MP's tourney initiative unite and unearth talents

The Member of Parliament for Donga-Mantung Division, Northwest Region, Hon Cyprain Awudu Mbaya, has used football to mend the fracas in his constituency left behind by the September 30, 2013 twin elections.

The seed of discord sown by the elections was destroyed during the finals of the holiday football tournament organised by the MP.

According to Hon Mbaya, the trophy was aimed at keeping the youths busy during the holidays; prevent them from indulging in delinquent activities and to uncover football talents in the area.

It was equally to seek ways to reconcile a people whose socio-political coexistence was subverted during the 2013 twin elections.

Talking to The Post after the finals, Hon Mbaya, who is also Questor in the National Assembly and President of the Pan-African Parliamentary Network on Climate Change, said he felt elated and consoled by the competition.

He hinted that the devil strayed into the Division during the 2013 twin elections and inadvertently corroded the peace the people had always enjoyed.

He said young politicians with vaulting ambitions were imposed on the people, which gave birth to psychological and emotional violence and brought unnecessary tension within the Ndu-Nkambe constituency.

Hon Mbaya observed that before the “temptation” stepped in, the people of Donga-Mantung had been enjoying a lot of brotherhood and democracy.

The final pitted Nassara Filles against Cosmos Warriors in the Female category, and Veteran Football Club of Ndu and Sango Formation of Nkambe in the male category.

The finals, watched by over 12,000 spectators from all the nooks and crannies of Ndu and Nkambe Subdivisions was presided over by the Senior Divisional Officer of Donga-Mantung, Bernard Ngone Ndode Mesape, the Divisional Officers of Ndu and Nkambe and other administrative, political, traditional and religious authorities.

The competition which ran for three months was supervised by FECAFOOT authorities from Donga-Mantung and was divided into two zones - Ndu and Nkambe.

In the female category, Nassara Filles thrashed Cosmos Warriors by 4 - 2 after post match penalties, while Veteran Football Club of Ndu defeated Formation Sango of Nkambe 1-0 in the male category. The four teams at the finals went home with a set of jerseys each and cash prizes.

All the twelve teams that participated in the competition also took home reconciliatory sums amounting to circa FCFA 2.5million.

Speaking on behalf of Hon Mbaya, the former Mayor of Nkambe, Jones Mangoh Tanko, said he was overwhelmed with the turnout during the competition. This, he said, was a bold step towards reconciliation and unity.

He thanked the donor for the initiative. He also hailed the players who demonstrated fair-play and sportsmanship through out the competition. On his part, the SDO, Ndode-Mesape, said he was elated with the turnout of the people.

He described Hon Mbaya as a peace and development crusader and called on the elites of the Division to join Mbaya in the peace crusade, irrespective of their political leanings.

He appreciated the talents of the players and described Donga-Mantung as a Division blessed with sports talents while appealing to the elites to market these talents to the world.