Misinformation: Propagators Persist In Image-Tarnishing Project

The United States of America’s Embassy in Yaounde in a press release issued on October 9, 2020  reacted to fake news stories  claiming that the U.S. Ambassador to the  United Nations, Kelly Craft  recently  announced  alleged U.S. intentions regarding a supposed military intervention  in Cameroon.

The release further states that, « Ambassador Craft did not comment about Cameroon  in the recent time periods indicated in the stories and she has never stated or  implied that the United States  would consider military intervention of any nature in Cameroon. » The release goes ahead to debunk claims in the fake news stories, stating that « neither the U.S. Senate nor the full U.S. Congress  have held  debate on, or taken any action  to approve, any U.S. intervention in Cameroon. »

The fake news stories referred to by the Embassy of the United States of America in Cameroon is just a tip of the iceberg in relation to misinformation perpetrated by some Cameroonians both in the country and in the Diaspora with the mission to create disorder and discredit the country in the face of the international community. The ongoing security crisis in the English-speaking North West and South West Regions has provided fertile grounds for fake news and misinformation. The case in point around which fake news became rife was the  Ngarbuh killings in the Donga Mantung Division of the North West Regions in February 2020 where some traditional media organs in the country, international Non-Governmental Organisations such as Human Rights Watch and some Cameroonians in the Diaspora circulated false information through the various media on gruesome killings and other atrocities committed by the Cameroonian defence and security forces. Government in...