Communication Minister debunks threats on Cameroonians for using popular slang
By Eratus Ndueh
The Minister of Communication, and spokesperson of the government, Rene Emmanuel Sadi has denied any claims on an outing that has been making waves on social media, where he is alleged to have warned Cameroonians against the use of the question “What was there before” translated in French “il y’avait quoi avant”, or faces charges of hostility to fatherland and insult to institutions, coupled with the propagation of false news.
According to a communiqué released on March 16, a director at the Ministry debunked the information, saying that “It aims to sow confusion among public opinion.” He added that “information which comes from the Ministry of Communication is always well organized and disseminated through official communication channels.”
Also, the Minister of Communication, while condemning what he described as an unprofessional approach whose target is to harm his person and the values of the journalism profession, called for strick respect for ethics and deontology of the profession by media professionals, in the processing of information before sharing.
The innocuous question “il y’avait quoi avant” was pronounced in Maroua in the Far North of Cameroon by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development Célestine Ketcha Courtes on a working visit, where she questioned the population about what existed before Biya, who has been in power for 41 years. She insinuated that before Paul Biya, Maroua had no roads that anyone could boast about.
