The Menchum Unity Football Tournament sponsored by the Member of Parliament for Menchum South, Hon Wallang Richard has kicked off in Wum.
The 2022 edition of the perennial Hon. Wallang Richard Unity Football Tournament kicked off last Sunday in Wum, headquarters of Menchum division in the North West region. Several teams are taking part in the tournament. The holiday tournament will run for over a month.
The opener of the sports competition at the Wum Municipal Stadium last weekend pitted Lions of Salam against Abonge FC in a gala match. Other teams that have also registered for this year’s edition include: Sunday Sharp FC, Garage FC, Otaba FC, ST Martins FC. More teams are expected to register for the tournament.
The President of the Organizing Committee of the tournament, Ategha Simon said innovations will be introduced this year with female football competition. The Menchum Unity Football Tournaments has stood the test of time despite all odds. Several holiday tournaments in the troubled English-speaking regions have disappeared since 2017, when the ongoing crisis in the Anglophone regions switched to an armed conflict.
Young adults who used to participate in the tournaments have picked up arms and moved into camps of separatists lodged in the bushes. In some areas separatists have ‘banned’ such tournaments wielding torture to defaulters. But that of Hon. Wallang has survived. Not by accident. His closeness to his people has thawed the tension among communities within his constituency. His efforts have paid off.
Hon. Wallang Richard’s philanthropy and generosity know no bounds. The MP recently offered FCFA 400,000 to victims of a military mishap at Abar-Missong village in the Fungom subdivision. The victims moved to his constituency.
Jude VIBAN
