BELO MAYOR DRAGS BOYO SDO TO COMMUNICATION COUNCIL
The mayor of Belo
council, Bernard Tosam Nenghabi has dragged the S.D.O for Boyo Joseph Oum II to
the national communication council for what he has describe as a miscarriage of
administrative decisions. He made the declaration in Bamenda April 9 upon his
return from Yde.
NSOM HILDA FUTELA. B C RADIO MANAGER |
Following a live interview on state radio last week, the
president of the national communication council, Peter Esoka in commenting on
the closing own of the Belo community radio said, it is the council that gives
instructions to the administration to close down any radio station and not the
revers and that the council has not receive any complain from the management of
the Belo community radio, Mayor Bernard Tosam Nenghabi quickly constituted a
complaint against the Boyo SDO and
submitted to the council in Yaounde.
According to the mayor for Belo, it was an opportunity for
him to see the radio came to live again and remove his entire municipality
which from 1950s had been in complete communication black out because of the
poor topography of Belo sub division. Belo community radio was the only window
opening the entire sub division to through world as the national and world news
could get to the populace through the relay of the state radio. As to what led
to the shutdown of the radio by the Boyo administration, mayor Tosam have accused
the local CPDM elite for manipulation and frustration. ”During the CPDM reorganisation
in Belo, militants of the CPDM in Belo went round collecting the identification
cards of SDF militants saying they were to register them for an AID scheme that will pass through the council
which was false. Angered by this, the district chair of the SDF in BELO wrote a
warning announcement to the radio, cautioning SDF militants to fall prey to the
CPDM ploy and when it was read on Belo community radio, the manager was
attacked in a bar by the same CPDM and when she broke the news on radio few
days later, a decision came from the SDO accusing the manager for arbitrary
broadcast and closed the radio. I believe the SDO is working on party influence
because the same local CPDM elite has been going around advocating the current
manager be changed. I believe that the radio does not serve only the SDF, it
benefits all. The SDO did not invite the said manager for an interview and
acted basically on rumour. Myself, I was not consulted and the radio was
closed. I have lobbied to no avail for its reopening and drawing from the words
of the president of the communication council, I believe there is a silver
lining in the dark cloud now “said mayor Tosam.
Belo subdivision has over 50 villages with thousands of the
local population and a litany of local development association who depends much
on the existence of the radio to contribute financially for the local
development association through radio announcements ”These development
associations contribute CFA30-40 million annually for development thanks to the
radio. Last year the number of students and pupils who applied for holiday jobs
at the council witnessed an increase from 900 to 1500 thanks to the fact that
Belo community radio brought to their door steps information on the situation”
mayor Tosam added.
Like the mayor and many citizens down the streets of Belo,
they are still in confusion as to how a radio can be serving one party given
that it does not select it listeners, the position of the SDO as the editor in
chief or the monitor of mass media when bodies ranking as such exist even at
divisional levels. They have point accusation fingers on the local CPDM elite
saying just when the radio was closed, the militants went into jubilation and
celebration.
CONFUSING FACTS
The Belo community radio has a well define board of
directors manned by competent academicians and media professionals. The Board
is led by a professor emeritus and has as board member seasoned journalist of
the state runed radio, Delphin fien. The wife of the Cameroon’s prime minister
hails from Belo and has been doing a great help in sustaining the radio.
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