Lions investigation: Motaze committee cost 69 million FCFA

For a few hours of paperwork and some hearings that have so far made no headway on issues that caused the underperformance of the national team in the World Cup in Brazil, the commission set up by Philemon Yang chaired by Louis-Paul Motaze is costing a fortune.

The "Star" building has been rather busy over the past few days, surrounded by the roaring of engines and a parade of spectators as official are summoned as witnesses under the investigation prescribed, on June 26, by President Paul Biya.


The committee’s main objective is to identify all the irregularities and speculation behind the collapse and bankruptcy of the Indomitable Lions in the final phase of the World Cup "Brazil 2014".


The Commission began last Monday, chaired by the Secretary General of the Prime Minister, Louis Paul Motaze (whom some consider the real prime minister).


For many, the work of the commission is to simply put the debacle to bed by brushing off facts instead of digging out the truth behind the shambolic performance.


Random or coincidental circumstances, the committee is composed of fifteen investigators, the majority of which are employees of the prime minister) and sources say a budget of 69 million FCFA was set aside for the investigation.

One may well wonder about the state and nature of the expenditure incurred by the commission. There was no special deployment, or even dramatic depreciation in terms of logistics, finance and other materials.


Besides coffee breaks and meals bought elsewhere everything else can be found on the spot. So it’s difficult to know where the 69 million has been spent and seems quite unworthy," says a source close to the budget office.


Heavy toll The damage and the sacrifices agreed by the Cameroonians to the altar of the dependence in the opium of the people that is football, are uncountable.


After the release of more than one billion to pay the bonuses, the taxpayer is again despoiled for the purpose of paying a heavy price for an investigation that could not really reveal any indicators of the true will of the public authorities, to wring the neck of the opportunistic practices, taking interest in public affairs.


"In Cameroon, if you want to permanently bury a case, you should create a commission of inquiry" a saying linked to former Prime Minister Sadio Hayatou.

"The members of the inquiry have in one way or another, proximity to the perpetrators of the collapse. If they are not directly accountable for the debacle of the Lions, they have, by the roles they played, participated indirectly in the same bankruptcy. They cannot justify the necessary distance," admits a source close to the prime minister.


Lousy Adventure According to our source, neutrality cannot be granted to a committee on which weigh suspicions of connections with the authors of the "crime."


Before moving the Cameroonian delegation to Brazil, the Head of State was aware of all the files. He knew that Cameroon, plagued by multiple crises, launched into a lousy adventure. Nothing has been done to salvage this ending mismanagement.


However, the future of football in Cameroon is not dependent on a report that, before reaching the table of the head of state, will no doubt be polished and chiselled.


After the debacle of the national team in 1972, President Ahmadou Ahidjo, did not resort to any commission of inquiry to crack the case. Instead the days that followed led to the rebirth and regeneration of Cameroonian football.