President Paul Biya last week ordered the withdrawal of a proposed bill to amend and supplement certain provisions of law No 90/52 of 19 December 1990 relating to freedom of mass communication in Cameroon.

The bill, which had been submitted to the National Assembly for debate and possible adoption at the March 2006 session, was hurriedly withdrawn at the last minute.

Even though a government communiqué at the weekend stated that the bill would be examined during the June session of the National Assembly, instructions for the withdrawal of the bill came from Biya, who, being abroad, followed the analysis on a foreign radio station stating that the adoption of the bill was the death certificate of press freedom in Cameroon.

It was against this, The Post was told, that Biya called the President of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yeguie Gibril, to immediately withdraw the bill. Our source described the bill as obnoxious and taking Cameroon backward to the pre-1990 era, saying the bill was programmed for debate at the constitutional laws committee in the morning of April 5, but members were bewildered when they were told that the bill was withdrawn.

In an explanatory note, and according to promoters of the bill (the Ministers of Communication and Territorial Administration and Decentralisation), what motivated the bill is the absence of administrative censorship in the December 19, 1990 law on the freedom of mass communication.

Government, in regard to the bill, equally found it worrisome that liberalisation and democratisation of the socio-political, economic and cultural sphere provided fertile ground for 'libertine' (man who behaves without moral principles or a sense of responsibility, especially in sexual matters- Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, Special Price Edition) journalism and clear professional incompetence.

The resultant effect, according to stakeholders of the bill, is the spate of violation of the code of ethics of journalism and of laws and regulations in force.

The withdrawal of the proposed bill amending the provisions of sections 7, 9, 12, 17, 19, 46 and 51 seeks to prevent abuses and maintain a 'fair' balance between press freedom and the guarantee of individual and collective rights in a bid to protect social peace and maintain cohesion within the national community.

The bill is also intended to ensure strict compliance with the code of ethics of journalism as well as render publishers and their associates accountable.

The government identifies 'unlawful' acts of press freedom that infringes on the rights of citizens through 'false reports, incitement to civil disobedience, sedition, personal and libellous attacks' as ingredients that undermine the privacy and honour of certain citizens and high ranking personalities and, therefore, calling for an amendment of the 1990 freedom law.

During a lecture on the social responsibility of journalists during the March 31 question and answer session at the National Assembly, the Minister of Communication disclosed that contrary to public opinion, sanctions on the press is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Communication.

The proposed bill grants the Minister of Communication the right to suspend for a period not exceeding six months any publisher who breaches the professional code of conduct that are punishable offences.

Other policing measures to clip the wings of the press include specification of area of intervention for administrative authorities, declaration [stiff] formalities prior to the creation of a newspaper, identification criteria for journalists and conditions for exercising the profession as well as the intermediary role of the National Communication Board in ensuring interests of the various sectors, are other concerns in the proposed amendment.