Government accused of ‘killing’ The Herald
Had government
ministries paid the astronomical bills owed The Herald, Cameroon’s leading
English Language trio-weekly newspaper, it would have survived and continued to
set the pace of journalism in the country.
But failure to pay for
the services rendered by the paper created by the late Dr Boniface Forbin in
1992 forced it out of business in 2009 when workers downed tools in protest
against non-payment of their salaries.
The indictment on
government was made by Nkemayim Walter, a relation of the deceased, last
Saturday, in Yaounde during the celebration of the life of the journalism
juggernaut.
In his tribute, Nkemayim
who was manager of The Herald before its collapse, disclosed that he had
documents of the unrecovered debts which if collected could help resuscitate
the newspaper even after the death of its publisher.
He also used the
opportunity to portray Forbin as a man of the people. Dr Forbin, he said,
carried out so many acts of philanthropy and development which remained
unreported because he was publicity-shy.
The event witnessed many
moving tributes which portrayed the larger-than-life nature of Forbin and the
values he stood for.
His wife, Dorothy
Forbin, described the event as an extraordinary one giving tribute to a man of
extraordinary character and qualities.
For his part, Gerald
Ndikum, The publisher of The Horizon who worked so close to the deceased for
some 15 years, described him as the “epitome of correctness”.
Meanwhile, “The Herald
Boys” groomed by Forbin regretted that none of them would emulate their
teacher. Another regret expressed by Franklin Sone Bayen, initiator of the
concept, was the fact that none of them got married to any of Forbin’s
beautiful daughters. They unveiled a special newspaper printed in honour of
their role-model.
Ojong Steven, impresario
for the event, expressed regret that The Herald collapsed when he had not got
his fill of Forbin’s experience. He said he was chanced to always rush to the
deceased for inspiration when he created his own newspaper, The Median.
Other tributes came from
Ebokem Fomenky, another household name in print journalism; the daughters of
the deceased; the Ikome Family; and the elder sister of the deceased.
The event which took
place at the Pharmacam residence of the deceased was graced with gospel music
from a renowned choir, scintillating sermons and humour. Traditional dances,
mostly from his native Lebialem, were on hand for animation.
Participants went home
with a souvenir of a printed calendar for 2018 with the effigy of the deceased
engraved on it and a holder to car keys, probably printed in the US by one of
his daughters. There was enough refreshment for everybody present.
A thanksgiving service
by the family at the Yaounde Mission of Evangelical Church in Cameroon (MEEC),
The Church of Patmos, on 28 May, crowned the celebration of the life of the
Publisher of The Herald.
Culled from The Horizon Newspaper
edevnews.blogspot.com/Email:francoeko@gmail.com/ Tel:+237696896001/+237678401408/ +237669542467
No comments:
Post a Comment