While Ateh Bazore and his team are burning the midnight oil to see into it that Cameroonian musicians are paid their first quarter Copyrights dues by the end of March 2021, he says he and his team have been the subject of smear campaigns for close to a month now.
His outing this Wednesday, February 10, has been prompted by ‘Journal La Cible,’ a certain newspaper yet to be spotted at newspaper stands, which in its front-page of February 9, accused the Board Chair of the Cameroon National Musical Art Corporation, SONACAM, of corruption and influence peddling in the recruitment of a general manager for the copyrights body.
The paper carried a headline captioned “Voici comment Ateh Bazore à vendu le poste de DG à 12 millions,” losely translated to “See how Ateh Bazore sold the post of General Manager for 12 million.”
In an attempt to clear his name, Ateh Bazore explains that the recruitment of a general manager for SONACAM was announced through the National Employment Fund, and files of interested candidates were examined by an ad hoc committee headed by a neutral person.
He adds that the three candidates shortlisted for the position were auditioned in the course of a board meeting that was held on January 15, and the best candidate retained by the board of administrators.
While calling on artistes to remain calm and expect the payment of their copyrights by the end of March 2021, Ateh Bazore and his team have vowed to sue ‘Journal La Cible’ and all other persons involved in the smear campaigns against the corporation and its leaders.
