DR Congo: Political interference to support the candidacy of Véron Mosengo-Omba
Gianni Infantino’s favorite candidate to take the presidency of the Congolese Football Federation, Véron Mosengo-Omba is also presented as the man wanted by the head of state. An assumed politicization that does not seem to bother FIFA at all, at a time when two Congolese ministers are acting behind the scenes to support the case of the former secretary general of CAF.
Philemon MBALE · Author profile ·
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Revealed in January by Sport News Africa, the candidacy of Véron Mosengo-Omba to run for FECOFA is no longer in doubt. If he has not yet officially submitted his file, Gianni Infantino’s representative in Africa has until Tuesday, April 21 to present the requested information.
Among them, the Swiss citizen must prove that he is indeed Congolese. Having a diplomatic passport – which allowed him to be secretary general of the CAF -, he does not officially have Congolese citizenship since he will, if necessary, have to renounce Swiss nationality – the Congolese constitution does not allow dual nationality.
Even if there is a possibility for him to regain his Swiss citizenship after the fact, Véron Mosengo-Omba may not even need so many administrative complications thanks to the support of two Congolese ministers.
The Minister of Sports and Justice to the rescue
From his private office on the Avenue de la Justice in Kinshasa, Didier Budimbu, the Minister of Sports, had received several league presidents on 11 March to talk to them about Véron and the benefits of his future candidacy.
Unenthusiastic, notably because of his influence within the Normalization Committee, which dragged on as head of FECOFA, the audience had left the office and received a generous compensation.
Budimbu continued its lobbying behind the scenes with Amadou Diaby, one of Véron Mosengo-Omba’s loyalists, who was in charge of "cleaning up" the image of the man who had been pointed out in several internal CAF reports.
However, the question of Congolese citizenship still arose. However, according to our information, the Minister of Justice, Guillaume Ngefa Atondoko, will personally confirm a certificate of Congolese nationality to Véron Mosengo-Omba. Enough to allow him to officially submit his application.
What would prevent another state from pushing "its" candidate using the Congolese example?
To perfect his record, the sexagenarian takes advantage of the political connections of Amadou Diaby, as well as the two ministers. If he has not been received in recent weeks by the head of state, Felix Tshisekedi, Véron Mosengo-Omba is presented as "his candidate".
A will from Zurich passed on to Kinshasa, which obeys, hoping above all not to see someone close to Moïse Katumbi get the presidency of the FECOFA. A political double game that also raises the question: how does FIFA allow two ministers to interfere directly before elections for a candidate?
Quick to denounce political interference, FIFA is exposing itself to a precedent: what would stop another state from now pushing "its" candidate using the Congolese example?
This risk is all the greater since pressure was brought to bear on the Electoral Commission, as well as the possibility of appeals according to our information. This makes one wonder whether it is still a democratic election or an election whose fate has already been decided behind the scenes.