Cameroon: a dozen sports federations paralysed

The deadlock continues. Of the fifty or so sports federations in Cameroon, at least twelve have failed to organise the renewal of their governing bodies. They are the federations for boxing, volleyball, cycling, roller skating, gymnastics, wrestling, dance, baseball, rugby, nanbudo, tennis and draughts.

Elections within these bodies are blocked. In each case, two camps are at odds and cannot agree on the statutes and on which members of the General Assembly should take part in the various ballots. The outgoing officials are suspected of having tailored new statutes to suit themselves. In the face of the crisis, Sports Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi has stepped into the process.

The federations had until 31 December to hold their elections. "There is a momentum of buy-in, the sports minister said at the New Year. However, there are a few recalcitrant federations whose outgoing officials want to cling on, through subterfuge and by circumventing the law, even though they are in a position of illegitimacy". It is a situation to which, "the supervisory authority is working to provide answers in line with the laws and regulations of the Republic", the sports ministry says.

The sports minister's veto

Narcisse Mouelle Kombi has thus used his veto: for elections to be rerun, the federations must comply not only with the 2018 national law on the organisation and promotion of physical and sporting activities in Cameroon, but also with the minister's circular letters. Several federations have finally agreed to abide by these instructions. The cycling federation is one of them.

"We re-examined the federation's governing texts as part of the compliance check carried out by the Monitoring Committee for the renewal of federation executive boards, set up by the sports minister. The outcome: the minister has agreed to the holding of our elective General Assemblies", says Jean-Baptiste Biaye, communications manager of the Cameroonian Cycling Federation.

Volleyball: 2 AGs and 2 elections in prospect

At the volleyball federation, the 2013 General Assembly (AG) has resumed its functions, in line with the texts in force and the instructions of the sports supervisory ministry. Two-thirds (2/3) of its statutory members met on 4 January 2023 at an extraordinary General Assembly. "The texts were amended at the Assembly and the draft was submitted to the Sports Ministry to obtain its compliance approval, as the law requires. We are hopeful that the minister will grant us this compliance approval", explains the rapporteur of the proceedings, Joe Archange Samba.

The election timetable has therefore been drawn up. The ballot is scheduled for 9 to 18 January. Even so, the outgoing leadership on the other side has no intention of leaving office without a fight. Accusing the sports minister of siding with their opponents, the board led by Serge Abouem appears to have opted for a showdown. It calls the members of the 2013 AG illegal and reiterates that the texts in force are those adopted on 28 October 2022. The outgoing executive intends to hold its own election as soon as possible. Tensions remain high.

Arthur WANDJI