Start of the political and economic fall of John Epee Mandengue , Cameroon's ephemeral Abrahamovitch

Others were: Hafia FC, Conakry of Guinea, Ashanti Kumasi FC of Kumasi, Ghana, Royal Armed Forces FC of Rabat, Morocco, Al Ahly Sporting FC of Cairo Egypt, Al Hilal FC of Khartoum, Sudan, the Dragons FC of Congo and Tout Puissance Mazambe of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The 60s, 70s and 80, were the glorious periods of Cameroonian club football and also that of Union of Douala FC. I have met John Epee Mandengue a couple of times and in one of our meetings, I interviewed him. That interview was done with Enow Chris Oben. Mr Enow Chris Oben was a senior journalist and former head of the provincial service of the Cameroon Radio and Television Corporation (CRTV) located in the town of Buea. Buea is the provincial capital of the coastal Anglophone region of Cameroon otherwise known as the South west province. The said interview was meant to be used on my Saturday morning current affair programme that was broadcast on CRTV Douala. The name of the programme as already mentioned was: Issues of Our Times. The same interview was also meant to be broadcast on a Sunday morning network political programme called: Cameroon Calling (CC). Cameroon Calling, is the flagship Anglophone political programme on Radio Cameroon and it is broadcast every Sunday morning from headquarters of the broadcasting House in Yaoundé. After our hour long interview with Mr Mandengue, we had a lengthy conversation. I understood and concluded that day that, he was ultra ambitious. He was interested in everything. From his covetous eyes, and the way he spoke with us, which was full of confidence with a fine lining of arrogance, I sensed that, he was secretly laying claim or planning to get the post of president of the republic.

His other humble desires were to head Cameroon Airlines, become the lord mayor or Government Delegate of the Greater Douala city council and also Prime minister. I knew that, his political ambitions will collide with those of his friends, who were supporting him in his xenophobic press business and also economically. I also knew that, he did not know Cameroon so well, especially the French-speaking Cameroonians that he was despising. Notwithstanding the low esteem that John Epee Mandengue had toward French-speaking Cameroonians, they were still his circumstantial friends, at least in politics and also in business. In 1996, John Epee Mandengue became by some miracle, the Chairman of the Deido based Foot Ball Club, Leopard FC. This club was formerly run by Thomas Tobbo Eyoum MP, a businessman who was the owner of an Insurance company called Province Reunie. Thomas Tobbo Eyoum MP was a politician, carrying the membership card of the ruling CPDM party. He was also a conditional friend of John Epee Mandengue. But when Thomas was the chair of Leopard Football Club of Deido, Leopard FC was a club that was perennially languishing at the bottom of the Cameroonian division one or premier league. Leopard FC‘s performances were so dreadfully poor that, she even had to drop into the soccer purgatory of division two of the Cameroonian football league. However any football team that has a chair with deep pockets as that of John Epee Mandengue and who was also a good manager, the positive transformational power of such a club is immediate. And it was the case with Leopard Football Club under the management of John Epee Mandengue. Leopard FC of Deido, Douala suddenly rose from her division two provincial league of the Littoral province to National Division one and even lifted the Cup of Cameroon. And the feat of John Epee Mandengue ignited not only admirers but critics and rivalries within ruling party members from Douala. Thomas and John were friends and both had many things in common, amongst which were their business and political brilliance. Both also had attitudes that were on the periphery of roguishness.