Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Government of Cape Verde has just exonerated the Sole Manager of Inforpress, José Vaz Furtado. The decision was communicated a moment ago, following the resignation of journalist Geremias Furtado, which took place this Thursday, the 15th. of the Board of that Union Association, condemning the “arbitrary” measure of the referred Manager.
“Taking into account recent events and the need to guarantee the normal functioning and institutional stability of the Cape Verdean news agency, the Government gave guidelines to the representative of the State, sole shareholder of Inforpress, for the adoption of a unanimous decision, in the sense of to exonerate the current Sole Administrator of the company, Dr. José Vaz Furtado”, said the executive, in a statement.
As the document reads, The Government defends the autonomy and independence of the public media, taking into account the high level of responsibility and quality of Cape Verdean democracy and freedom of the press in the African and World context.
It guarantees, on the other hand, that it will continue to “implement the best policies, mobilizing the necessary means and legal reforms, leading to the fulfillment of the irreplaceable mission of our news agency, so that it fulfills its objectives in terms of providing a public service of information, with quality, accuracy and impartiality”.
Notwithstanding the exoneration, it recognizes the “dedicated and competent work carried out” by José Vaz Furtado, since he took office in September 2021.
AJOC congratulates and guarantees that it was the outcome he was waiting for
This dismissal took place at the same time that the vice-president of AJOC, Gisela Coelho, was giving a press conference, at the Organization’s Headquarters, on behalf of the Board, condemning the “arbitrary” measure of the said Manager.
“The Board of AJOC condemns, regrets and recalls that no worker should be fired, persecuted or suffer reprisals for denouncing what they consider to be violations of Press Freedom by an Employer Entity, and hopes that attitudes of this nature will not be repeated and they should not go to school in Cape Verde or anywhere else in the world”, he said, moments before learning of the exoneration.
The same, having been informed, at the end of the said conference, that the Government had already issued a Communiqué announcing the dismissal of José Vaz Furtado, welcomed the measure taken by the Government, on behalf of the Board of AJOC, praising that above all everything is a “victory for Press Freedom”.
She guaranteed that, taking into account the “successive” cases and complaints, taken to the competent authorities, against the posture of the Sole Manager of Inforpress, it was the “outcome that AJOC was waiting for”, and that it was necessary, given the seriousness of the situation.
Gisela Coelho also defended that AJOC reiterates the need to review Inforpress’s management model, which, “as already seen”, due to what happened, does not involve having only a single person leading the institution, calling for a more democratic.
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