Members of the National Communication Council during its first ordinary session for 2011 tuesday, April 19, worked on proposals to be forwarded to government on effective media coverage of the 2011 presidential election. The Council session was presided at by its Coordinator, Professor Laurent Charles Boyomo Assala, designated after the passing away of the Council Chairman, Felix Sabal Lecco. Boyomo said its was time for the council normal activities to pick up.

Speaking to the press at the beginning of the National Communication Council meeting, the Coordinator, Professor Boyomo Assala said the proposals and report of the session will be forwarded to the Prime Minister, Head of Government for consideration within the framework of multi-party democracy in an organised society. He said the council had to prepare for the upcoming election whose campaign is expected to be launched in the coming months. The work of the council also consisted in examining the media and general communication landscape in the country. Professor Boyomo Assala told journalists that the current context was special, considering that the Communication Minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary had given orientations aimed at bridging the gap between public and private media organs. Work in yesterday’s session also focused on evaluating the implementation of the orientation as well as looking into the issues of media content, professional organisation, journalism ethics and regulation that all constitute the country’s communicate climate.

The National Communication Council is a consultative body placed under the authority of the Prime Minister with the key mission to assist the authorities in the elaboration, implementation and follow up of the national policy on communication. Some members of the council talking to the press after the session, disclosed that they reviewed the media landscape in Cameroon in view of the upcoming presidential election. Bernard Owona said they proposed that licences be granted to some national media organs with the cost of the mandatory deposit reduced to enable them effectively cover the upcoming election. They also proposed that the Press Card Commission be transferred to the council for it to function well and that government provides the council enough financial means to arbitrate in case of unethical media practices to avoid the chaos observed in some countries. For Fomineyen Catherine another council member, they discussed the proper organisation of the body. The council is bracing up to monitor the media coverage of the election.