New CAMASEJ Bamenda chapter president promises material, cash to outstanding NW journalists
By Stephen Tadaha
Sah Terence, won the elections to become the new president of the Cameroon Association of English-speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) Bamenda Chapter. Sah contested the position with Muma Jude but defeated Muma by 40 votes against 29 to the top job at CAMASEJ Bamenda chapter.
Shortly after his victory, he granted an exclusive interview to CNA’s West Regional correspondent, Stephen Tadaha.
In the interview, Sah Terence expressed feelings of encouragement with the trust bestowed on him by North West journalists and plans to be up to the task along with his team as they go in for a 4-year mandate.
“I see the trust as a challenge and an opportunity to serve journalists,” he told our CNA’s West Regional correspondent.
Addressing some of the issues, he acknowledged the fact that his team has a major assignment to facilitate the adaptation of journalists in the North West to the fast-evolving world.
“The world is evolving, technology is coming in and things are changing, there is AI, solutions journalism and so journalists have to adapt to these changes. There are new ways of reporting which journalists should learn for anyone who stops learning should stop living because learning should be a continuous process” Sah said.
He added: “With these changes, we think that we are set to continue to build the capacity of journalists in the Region. We’ll start by organizing training workshops for the executive so that we can align ourselves with the goals and vision that we have set out to build”.
The former correspondent of ‘The Sun’ newspaper also acknowledged that “the working conditions of journalists continue to be a major problem”. His team plans to start “a social security scheme for journalists. We also want to encourage the good work of journalists with awards and recognitions that have value. We don’t want to keep giving papers that they will go and hang on their walls and which will be of no use to them. We plan to help them either financially or materially, giving out at least three laptops to journalists of CAMASEJ Bamenda this year who will perform exceedingly well in various thematic areas of reporting”.
“We are also looking at giving cash prizes to journalists, that is 50,000Frs to six of them and another 25,000Frs to journalists who will distinguish themselves. We are talking of at least FCFA 1. 3 million to be invested in such awards this year to encourage the work of journalists.”
He concluded by affirming that this will be to create an impact and leave a legacy that will be remembered.
Sah Terence is currently the Cameroon Country Director of the Media & Democracy platform (An afro-European platform of professional journalists founded in 2015) and brings a wealth of national and international expertise to his additional role at CAMASEJ.
