Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Griffin Ondo Nzuey
Published on 2024-02-23 12:54:05
If all the localities in the country have been taken into account in the phase related to the collection of contributions for the national dialogue, several of them will not be informed in real time of the upcoming discussions, as they are deprived of television and radio. The president of the Transition would be eager to remedy this before the start of the meetings in Libreville.
In Gabon, two months before the national dialogue intended to reform institutions, the question of involving the population remains a concern for the authorities. After extending the deadline for the submission of contributions for young people aged 20 to 25 by one week, the issue of relaying this consultation to the population is now a concern for the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), whose leader had a working session on Thursday, February 22, with the Minister of Communication and Media, Laurence Ndong.
According to the Palace of the Renovation, this working session focused on expanding television and radio coverage. In Gabon, in 2024, many localities still do not have access to public media. Gabon 1ère, Gabon 24, Gabon Culture, and Radio Gabon are only accessible to some through the satellite dishes of Canal+ or the Chinese StarTimes. The provincial radios, already struggling for several years, do not have sufficient means to cover these meetings and report on them in real time.
Nevertheless, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema instructed the minister to “put an end to areas that are not covered”, including through the telephone and internet networks for which a new phase of the Universal Service of Electronic Communications will be launched by the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (ARCEP), with the support of economic operators in the sector. An operation intended to cover 200 villages across the country. At the presidency, they already see in the ambition of the Transition president “a breakthrough for the entire population that would facilitate access to information approaching the national dialogue.”
“It is necessary for our compatriots in the interior of the country, who will not be able to come to Libreville, to be able to follow the progress of this dialogue that we want to be inclusive, so that all Gabonese citizens feel concerned,” Laurence Ndong stated at the end of her exchange with the CTRI leader. The government official has committed to working towards covering these so-called white areas before the official launch of the meetings in Libreville.
Read the original article(French) on Gabon Review
