Pius Njawé

Pius Njawé
Pius Njawé at a conference in Paris
Born4 March 1957
Babouantou, Cameroon
Died12 July 2010(2010-07-12) (aged 53)
Chesapeake, Virginia, US
NationalityCameroonian
Occupationjournalist
OrganizationLe Messager
SpouseJane Njawé
Childreneight
AwardsCPJ International Press Freedom Award (1991)
Golden Pen of Freedom Award(1993)
World Press Freedom Hero (2000)

Pius Njawé (4 March 1957 – 12 July 2010) was a Cameroonian journalist and director of Le Messager as well as Le Messager Populi. Arrested over 100 times for his reporting, Njawé won several awards for his work, including the 1991 CPJ International Press Freedom Award and the 1993 Golden Pen of Freedom. In 2000, he was named one of International Press Institute's fifty World Press Freedom Heroes of the previous fifty years. In Njawé's obituary, the New York Times described him as "a symbol of opposition to the autocratic regime of Paul Biya".[1]

Life

Njawé was born in Babouantou, Cameroon, on 4 March 1957. As a child, he sold newspapers in the street[1] before going on to work for the state-owned newspapers La Gazette and the daily Douala Express.[2] In 1979, at the age of 22, he founded the nation's first independent newspaper, Le Messager.[3]

The paper soon became known for its criticism of long-time President Paul Biya, and it drew a strong government response. Njawé was arrested for the first time in 1981, and would go on to be arrested about 125 more times before his death.[1] In 1990, Le Messager was briefly seized by the government for its reporting on a riot.[1] In 1990, Njawé's publishing of an "open letter" to Biya led to another arrest.[4]

The paper was banned in 1992, forcing Njawé into a short exile in Benin, where he continued to publish.[1] Njawé returned to the country in February 1993 despite being accused by the government of drug dealing, counterfeiting, and sedition; he founded the Cameroon Organization for Press Freedom one month later.[2] In 1996, he was imprisoned on charges of "insulting the president and members of the National Assembly".[1]

In 1998, Njawé was sentenced to two years in prison when Le Messager ran an article suggesting that Biya had a heart condition. The sentence for running this article was later reduced, and due to pressures from Human Rights groups, Njawé was pardoned after almost a year in prison. His wife had miscarried in the interim, reportedly due to mistreatment by prison guards.[5] Njawé wrote a book about his prison experience titled Bloc-notes d'un Bagnard ("Notebooks of a Convict"), which he published in 1998.[1]

Njawé's wife Jane was killed in a car accident in September 2002, causing him to found an organisation calling for safer road conditions in Cameroon.[6] He had eight children.[1]

Shortly before his own death in a car accident, Njawé told an interviewer that "A word can be more powerful than a weapon and I believe that with the word... we can build a better world and make happier people. So, why give up while duty still calls? No one will silence me, except The Lord, before I achieve what I consider as a mission in my native country, in Africa and, why not, in the world."[3]

Awards

In 1991, Njawé was awarded an International Press Freedom Award by the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists. It was the prize's inaugural year.[7] Two years later, he won the World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award.[8]

In 2000, he was named one of the Austria-based International Press Institute's fifty World Press Freedom Heroes of the last fifty years.[9] The award citation called him "Cameroon's most beleaguered journalist and one of Africa's most courageous fighters for press freedom".[2]

Death

On 12 July 2010, Njawé was killed when a lorry struck a car in which he was riding in Chesapeake, Virginia, US. Njawé had travelled to the city attend a meeting of the Cameroon Diaspora for Change.[6]

The member organisations of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange memorialised him as a "torchbearer for press freedom".[3] Reporters Without Borders stated that Njawé "fought every press freedom struggle. We will not forget, for example that he joined us on a visit to Sarajevo, in 1992, to offer support to 'Oslobodenje', the only newspaper that continued to come out during the war in Yugoslavia."[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Adam Nossiter (14 July 2010). "Pius Njawé, Noted African Journalist, Dies at 53". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Pius Njawe, Cameroon". International Press Institute. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d "Pius Njawé, torchbearer for press freedom, dies in car accident". International Freedom of Expression Exchange. 14 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  4. ^ Joseph Takougang and Milton Krieger (2000). African State And Society in the 1990s: Cameroon's Political Crossroads. Westview Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0813334288.
  5. ^ John Mukum Mbaku and Joseph Takougang (2004). The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon Under Paul Biya. Africa World Press. pp. 123–24. ISBN 978-1592211791. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  6. ^ a b Naomi Hunt (13 July 2012). "Pius Njawe, Founder of Cameroon's First Independent Newspaper, Dies at 53". International Press Institute. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Journalists Receive 1996 Press Freedom Awards". Committee to Protect Journalists. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Golden Pen of Freedom Laureates". World Association of Newspapers. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  9. ^ "World Press Freedom Heroes: Symbols of courage in global journalism". International Press Institute. 2012. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.