No press conference has been organized for journalists from private media to cover the negotiations between rebel groups and the Chadian authorities, which have been going on since Sunday, March 13, in Doha, Qatar. Necessary travel, according to press executives, given the financial difficulties of Chadian private media. The latter therefore threaten to withdraw from the transition process. In an attempt to ease tensions, the Minister of Communications received representatives of the private press on Thursday 17 March.
as reported from Ndjamena, Aurélie Bazzara-Kibangula
The exchanges were lively. Media executives are angry: no Chadian private media has gone to Doha to cover negotiations between authorities and rebel groups. A humiliation for Moussa Avenir de la Tchirée, spokesperson for the private media collective in Chad.
“The Transitional Military Council asked us to follow the process, we gave the best of ourselves because we are newspapers, radio, television, online press and we are being chased away. A crucial moment in the process. The dialogue before Doha is the decisive start “We think it’s a humiliation.”
Some media executives claim that the authorities want to hide what is happening in Doha. False, Minister of Communications Abderaman Koulamallah replies: “No one has been excluded from the Doha process, there have been sudden changes in the organization of this dialogue and it has disrupted our organization a bit. We are evolving to find a solution so that the national press as a whole can cover the events in Doha. “
It’s not enough to calm people down. The private media collective gives the authorities 48 hours to send journalists to Doha. Otherwise, the media will no longer cover the transition process. The Union of Chadian Journalists has demanded a day without pressure this Saturday in Chad.
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