Pius Njawe, a tireless advocate for press freedom and one of Africa’s most respected journalists, has been killed in a car crash in the United States.
Mr Njawe, who founded the first independent newspaper in Cameroon 30 years ago, was on his way to attend a meeting of the Cameroon Diaspora for Change when he was struck by a lorry on a highway in Virginia, killing him instantly. He was 53.
The director of the International Press Institute David Dadge said: ‘The African media has lost a truly courageous individual whose bravery in the face of Government intimidation served as an inspiration for journalists in similar circumstances across the countinent”.
Pius Njawe set up Le Messager when he was only 22 years old. His pursuit of the truth would lead him into constant trouble with the Cameroon authorities and he was arrested 126 times.
He was forced out of the country because of death threats in 1992 but set up his newspaper in Benin. On his return he founded the Cameroon Organisation for Press Freedom.
He was imprisoned three times for slander, insulting the President Paul Biya and the National Assembly, and for reporting a medical emergency involving the President.
His beloved wife Jane suffered a miscarriage as a result of abuse by prison guards , and was later to die in a traffic accident.
He won several international freedom awards including the WAM Golden Pen of Freedom and the International Press Freedom Award. He was named an IPI World Press Freedom Hero in 2000.
Having worked with Thomson Foundation broadcasting consultant Peter Hiscocks on training courses in Cameroon, he helped set up last year’s two week course in preparation for the forthcoming elections with the Foundation and the British High Commission in Yaounde.
Peter Hiscocks writes:” He was a big man in every sense of the word. He was an inspiration to all of us and the future of press freedom in Cameroon is now less certain. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to fill his shoes.”
Writing in The Observer newspaper in the UK, former editor Peter Preston called him: “A legend in every battling African newsroom, showing what sheer, dogged determination could achieve. Nothing can stop that living on.”
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