I want legality, not Tombi’s head

Abdouraman Hamadou Babba

- Abdouraman Hamadou Babba

The president of EtoileFilante of Garoua recently scored a major victory in his desperate fight to reform Cameroon football when the National Olympics Committee annulled the statutes of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), in accordance with his petition which he deposited at the said Committee in August this year. He is now determined to have the entire electoral process, which saw the election of Tombi à Roko as president of Fecafoot, cancelled. Abdouraman made this and other pertinent disclosures relating to Cameroon football clear in an interview he granted the press recently.      

                 How did you receive the decision of the Chamber of Arbitration of the National Olympics Committee annulling the statutes of Fecafoot?

                I received the decision with a lot of relief. All the actors of our football knew that those statutes violated article 23 of the law which has to do with the federal electoral college. The fact that the highest decision-making body of our country in terms of sports has said it comforts us; it shows that the Normalisation Committee did not do its job in an impartial manner.

The president of the National Olympics Committee, HamadKalkabaMalboum, said this decision of the Chamber of Arbitration did not annul the election which saw the victory of Tombi à Roko. How do you comment on that?

He is right. Our petition deposited on 25 August 2015 aimed particularly at the cancellation of the statutes drawn up by the Normalisation Committee and adopted on 5 September 2015, insofar as the electoral process had not yet begun on that date.  The very next day after the cancellation was pronounced on 1 October 2015 and in conformity with article 33 of the code of the Chamber of Arbitration, which states that the decision was effective as from the time of its pronouncement, I deposited a new petition aimed this time at the cancellation of the entire electoral process carried out on the basis of those statutes judged illegal and which had been annulled.

                If the Chamber of Arbitration does not annul this election as you wish, what should we expect in the days ahead?

                I would immediately lodge an appeal at the arbitration tribunal in Lausanne, Switzerland. To me, the national chamber of arbitration is only a stopover on the road to the Swiss arbitration tribunal.

                Some people are of the opinion that seizing the Swiss arbitration tribunal would not yield fruit, given that EssombaEyenga, the main maoeuvrer at this international court, is no longer on your side. Is this your feeling? 

If you really knew what the Swiss arbitration tribunal represented in the international sporting environment, you would not give any credit to such a declaration.

                Why did you refuse to adhere to the “consensus” that was negotiated by the Prime Minister, whereas many of your former partisans have accepted to move on?

                I have the strong conviction that the consensus did not take into account the vital interests of our football. It simply took into account individual preoccupations. The engagement I’m taking for our football is sincere and it aims essentially to deeply restructure football in the country. It is an ideal that is grossly placed above my personal interests.

                Do you not feel betrayed by your former partners?

                Not at all! Everyone is free to make their choice. I understand and accept theirs, and I hope they too have understood and accepted my choice of not accepting the consensus and of continuing the quest for the ideal I just talked about.

                Under what conditions would you accept to abandon this eternal fight against the leaders of Fecafoot?

                I’ll stop on the day football actors in Cameroon will have the right and liberty to designate their leaders in all transparency. It is an indispensable condition for the development and blossoming of our football. For decades now, we are in a system whereby the president chooses his voters whereas it is supposed to be the contrary. One of the major consequences of this situation is that we find in the football governing body a great majority of persons who have no direct interest in football and who are happy with the little advantages they have, without paying attention to the smooth-functioning of our football.

                In his post-election speech, Tombi à Roko stretched his hand “to all actors who did not find themselves in the executive bureau.” In your capacity as football actor and club president, would you accept to collaborate with him if he called for you tomorrow?

                If Mr. Tombi emerges victorious after a legal, credible and equitable electoral process, why will I not join him? In this case he would be the choice of the majority of actors, which unfortunately is not the case presently. He was imposed on the helm of our federation by Fifa and the Normalisation Committee, just to preserve a certain number of shameful interests. Because he is illegitimate to me, I’ll use every legal means possible to invalidate the (electoral) process, in order to help move our football forward.

                Is the Head of Government Philemon Yang’s written congratulation to the new leaders of Fecafoot not enough proof that the state has decided to put an end to this conflict which has dragged on for too long?

                This letter came before the cancellation of the statutes of Fecafoot which were judged to be against the laws governing our football. I’m sure the congratulation letter would never have been sent if the decision of the arbitration chamber had been pronounced earlier. The government is the guarantor of respect for legality and I don’t see its head encouraging the violation of a law adopted at the National Assembly and promulgated by the Head of State.

                What is your reaction to those who think that you are now acting against the interests of the state whose laws you however claim to defend?

                I think we should not mistake the interests of the state with those of some individuals, be they high state functionaries. State interest lies mainly in the respect for its institutions. If in the name of whatever interest everybody violated the law, it would be chaos. Only the President of the Republic is the judge of this kind of opportunity in circumstances clearly specified by our constitution.

                Some people hold that, in reality, your desperate fight against the leaders of Fecafoot has one goal:  getting the post of secretary-general of the federation whose call for candidature has just been launched by Tombi à Roko.

                If that was the case, I would have long had that post with many things…But let me repeat for the umpteenth time that I don’t sell my conscience.

                Why do you refuse to put down your arms and work with this new Fecafoot executive, which would mean putting an end to this battle?

                Let’s be clear: I’ve never been against the idea of a consensus that would take into consideration the interests of our football. And then, a consensus can be done in respect of legality. I would even say that it is one of the indispensable conditions of having a solid and viable consensus.

                A few minutes after the announcement of the decision of the Chamber of Arbitration, Joseph Antoine Bell jubilated by publishing on his facebook wall: “all what was done from these texts has been cancelled. We have to begin from scratch. Let’s be hopeful!” Should we expect a new alliance between the two of you in the days ahead?

                I’ve always been in contact with Joseph Antoine Bell and we share many convictions concerning the future of our football.

                If the election were to be re-conducted from the base, would you be candidate?

                If it is within the framework of a credible and equitable process, why not? But I must assure you straight away that I’m not inhabited by the morbid obsession of becoming president of Fecafoot at all cost.