Dated October 7, 2022, a letter from the Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic instructs the Minister of Finance to grant the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fécafoot) an advance of 2.7 billion of FCFA. “As part of Cameroon’s participation in the 22nd FIFA World Cup “Qatar 2022”, the Public Treasury through the accounting item for which I am responsible, disbursed the sum of 4,176,934,602 FCFA, of which 2,732,110,821 FCFA should be paid for by Fécafoot”, we read in a correspondence attributed to the specialized payer, William Sumpewoh, having leaked on social networks.
The money, according to the aforementioned correspondence, represented the share of this last structure in the budget – of participation in the World Cup -, in order to compensate for the delay in the provision of the resources expected from Fifa. In addition, the above-mentioned letter from the Sg/Pr formally informs the Minfi to take all the necessary measures, in collaboration with the Minsep, so that the total amount of the advance is returned to the Public Treasury on the due date.
Thus, on July 26, the specialist payer, William Sumpewoh, who made the payment, seized the president of FECAFOOT by correspondence asking him to return the amount of the advance granted to the structure for which he load.
Hence, questions arise. FECAFOOT engaged in several lawsuits – which make him lose money -, is it able to settle this debt on time? What would happen if the debt was not paid, at least on time?
According to experts, two scenarios are possible. On the one hand, the Fécafoot settles its debt. This is the option provided in the letter from the Sg/Pr, indicates a judicial source.
On the other hand, continues our source, FECAFOOT may be unable to repay its debt. In this case, the payer will continue to issue reminders for recovery. Said reminders could lead to formal notices and legal proceedings.
Indeed, breathes the judicial source, “if this money is not reimbursed, the Audit Bench by checking the accounts of the payer, will realize the debt and will ask him to justify that he has accomplished all the due diligence necessary for recovery”.
It should be noted that the State is not intended to lend money to public or private entities. However, indicates a specialist in public finance, the State can grant subsidies which, in principle, are not reimbursable, but intended for specific missions. The loan between the State and FECAFOOT can therefore be considered as a normal political operation.
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