Letter to the FECAFOOT President, Samuel Eto’o  ⁰

 Dear Mr. President, 

Congratulations to you and your team for the just-ended meeting in Limbe, the Southwest region’s beautiful and friendly port city!  

It was also a pleasure to know that the deliberations ended in the appointment of new members of your institution’s executive committee. 

However, like many people of the English-speaking minority, I was very disappointed to know that not even a single English-speaking Cameroonian was appointed to your executive committee. 

Other English-speaking Cameroonians have already registered their utter disagreement and disappointment with this decision, but I would still like to add my voice to theirs to ensure that the language issue which is part of the many issues which have caused the conflict in the country is taken care of anytime a major decision is taken in your institution. 

Many towns and villages in the two English-speaking regions remain inaccessible to many patriotic and hardworking Cameroonians because of the war that is playing out there, and like many Cameroonians, I thought as a younger person, you would always make decisions taking into consideration such a serious matter. 

I know it is not too late for this decision to be corrected, but if it does not get corrected, know the enormous support you enjoy in those two regions will take a nosedive. If we want peace, then we must always practice justice!  

Also, another issue is that even before your election, your communication team did not incorporate English-speaking Cameroonians into whatever communication plan it had. This has caused many English-speaking Cameroonians around the world not to receive important communication products in time in the language they understand better.  

I know language services cost a fortune anywhere in the world, but if we, as a nation, have opted to run a bilingual system in Cameroon, we must accept it with all its inconveniences. I would like to underscore that Cameroon has a huge pool of experienced and effective English-speaking translators in Yaounde who will be very willing to join your team if called upon.  

In this regard, I am offering to help your communication team with any translation and writing services it may need. I would, however, be prompt to add that my services will entirely honorary. It is a personal decision not to receive any payment from any Cameroon government department.  

Thank you for your time. 

 Sincerely, 

 Joachim Arrey 

arreyjoachim@hotmail.com