Indomitable Lions: When will Minister Mouelle Kombi end his tragi-comedy? ⁰

One would have thought that following FIFA’s letter of May 6, 2024, urging Cameroon’s ministry of sports and FECAFOOT to comply with agreements they had signed, especially as the global soccer governing body had clearly stated in its letter that FECAFOOT was the body which had to appoint technical team members for the country’s national team, the country’s sports minister, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, would see the errors of his ways and seek reconciliation.

On the contrary, the professor of law and practicing lawyer has gradually morphed into a practicing liar by inventing tricks and, sometimes issuing veiled threats to get his way around a rule that has stood the test of time.

Mouelle Kombi seems to think that the world operates with the rules established by Cameroon’s lawless government.

During the match pitting the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon against the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde in Cameroon, Minister Mouelle Kombi took his comedy and chaos to the stadium.

Due to his greed and lawlessness, two different technical teams had to put Cameroon’s lawlessness and disorder on display for all to see although Cameroon’s major television network, the Cameroon Radio and Television Corporation  (CRTV) did a good job of sparing its viewers the pain of seeing the country being ridiculed due to Mouelle Kombi’s Amerisized ego.

Both technical teams were kicked out of the coaching zone and were reduced to sorry spectators of the match.

Before the stadium incident, other scenes of Mouelle Kombi’s drama had played out at the Hilton Hotel in Yaoundé and even at the training grounds. The “puppet master” has been using the “Belgian farmer” who now moonlights as a coach of the Indomitable Lions to destabilize the same team he is expected to coach.

The “Belgian farmer” knows that the chaos the practicing liar has outsourced to him will only hurt him in the long run and he is now cutting a conciliatory figure.

But it is not up to the Belgian farmer to put an end to Mouelle Kombi’s unacceptable drama. The Belgian farmer has already eaten and danced with the devil. He is therefore caged in silence forever.

He cannot talk and, on Sunday, Mouelle Kombi’s ghost followed the Belgian farmer to Luanda in Angola. A new act in Mouelle Kombi’s tragi-comedy played out at the Nsimalen International airport with the Minister’s appointed technical team being refused access to the aircraft that was transporting the Cameroonian delegation to Luanda.

After long and tedious negotiations, members of Mouelle Kombi-appointed technical team were allowed into the aircraft but had to be squeezed in the tail of the airplane.

Omam Biyik, a once venerated Indomitable Lions striker and members of Mouelle Kombi’s cast knew that the headaches ahead would expose them to more humiliation but they must obey their puppet master.

Hunger and poverty hardly breed virtue and they have successfully reduced Omam Biyik to a beggar. He has lost his sense of dignity and he is willing and ready to implement Mouelle Kombi’s devilish plan without batting an eyelid. He prefers to err on the side of illegality if only he can receive a meagre salary. Many wonder where he has kept the money he earned as a player.

Omam is today a member of the Kombi cult. From Nsimalen, they flew into Luanda conscious of the fact that they could face enormous embarrassment. Omam and his fellow Kombi loyalists came out of the airplane with stomachs full of butterflies. The scene had changed.

Angolans were not going to help Mouelle Kombi’s men stage their tragi-comedy on Angolan soil. Their names were not on the match list submitted by FECAFOOT. Another round of negotiations had to start. Before Omam and his fellow Kombi disciples earn their first salaries, they would have run out of saliva. The negotiations are always tough and long. When you side with illegality, know that yours will be the kingdom of humiliation.

Despite the preaching, begging and talking, Kombi’s disciples had to pay their visa fees and many of them did not have much money on them. Angolans are tough with their visas, and sometimes, even with a diplomatic passport, you still have to answer some head-breaking questions.

Though Kombi’s disciples had been let into the country, they knew they might not have a good place to rest. Luanda is a very expensive city. Hotel rates are astronomically high and it was when Omam and his colleagues in crime reached the hotel wherein the Indomitable Lions were being lodged, that they finally figured out that they would be homeless for two days.

FECAFOOT does not recognize the Kombi disciples and had not reserved any rooms for them. Cameroon’s chaos cannot play out in Angola. The scenes are different and the law works in Angola.

Omam, the man who had brought fame to Cameroon in the 1990 World Cup competition was reduced to a beggar. Like other members of the Kombi technical team, he had to share a room with the younger players, many of whom could be his children. Worst of all, the days-long fatigue caused Omam and his colleagues to snore all night long as if they wanted to generate more electricity for the city of Luanda. Poverty has a way of humiliating people!

Despite Mouelle Kombi’s attempt via telephone to talk the Angolan sports minister into his chaos, the Angolan football federation made it clear that only documents forwarded by FECAFOOT had the force of law. Federations don’t deal with sports ministries. They deal with sister federations and in Luanda, Omam and other disciples of Kombi knew that they were in real trouble. Hunger and thirst kept Kombi disciples company throughout their stay in Luanda.

They were allowed into the stadium only after having paid for their tickets like ordinary spectators. Many of them could be seen cutting lonely and miserable figures. Only the FECAFOOT appointed technical team members enjoyed their full benefits. They played their roles fully while Kombi’s disciples watched in utter dismay.

Mouelle Kombi had lost the battle of Luanda but had succeeded not only to expose his disciples to humiliation in its superlative degree, but also to frustration. He had also carefully crafted a plan to expose them to hunger and desperation. And the plan actually worked.

With all what has played out over the last week, Mouelle Kombi must understand that more humiliation will be downloaded on his illegal technical team as the Indomitable Lions work hard to obtain a spot in the upcoming World Cup competition.

But there are more problems for Minister Mouelle Kombi. The invoices of the companies he signed mutual agreements with are already due. FECAFOOT only pays for contracts it negotiates. It has no business with third-party contracts. Over the last two days, the beleaguered minister of sports has been calling on the FECAFOOT finance officer to pay the invoices for contracts he signed, but the FECAFOOT finance officer cannot disburse any money without approval from the FECAFOOT boss.

The finance officer has clearly stated that he cannot make any errors of judgment as auditors will hold him responsible for any poorly managed finances. The finance officer understands that the justice system would come after him like a Tasmanian devil if he breached the law.

Mouelle Kombi is running out of steam. He has been bruised and ruffled by a FECAFOOT President who likes to err on the side of the law and has a tough personality. Omam and his fellow disciples may never receive a salary for the unpalatable drama they have helped Mouelle Kombi to stage.

Kombi has a choice! Sue for peace or continue making a fool of himself. If he does not embrace decency and collaboration, then he should know that there is more disgrace for him on the horizon.

By Staffman Alain Agbor Ebot