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| Aminateh Nkemngu |
-The Sun’s Aminateh Nkemngu and Tarhyang Enowbika have been ordered by the Judge to each pay the sum of 500.000 FCFA plus another 350.000 FCFA or each serve 18 months in jail. The Sun Newspaper was also ordered to pay 5 million fcfa in damages. In this write-up, one of the journalists, Aminateh Nkemngu recounts his topsy-turvy relations with Camccul authorities, and how he is being victimised for practicing objective, investigative journalism.
By cin Bamenda
The court of first instance, Bamenda in a judgment delivered on Monday 15 June 2015 by Her Lordship Magistrate Makia Edith Epse Oben Ndip in charge no CFIBA/09C/PP/2014 between: The People of Cameroon and CamCCUL vs Tarhyang Enowbikah Tabe and Aminateh Nkemngu has ordered the two accused to each pay the sum of 500,000frs (five hundred thousand frs) or each serve 18 months jail and another 350,000frs each as costs giving a total of fcfa1.7 million. The court further ordered The SUN Newspaper where the two journalists work as Editor and Features Editor respectively to pay civil damages of 5 million frs to CamCCUL.
Genesis of the matter
In November 2014,CamCCUL dragged the two accused to court on a one count charge of defamation based on a story captioned “CamCCUL’s Collapse Scares MINFI” published in The SUN Newspaper no 0287 of Monday 27 October.(copy attached). In the charge, CaMCCUL accused the duo of working deliberately to tarnish their reputation as well as conniving with some members of RECCU-CAM to achieve same.
CaMCCUL thus prayed the court to award them a civil claim of 80 million frs (eighty million frs) for the enormous damage caused to CaMCCUL by the said article. The accused were both arraigned before the court and granted bail on 8 December 2014.
Enter Ngah Christian, the veritable Henry Kissinger
While the matter was in court, the option of an out of court settlement came up. Ngah Christian Mbipgo, Publisher of The Guardian Post Newspaper, apparently in good faith, offered to play the “Henry Kissinger” and do the shuttled diplomacy.
The first round of the negotiations took place at Camccul head office Bamenda and witnessed the participation among others of the Editor of The Sun Tarhyang Enowbikah Tabe, who travelled to Bamenda from Limbe for the purpose, Board members of CamCCUL, including its president, Musa Shey Nfor, their legal counsel and the negotiator, Ngah Christian(who also travelled from Yaounde).
During the negotiations CaMCCUL insisted on having an apology for the story, The SUN Newspaper turned down this option on grounds that the apology could be used against it in court. On a second option, it was proposed that CaMCCUL writes a rejoinder, according to the law and give The SUN to publish. This also did not work and The SUN suggested to do her own rejoinder and submit for the appraisal of CAMCCUL. This rejoinder was published in The SUN Newspaper no 0294 of Monday 8 December 2014 captioned: “RE: CamCCUL Hasn’t Collapsed” (copy here attached).
Days after that publication, Ngah Christian contacted The SUN to say that CamCCUL had accepted the rejoinder and that the case would be dropped. The accused had been bailed on 8 December 2014 and ordered to reappear before the court on 9 January 2015. Though a verbal and mutual out of court agreement had been reached, the two accused and their counsel answered present in court on 9 January. There was no sign of any CamCCUL lawyer around and no sign of any hearing on the matter programmed for that day. Thus the accused went home in the hope that CamCCUL would proceed to withdraw the case as agreed.
During the Guardian Post Achievement Awards at Azam Hotel, Bamenda soon after, I met Musa Shey Nfor, in the presence of Philo Happi of Eden during which we had a warm chat with prospects of chatting new avenues of cooperation. But behold, on Monday 15 June 2015, in the morning, I received a call from another journalist colleague who was around the court for another defamation case that a judgment had just been read out on our matter with CaMCCUL.
My 3-Year Battle With CamCCUL
For the purpose of clarity, CamCCUL AND Musa Shey Nfor would be used in this write up to mean the same thing. Our paths first crossed in February 2012 about two years after I arrived Bamenda from Limbe as the Regional representative of Eden Media Group. On Monday 6 February 2012,Eden Newspaper carried a lead story written by me and captioned” Crisis Rock CamCCUL”(original text here attached).The story had its basis from administrative decisions signed by then Governor of the North West Region ,Abakar Ahamat ,and which were circulating amongst journalists .The story raised a lot of dust that while the president of CamCCUL wanted to know me, I also wanted to know him because I had only met him once and very passively. It did happen that the news took another twist ,as colleagues, mostly sympathizers of Musa Shey Nfor accused me of having collected the sum of 750,000frs(seven hundred and fifty thousand frs) from one Mme Bih Judith Anye, then Board Member of CamCCUL and President of Azire Credit Union. I had never met the woman and did not even know her. About a month later, a colleague, Chifu Edward said he had called Bih Judith and she asked him to meet her around Dreamland. Out of curiosity, I decided to follow Chifu Edward. We met Mme Bih Judith in a saloon on the ground floor of Dreamland building. She turned down our request for an interview on grounds that she was travelling out of the country, to Poland, if I’m not mistaken, and said she would only talk to us upon her return. I closed the file.
