Cameroon gov't websites "dead" in technology age

In an era of advance technology, websites belonging to state institutions in Cameroon are still carrying names of deceased persons, out dated information inter alia empty web pages.

In May 2013, this reporter went searching for the biography of former FECAFOOT president, Iya Mohamed, on their former website (www.fecafootonline.com) and coincidentally stumbled on the list of members of the executive committee of the federation.



As I curiously scrolled down, I saw a familiar name, Mbuh Taku Mbuh Stephen, my former high school principal (a dedicated sportsman) who had died about five years ago.



Astounded; I questioned the difficulty in simply deleting the name of a deceased person from a website or better still indicating the person is of late.



The lapses



The preceding anecdote is just one of the many embarrassing situations one will find in Cameroon when it comes to government websites - such as those belonging to ministries, public and Para public establishments.



At press time, some few examples abound beginning with the National Assembly (www.assemblenationale.cm) which still carries names of deceased and ousted MPs.



On the page ‘MPs of the current legislature,’ with link located on the left-side column of the website, one could still find the name of Hon. Epoupa Lyonga Rachel, the CPDM MP for Fako East constituency who died since August 11, 2013 featuring prominently.



As if that is not enough, Hon. Bokwe Samuel Ngoe and Hon. Ayah Paul Abine including many others who lost their seats during the September 2013 elections are still appearing on the national assembly website as MPs of the current legislature.

For the Ministry of Public Health, (www.minsante.gov.cm), English-speaking Cameroonians are deprived of the information. Most pages on the French section of the website are updated, but blank pages dominate the English section.



Pages such as the Minister’s biography, cabinet and even programmes of the ministry are all blank. Situations like these were also observed on websites of many other ministries and public establishments.



Since 2014, only three articles appear to have been published on the website of the Cameroon’s National Investment Company (SNI), www.sni.cm. Two of the articles were published on the same day – January 21 - while the third article relating to the celebrations marking the International Women’s Day by women of the company was published on March 26, same year.



Root cause



In August last year, this reporter visited the official website of the Ministry of Small and Medium Size Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicraft (www.minpmeesa.gov.cm).



As of then, current information on the site dated back to August 27, 2012 (355 days).



Reacting to this, Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa, Small and Medium Size Enterprises Minister claimed in an interview with Canal2 International TV within that period that all ministerial websites are hosted by a particular Internet Service Provider, Cameroon Telecommunications (CAMTEL).



He explained that his ministry only provides content for the site.

The technical disposition which consists of updating the website is the duty of CAMTEL, he added. He said CAMTEL is facing some technical hitches with websites of other ministries refusing to take blame for the staleness of his ministry’s website.



The nuances



In a bid to check the veracity of Minister Ngoa’s claim, this reporter visited the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (Minpostel), and the discovery was appalling.



Amadou Bello, Head of the Communication Unit at Minpostel also affirmed that the website of his ministry as well as those of others are hosted by CAMTEL, information that has been independently confirmed.



In Cameroon, most, if not all ministries have a communication department with one of its key duties to update website content.



“We have a webmaster and two journalists working in this department,” Amadou Bello said adding that, he alongside two other journalists produce content for the website while the webmaster has the duty to update the content without adding or removing a jot. “It has nothing to do with CAMTEL,” he affirmed.



Bello who said the Minpostel website is updated at least every two weeks added that the update can be performed anywhere and at any time.



“When the content is ready, I simply send it to our webmaster via E-mail and wherever he is, he can update the website using his laptop,” he justified. He said most of the time the webmaster is not even in the office but that does hinder them from keeping the website up-to-date.

The Disappointments



In many countries, websites, especially those belonging to government are highly exploited by reporters because when updated, they serve as major sources of information.



However, in Cameroon, media professionals have stopped visiting most state-owned websites because of their staled nature.



“I have never gone to look for any info (on government websites) since I discovered that they are never updated,” said Moki Edwin, CRTV Journalist and VOA Correspondent for Central Africa.



Eric Boniface Tchouakeu, Editor-in-Chief, of the local newspaper, Habitat, recounted how he was once in dire need of a certain communique signed by Higher Education Minister banning some clandestine medical training institutions; but became frustrated when days after the release was read on national radio, he could not find it on the ministry’s website.



Tchouakeu believes that these websites are hardly ever updated because most government ministries lack dynamic communication units.



Sluggish changes



So far, the most up-to-date state-owned website is that of the Presidency of the Republic, www.prc.cm. A source close to

the presidency told the Journal that the reason is because many young people have been recruited to work at the communication unit of the presidency.



He argues that generally, most young people take great interest working on the internet unlike most aged persons working in communication departments of some government ministries and establishments.



However, attitudes are gradually changing in few of the ministries.



For example, a ministry like Small and Medium Size Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicraft (Minpmeesa) decided early this year to overhaul its official website to give it a new facelift.



Though some of the pages are still to be fully updated, there is a slight improvement in the frequency of the website’s update when compared to last year.



Fecafoot has also completely changed its website from www.facafootonline.com to www.fecafoot-officiel.com



Contrary to what was obtained on the former website (like names of deceased persons), the new website is frequently updated.



Other ministries that are making progress in this domain include Economy Planning and Regional Development, Higher and Secondary Education, Tourism and Leisure, Prime Minister’s Office, Public Service and Administrative Reforms among few others.