Mobilization prescriptions from the Secretary General asking permanent delegations, CPDM mayors , section executives, and militants to fill up stadiums, Afcon villages and fan zones were religiously followed making Afcon 2021 a success.
When the competition kicked off on January 6, 2022, with the opener between Cameroon and Burkina Faso, the stadium was full – though CAF had dropped the capacity to 80 percent because of COVID-19. But stadium attendance became timid as the competition unfolded. Jean Nkuété, the scribe of President Paul Biya’s ruling party, in a statement had asked militants of the CPDM to give mass appeal to Afcon a week to the start of the African tournament.
To the party, massive turnout at games, and other events related to the tournament translate as patriotism, and support to the Head of State Paul Biya, who is also the national President of the CPDM. Biya’s dream was to organise the tournament in Cameroon after 50 years. At the start things did not seem to work and the Confederation of African Football, Caf, took away the competition from Cameroon in 2019, while giving the country a second chance to organise the event in 2021. But COVID-19 came into the picture, forcing Caf to push the tournament to 2022. Then, came the back-and-forth story – if Cameroon was ready to host Afcon 2021, because the infrastructure was doubted. As the day of kick off January 9, 2022 drew near, the polemics narrowed down to the Olembe Stadium – if the construction of the 60000-seater stadium will be completed on time to host the opener between Burkina Faso and Cameroon. When it became clear that Afcon 2021 would hold as scheduled, European clubs stirred up another polemic – asking Afcon to be moved to June. That is when African footballers playing in major leagues in Europe are on break. Cameroon and Africa fought back. in-between these controversies, two opposition parties mulled protests, and armed groups operating in the English-speaking regions promised to disrupt the tournament. Afcon 2021 had a difficult birth, not a stile one, because the Head of State Paul Biya was bent on offering proper infrastructure and an experience of the tournament to youth.
Jean Nkuété saw the competition as a moment of celebrating the Head of State Paul Biya. Therefore, the timid turn up of fans in the stadiums did not augur well with party authorities.
The poor attendance was going to make those opposed to Afcon, and rivals of the ruling party happy. The CPDM had to step up its games. The party executives at the grassroots, CPDM mayors and militants took advantage of government’s decision to cut working hours during the competition and mobilized fans across the country to go for games. Many more militants were in fan zones dotted in municipalities across the country. CPDM mayors erected fan zones in most municipalities. Tiko, a municipality not yet free from insecurity, had more than 1000 people at its fan zone on each match day.
Although Cameroon failed to reach the finals, militants from the seven sections of Yaounde mobilized and stormed Olembe to watch Senegal and Egypt battle for glory.
Jude VIBAN