During that same period, I equally covered the Azire credit union annual general meeting during which I got to know that Ni John Fru Ndi is a founding member and holds account no 87. He made very sweeping statements during that meeting and spearheaded the putting in place of an adhoc committee to work on the issue of disaffiliation from
CamCCUL.
Eden Newspaper equally published the story, written by me. From then on I was declared an enemy of Musa Shey Nfor, BAPCCUL and CamCCUL. I tried on more than one occasion to cover their events to strike a balance but was simply barred.
I remember one of such AGMs of BAPCCUL at Ntamulung Church hall during which I successfully sneaked in without an accreditation, but was spotted and bundled out by a fierce looking security officer.
The year 2012 waned, and towards its close I migrated to another Limbe-based Newspaper,The SUN, as Features Editor based in Bamenda. On 29 December 2012, CamCCUL held a very serious AGM at the Pastoral Centre, Bamenda I during which they were to tally the results of a general reorganization of credit unions that had been ordered by the minister of Finance.
Again, I was not accredited to be part of that meeting despite the heavy presence of the press. I however answered present and followed deliberations from loud speakers. Thereafter, I managed to ask Musa Shey Nfor if he had any personal problem against me. He denied and invited me to a press conference CamCCUL was organizing on the 4th of January 2013. Noukapassi Marshal of Afrique Nouvelle Radio witnessed our first ever chat at the Pastoral Centre on that day.
Thereafter I wrote a Business Feature captioned: “Alternative
Conflict Resolution; Reading into the end of the CamCCUL Crisis“. It was published in The SUN Newspaper no 0181 of Monday 7 January 2013(copy attached).
Through the initiative of one Nfor Francis, Communication Officer at MIDENO, Bamenda, Musa Shey Nfor got to read the article and enjoyed it. He invited me for launch, precisely at Top Star Hotel, Ghana Street. We had a very brotherly chat during which I sincerely told him I had not
been bought and that I was only being caught in the crossfire.
We parted on a very amicable note. Needless to say in his happiness for the write up, he offered me 50,000frs and a full roasted chicken.
Honestly, given the spirit of our meeting, i cannot now say whether it was a sincere gift or a bribe.
Three months later, however, in May 2013, there was another twist. I received the photocopy of the registration certificate of a new credit union umbrella organization known as The Renaissance Cooperative Credit Unions In Cameroon, abbreviated RECCU-CAM. Other journalists equally had it. I immediately called Musa Shey Nfor to tell him of the development and he asked me a question that I have never been able to answer. I don’t think he too has an answer. He said on phone: “Aminateh, why must it only be you? I was stuck and he asked again severally. Since he was not even willing to see it, I decided to go ahead and do my news story. It was titled: CamCCUL Spilts; New Credit Union League Is Born”. It was published in The SUN no 0206 of Monday 10 June 2013(copy here attached).After the publication Musa She Nfor called me and threatened me very seriously with court action. In fact he called me more than three times to reiterate his point. I took him seriously and even wrote out something. It was published in The Median Newspaper and The Eye Online. I just hope Ojong Steven Ayukogem of
The Median will be able to find a copy of that paper, and Fai Cassian of The Eye Online too.
Since then, I tried to toe the line. CamCCUL had always wished that I go ahead and write anything about the other league, RECCU-CAM without ever mentioning the name CamCCUL, for good or for bad. I have done so, and some copies are attached to this document. It did happen that, that fateful October 2014, the news that broke out was too much for any serious journalist to ignore. On the same day that The SUN Newspaper carried that story with four other newspapers; notably The Median, Times Journal, Watchdog Tribune and The Horizon newspapers. The news again was that we had been bought over by RECCU-CAM. How it ended up that only Aminateh and The SUN were dragged to court is a question that I cannot answer. Unconfirmed rumours are running wild amongst journalists in Bamenda that CamCCUL has boasted that they run an annual budget of 500 million frs for legal matters only. And that they will see how I will get out of their claws. As it now stands, I have no choice than to appeal the case. But it is unclear whether the appeal will be heard when I am behind bars or when I am still moving about freely.
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