the election heralds the dawn of a new era.While opening the meeting, the Secretary General in the Ministry of Communications, Antoine Medjo, called on journalists to respect the ethics of the profession and seek to respect individual liberties. He said there is no where in the world that the press is completely free.
He used the occasion to condemn the fact that Cameroonian journalists easily take sides with foreigners who intrude into the internal affairs of Cameroon.
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