Sylvestre Ngouchinghe debunks rumours of Eto’o owing him

Prominent business mogul and Senate member from the West Region of Cameroon, Senator, Sylvestre Ngouchinghe, has rebuffed rumours about the country’s football association president, Samuel Eto’o Fils, being indebted to him.

Recent reports that circulated on the Cameroonian blogosphere have claimed that the African Four-Time Player of the Year and President of the Cameroon Football Federation, (FECAFOOT), owes the business tycoon the sum of about 200 million FCFA.

Senator Sylvestre Ngouchinghe is the founder and CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company, CONGELCAM SA, involved in the importation and trading of fishing products in Cameroon.

In a release signed August 28, by the senator’s lawyer, Barrister Fidèle Djoumbissie, termed the allegations “inaccurate”.

“I would like to inform you that there is no business relationship between Honourable Sylvestre Ngouchinghe and Samuel Eto’o Fils,” said the defence counsel for the senator.

“One is an undisputed leading player in football, and the other is an economic operator with a proven reputation and public notoriety,” Barrister Djoumbissie further stated in the release.

It is worth noting that Ngouchinghe began his business career as a salesman in the Bafoussam West region of Cameroon before moving over to the nation’s capital city, Yaounde, where he worked as a shopkeeper.

In 1982, Ngouchinghe created his business franchise, CONGELCAM, when he began retailing frozen fish at the Mvog Mbi market in Yaounde.

The business grew over the years, with the turnover capital spiking from millions of FCFA to now over 9 billion FCFA. The company today is said to employ over 2,000 citizens and provide indirect jobs to over 3,000 other Cameroonians.

Meanwhile, the fresh allegation against Samuel Eto’o piles on top of many other crises that the leader of the Cameroonian football powerhouse is currently facing. 

Amidst the multiple scandals and crises, Samuel Eto’o posted a few days ago on his Facebook page an encouraging message to his fans and football stakeholders in the country.

He had called on them to shun fear and ignore all detractors attempting to stand in his way.