Female AFCON: Need for patriotic leap!

The countdown to the inspection visit by officials of the Confederation of African Football, CAF is sending jittery feelings among all those who, in one way or the other, are responsible for the organization of the coming African Women’s Football Cup of Nations to be hosted by our country.

The next inspection visit is slated for next month, February. February is not far. Indeed, it is tomorrow given the pressure brought to bear, not only on contractors charged with the realization of all event-related works such as the construction of roads, finishing touches and embellishment of the various stadiums, improvements on hospitality structures, notably hotels, but also on feet-dragging bureaucrats of the ministries charged with ensuring that these contracts are carried out and well, for that matter.

What are officials of the local organizing committee of the event going to tell the CAF inspectors when they come, given the visible lag in virtually all the envisaged projects? By CAF standards, virtually every facility going into the organization of this year’s event is supposed to be in its finishing phases.

That is far from the reality! Three ministers – Sports and Physical Education, Public Contracts and Town Planning and Urban Development – were in Limbe, one of the two cities, with Yaounde, to host the Womens’ Cup of Nations for an on-the-spot assessment of progress on the construction of access roads to the Limbe stadium and work on the training stadiums in other localities in Limbe and Buea.

The  irate ministers observed that very little had been done since their recent visit merely three weeks ago and that all the threats given the contractors to act vaster were simply like water on a duck’s back. Even warnings by the Governor of the South-West Region after last month-s ministerial visit and threatening court action and possible imprisonment did not make anyone budge.

Without waiting to find out the profound reasons for this vexatious situation –which could even be saddled on objective inhibitions, one is bound to summon the patriotic spirit of all those involved in the organization of this important sporting event and its singular significance, coming, as it were, some 43 years after Cameroon hosted a football event of that magnitude.

This was one good moment to get Cameroon bouncing back into the inner circles of African football management after so many years in the doldrums and anyone trying to hold down this legitimate ambition can only be seen as lacking the required patriotic spirit or avoiding the last-ditch effort to ensure that Cameroon gains back its football pride of yore. Many have been quick to blame the lateness in executing these projects to the sole competence of the companies. But there is more to this than meets the eye! The patriotism of those who ever awarded these contracts is also called to question; for all those who were aware of the limitations of these companies and still awarded them the contracts take even more of the blame.

The organization of the women’s AFCON next November was expected to serve as a litmus test for what is expected to be done with the organization of the 2019 AFCON in Yaounde. The quandary and last-minute rush observed in the organization of next November’s event is a God-given opportunity and an eye-opener to see things done differently if the main event of 2019 is to be a success.

And so far, the hornet’s nest has only been stirred over visible facilities such as roads and stadiums. But there are many others such as telecommunications and internet services, hotel accommodation, efficient and reliable public communication services. The present situation requires that all the stake-holders take a patriotic leap. That seems to be the main weak link in the organizational setup at the moment.