Cameroon: Press Freedom Day celebrations, yet no justice for Journalist Samuel Wazizi who died in government custody four years ago

Journalists in Cameroon are today joining their colleagues across the world to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, yet there has been very little mention of journalists such as Samuel Wazizi, who was killed by the State.

The day which is in its 30th edition is being commemorated in Cameroon at a time when journalists are increasingly being targeted and sometimes killed.

One such victim is the late journalist Samuel Wazizi, whose corpse has to date not been presented to his family for burial.

The news presenter died at the hands of state security officers and his family only found out that he had died almost a year later.

The controversy surrounding the death of Wazizi and the government’s silence over multiple calls to investigate and bring perpetrators to justice has left media professionals in a quandry.

According to a report by Reporters without Borders (RSF), “15 months after Cameroonian journalist Samuel Wazizi’s enforced disappearance and six months after it was confirmed that he died in detention”

Wazizi was arbitrarily arrested by soldiers in the South West region on August 2, 2019.

The government of Cameroon only admitted ten months after, under pressure that Wazizi had died in detention.

The admission came after an alarm was raised by the local press that Wazizi indeed was no more

Several local media and rights organizations have repeatedly pressured the government to investigate and bring perpetrators to justice to no avail.

While people were still grappling with the Wazizi situation, came another attack against the press involving Martinez Zogo a Yaounde-based journalist who was brutally murdered a few months ago.

While investigations were carried out and suspects arrested and charged, the case of Wazizi on the other hand seems to have been thrown into the dustbin.

“If you know this government well, you should have known by now that they had long considered that case done and dusted. They said Waziz died of ‘Sepsis’ and that was the end of it” a journalist who opted not to be named told MMI in Bamenda.

However, all is not lost as press freedom organisations in and out of Cameroon keep reminding the government to investigate and bring perpetrators to book.

As Media professionals commemorate world press freedom this day, it is of greater importance to continue singing to the tree top to ensure that the government of Cameroon lives up to its responsibilities in the Wazizi case.

By David Atangana