Freedom of speech has a very long history in Cameroon. It all started in ancient Greece where citizens of Athens enjoyed considerable Freedom of speech in the 400BC ([8]). Freedom of speech though was a central issue between religion and politics in European history, including the reforms of the 16th century that gave rise to a new religious tradition. Speech restrictions issued by Kings James I led to a Declaration of freedom by parliament in 1621 ([5]). During enlightenment in the 17th and 18th century, speech was considered a natural right. Influential philosophers of England and France stressed the importance of the individual with each person having a right to speak freely and participate in Government’s freedom of expression, thus, became an important factor in the French Revolution leading to the declaration of two men which provides that “Men are born and remain free and equal in right” ([6]).

The colonist was aware of the English tradition of suppressing speech and press. In forming a democracy, the founders considered free speech necessary. They reasoned that freedom of belief would have little meaning if thought could not freely be expressed and shared. In fact, a tradition of robust and rowdy expression was prevalent during the framing of the constitution. The drafters reasoned that, if the government was to be governed by the people, then government can only be effective as the citizens are informed ([8]). Influenced by the French declaration of 1789, the framers raised the issue of freedom of speech and press to yet another level involving constitutional law, more compelling than a declaration. In the end, the colonies struck a balance between absolute freedom and the English form restricted freedom ([5]).

Following the organization, in 1791, the First Amendment on Freedom of speech on the 15th of December as part of the Bill of Right was done by the United State of America confirming the fundamental rights of citizens ([2]). This amendment guarantees the right to express ideas and information. Freedom of expression; the right to express opinions without government restriction is a democratic ideal that dates to ancient Greece. The Bill of Right protects individual liberties. However, it also provides the limit to freedom of speech and press in Cameroon. The French declaration of Freedom of speech is contained in Article 11. It provides for “the free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, therefore, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law”. ([5]) Freedom of speech grants Americans the liberty to criticize the government and speak their mind without fear of being censored or prosecuted. The First amendment of the bills of right reads thus “the congress shall make no law restricting and establishment of religion; to assemble and to petition the government for s redress of grievances” ([4]).

Cameroon is the pang of this crucial transition. It was subjected to a quarter century of stern dictatorship under Ahmadou Ahidjo. This continued his successor Paul Biya until political agitations in the 1990s forced him out the one-party slumber onto the multiparty bandwagon. A crucial factor in this evolving democratization process is freedom of expression, which is the spirit of liberal society ([8]).

Freedom of speech and press is also protected at the international level. Freedom of expression is recognized as a Human Right under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right [UDHR] (United Nations, 1948). Freedom of expression and press is also recognized by international covenant on civil and political rights [ICCPR]. Article 19 of the UDHR states that “everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference and everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media of his choice” ([2]).

Despite the above protection of human right, of freedom of expression, freedom of press, there still seems not to be any freedom of expression or speech and freedom of press in Cameroon as the government continues to limit the enjoyment of these rights in practice ([4]). Though the Constitution of 1996 ended publication censorship, the African Charter’s Article 17 gives officials the power to ban publications deemed to be a threat to “public order” ([5]). Defamation continues to be a criminal offence and judicial harassment; arrest and prosecution of journalists and writers have engendered self-censorship ([1]).

The three independent television stations avoided criticizing the government and generally relayed government information to the public ([8]). Security forces continue to restrict press freedom and otherwise harass print media journalists ([6]). The government seized print runs of private newspaper distribution. Created in 1990 by the presidential decree, the National Communication Council [NCC] is the country’s media regulator and its powers span from frequency allocation to arbitration on Defamation cases sanctions including bans on media outlet ([5]). Now creates doubt if freedom of press really exists ([7]).

When it comes to freedom of speech and press in Cameroon, it is a very important concept due that freedom all the society is based on freedom of speech and press ([8]). The aspect of freedom of speech and press is a fundamental concept in a way that everything we report should be related freedom of speech and press in Cameroon. This point on freedom of speech and press in Cameroon is to the point that the citizens are in fear of expressing themself and aspect to report press interview and in that light the society is in fear of expression and its very wrong for that instance so as such freedom of speech and press needs to be protected and taken into consideration by the state to his people and taken care by the state to the society ([6]).

When it comes to the frameworks put in place to mitigate on freedom of speech and press in Cameroon is a very big effort ([8]). As such in this nation when we talk of freedom of speech and press, we refer to the right of expression and that right towards information from the media in that light very important when capitalizing about that access to freedom of speech and press in the nation of Cameroon ([4]).

In Cameroon, as frameworks on freedom of speech and press we have the citizens, the courts, the constitution, and the government ([5]). In that light the is the protection about freedom of speech and press in Cameroon having that so right and power in the country, so all these frameworks serves as that moving instruments as to concern with the so priority of the its citizens and as such freedom of press in a very important and necessary aspect in every nation which makes the freedom of expression reliable to that extent that is covers the whole territory ([2]). It is very essential when talking of freedom of speech and press due to that freedom of expression is a fundamental right of all citizens to enjoy merged with the right to information from the media as such the journalists are then the keepers of information that it depends solely on them for information ([6]).

The aspect that concerns freedom of speech and press in Cameroon is to that level which should be respected by all in the nation to that as a very essential and fundamental minds it need the corporation of the people and the government in particular since it has to deal with the big mind set of each so freedom of speech and freedom after speech is a very big mind blow and to which is very important ([7]).

The aspect about freedom of speech and press in Cameroon, it is as a result to the extent that it is a cardinal point and useful area in our society to which in every society freedom of expression and freedom of press are very important cardinal aspects in our society ([8]). That the point about freedom of speech and press are very relevant to which it is a fundamental rule of law that freedom of expression and press must be relaxed to that the citizens have even a common way to respect that, to which we are faced with in our society and should be able to stand on our ground to fight for our right of expression and right of information ([6]).

In summary, the right over freedom of speech and press in our country is a very big step which in our society at large which the universal declaration on human right and the Cameroon constitution together with the 1990 press law are being violated on day-to-day bases ([2]; [7]).

In other to ensure the protection of citizens over freedom of speech or expression and freedom of press, the government should provide enforceable security to the citizens not to be afraid about freedom after speech and even the media sector to permit them give effective and concrete information without any fear ([5]).

Again, on the other side, the government need to put in place extra measures for the protection of the journalist in Cameroon which will permit them to have that liberty to fight for the truth and give required information about the country and which will help the media sector to function as one ([3]), which the media sector is one which need effective protection due that we have seen so many cases of death and others of the journalist which should be protected by the government in Cameroon and even stipulated by the Cameroon constitution ([4]).