By Zainab Joaque
Three Journalists from the Sports Writers Association of Sierra Leone (SWASAL) and two officials from the Ministry of Sports (MOS) were yesterday Monday 13th October thrown out of Cameroun because they did not have "health certificates."
News of journalist Fajah Barrie, Frank Cole and Mohamed Kelfala Sesay and Mohamed Kabba and James Fofanah from the ministry of sports being prevented from leaving their hotel by Camerounian immigration officers and police broke on Thursday 9th October.
According to Mohamed Farjah Barrie, the president of SWASAL, Camerounian immigration officers told them at their hotel that their names were "not in the list of delegates presented to the Camerounian FA by the SLFA. As usual we wrote letter to the SLFA asking them to include us in their list. We even followed up with telephone calls to both the SLFA and the Sports Ministry and we were assured that our names would be included...This is really embarrassing."
Frank Cole, SWASAL Secretary General posted on social media last Saturday saying, "Confirmed, it was Chris Kamara who wrote to Camerounian FA that five of us are not part of the official delegation because we do not have medical certificate hence our quarantine…"
On Sunday afternoon, a police commissioner met with the journalists and the two ministry officials and told them that they must leave Cameroun on Monday morning for Freetown, "then he handed over our tickets to us and said that they will pick us up at our hotel at 1am" said Barrie.
Minister Paul Kamara confirmed that he received a call from James Fofanah who is the Leone Stars Team Coordinator informing him that they were being deported.
The minister described the action of the Camerounian officials as "a humiliation to the government and people of Sierra Leone. Whatever you may say Leone Stars belong to the government, not the SLFA because it is the government that is responsible to do everything for the national team."
Kamara said the attitude of the SLFA over the question of selecting a coach for the national team, represents "a complete defiance, challenge and confrontation to the government because no one is above the government and it is the ministry of sports that is in control of sports in the country."
He said the result of the match, proves that "if not for the disruption that Isha Johansen caused, believe me we could have won that match...we have proven a point that the coaches that we and the FA agreed upon are very good coaches and the kind of performance the team put up is what everyone is commending now", he bluffed.
The Football Association General Secretary Chris Kamara said he was "highly disappointed that people can condescend so low as to tell lies on someone who has tried so hard to help out in the first place. These people are propagating lies against me saying that I signed a letter sent to Cameroun FA. Please can you ask these guys to produce evidence of the letter if any? I am waiting. I spent the rest of the day fighting to get them health certificate which they should have gotten before travelling. They never did, now they are finding a scapegoat for their weakness. I am really surprised at this and it makes me sick"
(C) Politico 14/10/14
