FECAGOLF president freed after days in detention

The president of the Cameroon Gold Federation (FECAGOLF), Louis Deschamps Lothin Elessa, has been released and placed under judicial control after spending days in detention.

The police arrested him on September 14 in Yaounde after he was accused of misusing the Federation’s property, creating parallel bank accounts, and usurping titles.

The Guardian Post Newspaper reported in its Saturday edition that the FECAGOLF boss reinforced suspicions of embezzlement against him after he produced a report claiming he loaned around 100 million FCFA to the Federation to finance two trips to Abuja and Germany, as well as other expenses within eight months.

“In addition, allegations emerged indicating that he had attempted to modify the signatures on the FECAGOLF account in order to empty it, after embezzling a check sent by the Yaoundé Golf Club as an affiliation,” the news outlet reported.

It is alleged that the FECAGOLF president had been summoned on several occasions, but he remained defensive towards judicial authorities.

Reports say he was locked up in a cell at the Judicial Police and later referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office where he spent the whole day.

An extraordinary General Meeting, reports say, will be held by the FECAGOLF headquarters in the days ahead to shed light on the situation.

Elessa Lothin has been President of FECAGOLF for barely nine months as he took over the helm as the Federation’s boss on December 8, 2022. He succeeded Yves Martin Abanda, who served as president of the Federation for 14 years.