Why I still want to be Fecafoot President

Robert Penne

- Robert Penne, former Fecafoot SG & VP
The graduate from INJS Yaounde says despite controversies surrounding the process to elect the next president of the Cameroon Football Federation, he believes he has all the merits to be handed the top job. He made the statement in an interview he granted The Median in Yaounde. Excerpts
The process to elect a new president of Fecafoot is getting more and more complex by the day. With all these confusion and intrigues do you still nurse the ambition to vie for the Fecafoot presidency? Will you still present your candidature for the election?

Yes of course! Did you think the contrary? Complexity of a process is not synonymous to impossibility, especially for some body who wants to pay back his country for all the help he received.

How do you react to the scheming attitude of the normalization committee?

To say the truth I don’t think it is my place to judge the committee. The Cameroonian people are sufficiently informed to draw conclusions on the attitude of the normalization committee members. What preoccupies me is how to win the confidence of the majority of the electorate so that I can have the mandate to implement my blue print for Cameroon football which is so dear to me.


What justifies this sustained ambition of yours?

You know, one of my strongest weapons is endurance and perseverance. When I see the way Cameroon football is rapidly declining due to bad management I have the feeling that I am part of the problem; I have the urge to contribute my own small and modest knowhow to bring about a positive change.  As a physical education teacher and holder of a diploma in sports association management added to my experience as a former secretary general and a former 1st vice president respectively of Fecafoot, I have the feeling that I can rise up to the challenge.

How do you rate your chances giving the ‘coded’ procedure put in place by the normalization committee?

I remain confident and calm; i am not shaken at all. You are certainly not unaware that life is a series of battles. I am not the type that wants to be handed precious things on a platter of Gold. I always want to achieve my things after making an effort.

Don’t you fear that the prolonged and unending electoral process could deplete you financially? How far more do you can you keep on?

You are correct when you say so. But in life one has to learn to make sacrifices, at times even for others. I think I have benefitted a lot from my country and it is the price of the sacrifice of others who preceded me. I see no reason therefore why I should not also sacrifice in my own way for others. I will keep on sacrificing until when I can no longer continue.