President accused journalists of being dishonest and corrupt

08YAOUNDE800 A confidential cable from the US embassy in Yaoundé, dated 6 October 2008 and released by WikiLeaks on 30 August 2011, reported that President Paul Biya had accused his country’s press of being dishonest and corrupt during a meeting with ambassador Janet Garvey. The cable said: “Acknowledging the need for a free press, Biya nonetheless denigrated Cameroon’s media saying, ‘they write things that are untrue and publish stories in exchange for money,’ and complained that a free press needs to be more ‘responsible’.”