SDF Chairman warns against politicising AFCON 2019 hosting

The 1st Vice National Chairman of the SDF, Hon Joshua Nambangi Osih, has warned militants of the ruling CPDM, Government and the State media, to stop politicising and crediting Cameroon’s victory to host the 2019 African Cup Nations to President Paul Biya.

“It is a dangerous game these people are trying to play. The winning of the bid is a victory for all Cameroonians. It is not the victory for an individual, a party, or a Government”.

Hon Osih was speaking in an exclusive interview granted to The Post in Douala, on September 23. The SDF 1st Vice National Chairman, nevertheless, expressed joy over Cameroon’s winning of the bid. He said: “If credit has to be given to President Biya for Cameroon’s victory, then Biya should also take responsibility for the failures suffered by the national football team during his long stay in power, like the 2010 and 2014 World Cup debacles. We should not politicise football,” He said.

Hon Osih, a member of the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT, also stated that the challenge is not to win the bid to host AFCON 2019, but for Cameroon to live up to expectations by putting in place the necessary infrastructures to host the football festival.

“We have to start preparations from scratch; there is nothing on the ground. There are no stadia, no road networks, nothing. We have only four years to put everything in order,” he stated.

Osih also said that winning the bid is no guarantee that Cameroon will host the games. He asserted that the Confederation of African Football, CAF, has the right to withdraw Cameroon’s bid to host the games, if the country fails to live up to expectations.

“We need to start the preparations and stop crediting Mr Biya for the bid we have won,” he reiterated.

AFCON 2019: Campaign Slogan For 2018 Elections Meanwhile, the hosting of the 2019 AFCON has sparked debates on local radio stations in Douala. Many soccer and political pundits hold that the tournament will be used as a political slogan for the 2018 Presidential, Municipal and Legislative elections.

A Yaounde-based Political Scientist, Prof Claude Abe, who joined the debate on Equinox Radio, September 22, said the CPDM party and Government will politicise Cameroon’s hosting of the competition. He said Biya and his CPDM party will use the infrastructures and international honour as their campaign material for the elections.

Prof Abe remarked that President Biya has, since 1982, refused to visa FECAFOOT request to bid for the hosting of the games. According to him, it was not a coincidence that Biya visa-ed for Cameroon’s bid to host the tourney, few months after the Presidential elections.

Prof Abe also said that, though Biya has not formally declared his candidacy for the 2018 Presidential elections, Cameroon’s hosting of the AFCON 2019 is a clear indicator that Biya will run for another mandate in 2018.

Why The 2018 Elections Can Be Postponed Another view raised in the ongoing debates is that the hosting of AFCON may force Biya to postpone the 2018 elections, especially if he intends to retire after the elections. The hosting of AFCON 2019 and its fallouts will be inscribed by his supporters as part of his legacies for over 35 years in power.

Political analysts hold that Biya might want to postpone the elections under the guise that the country is focused on intensifying preparations to host the Nations Cup.

Again, since the rebirth of multi-party politics in 1990, Municipal, Legislative and Presidential elections in Cameroon have always been characterised by scandals, wrangling, bitterness and litigations, due to malpractices that often mar the elections.

Biya’s apostles may suggest that it will not be good for the nation to move into AFCON 2019 after the elections.

Another factor that may force the postponement of the 2018 elections in Cameroon is infrastructure. The infrastructures required to host the Nations Cup will cost the country hundreds of billions of FCFA. Biya may capitalise on the financial constraints to postpone the elections.

AFCON 2019, No Reason To Complain To Hon Osih, the ongoing debates on whether the hosting of AFCON 2019 can cause the postponement of the 2018 elections should not even arise. According to him, before Biya and his Government gave their support to Cameroon’s bid to host the tournament, they knew that elections were to hold in 2018. Osih said, while elections are organised by Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, AFCON 2019 will be organised by FECAFOOT.

He said ELECAM and FECAFOOT have nothing in common and do not work together; as such, elections in 2018 will not hinder the hosting of the competition.