“Don’t Politicize Our Love For Football” Bamenda III Population Tell D.O

Inhabitants of Nkwen in the Bamenda III municipality have lashed out at the Divisional Officer (D.O.) for the Bamenda III subdivision, Austin Ayuni Sakah, for bringing politics into football. They termed football “an apolitical activity” that had the blessings of the entire area irrespective of religious, gender, political, and ethnic background.

During the final games of the Bamenda III Council Inclusive Royal Tournament that took place at the Nibung field in Nkwen, Bamenda III subdivision, on Sunday, August 27, 2023, the Divisional Officer, appreciated the population for shunning fear and taking the destiny of their municipality into their own hands.

The Bamenda III Council Inclusive Royal Tournament ended with Alahlie FC beating Legacy SC by 1 goal to 0.

At the end of the event, the DO said the people took his advice to beat fear and take back their community from those trying to destroy it and for that, he appreciated them

“I want to thank the population of Bamenda III for heeding my advice from last year to conquer fear. You have subdued fear and taken the destiny of your municipality into your own hands. Some people will be hiding their faces in shame because of this huge crowd that supported the tournament,” said D.O. Ayuni Austin.

Little did he know his comments were going to provoke anger among the people.

Reacting to the D.O.’s comments, a native of Nkwen who only wanted to be addressed as Tantoh said the D.O. should stop using his community for political gains.

“We are not only lovers, but we are promoters of football. We don’t need anyone to spoil things for us. His outing on the football pitch was uncalled for,” he told MMI.

He went on to highlight that the problem of insecurity was the responsibility of both separatist armed groups and the Cameroonian military, which have both been accused of targeting civilians.

“He sounded as though we used the tournament to challenge some people when he said we had defeated fear. He failed to understand that if we want to be objective here, government forces are also a bone in the neck, but because it’s football, we just wanted it to remain like that,” Tantoh intimated.

There are those who think that the D.O. is using Bamenda III, where the people have worked extremely hard to activate a return to the relative peace they are enjoying, to score political points.

If he does not want to make gains out of the people’s struggle, what more does he want?” asked Tanwie, another denizen of Nkwen village. “I don’t know why government officials always want to take credit and behave as if they are the reason the tournament organised in Nkwen was successful. How can he say we listened to his advice to beat fear, so according to him, he has achieved a lot? We don’t need anyone to tell us what to do, we know what we want, We were not fighting with anyone concerning the tournament.”