SDF Member of Parliament for Bamenda / Bali Constituency has expressed disgust over the fact that Bamenda has not been selected among the cities to host AFCON 2019. Hon. Fobi Nchinda Simon expressed the Bamenda man's worries in a open letter to the Head of state, President Paul Biya in which he outlined some pertinent issues .
HERE BELOW IS THE LETTER
OPEN LETTER: To H.E. Paul Biya, President of The Republic of Cameroon
Subject: Urgency in Including Bamenda in Hosting The AFCON 2019
Your Excellency,
I am the MP for the Bamenda/Bali Constituency. It might be
needless to state here that it is the largest constituency in the entire
country. However, it suffices to remind you that according to
demographic statistics, Bamenda is the third largest city in Cameroon
after Douala and Yaounde and is one of the fastest growing town in the
Republic.
Under your auspices, the government has chosen Yaounde, Douala,
Bafoussam, Garoau and Limbe as the towns to host the African Nations Cup
in 2019. Bamenda, the chief town of the Northwest region was
inexplicably left out as one of the towns to host matches or training
sessions of the teams that will participate in AFCON 2019. When Cameroon
won the bid to host the AFCON 2019, the entire nation including Bamenda
was in euphoria. But this euphoria has dissipated as Bamenda has been
side-lined in the construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures for
the competition. Does it mean that the denizens of Bamenda in
particular and the North West region in general are not Cameroonians,
who equally have the right to the entertainment and the joy of the AFCON
2019 festival with its attendant socio-economic fallouts?
Your Minister of Sports and Physical Education granted a press
conference the other day to outline the infrastructures the government
has earmarked for AFCON 2019. He said the African Football
Confederation, CAF, requires 32 stadia for the competition. From the
statistics he presented, none of the stadia or training grounds is in
the NW region. Meanwhile, Yaoundé and other cities are having two
stadia. Why is Bamenda side-lined? Is it still the continuous
marginalisation of the Anglophones?
I know Bamenda has no road linking it to the other cities in
Cameroon. If your government’s promises are anything to go by, then by
2019, a decent road will link Bamenda to the other major cities of
Cameroon. Equally, the Bamenda airport is now operational and the
transportation of teams to Bamenda can no longer pose problems.
If the neglect of Bamenda by your government was an oversight, then
CAF has given you an opportunity to right the wrong done to Bamenda.
Instead of 16 teams, the competition will now have 24 teams. It is
therefore urgent and necessary for the organising committee to add
Bamenda as one of the sites to host the AFCON 2019. In addition, CAF has
shifted the competition from January 2019 to June 2019 thus, giving you
ample time to construct a stadium and ancillary facilities in Bamenda.
Football remains a unifying factor in Cameroon. It will be an
unpardonable act for the government to side-line Bamenda, an act which
can be wrongly interpreted by the population and which can further
polarised the nation. Bamenda has been and is home of some major
football clubs in Cameroon and it does not augur well to deprive the
city of basic football infrastructure.
Your Excellency, I am counting on your fast and effective decision to include Bamenda among the towns to host the AFCON 2019.
I remain sincerely yours,
Hon Fobi Nchinda Simon
MP Bamenda/Bali Constituency
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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