Bless Zoshe
Buea, Cameroon.
Every great initiative usually begins with one man, and then others join in. And before you know it, it takes the city by storm.
Drawing inspiration from the Head of State’s call for Cameroonians to dare and innovate, what started like an initiative of the Southwest Regional Cycling League, has turned out to be one which will be remembered for generations to come; the “Grand Prix de la Reunification”, Here we are!
Barister John Kameni, President of South west Cyclying league.
In the following chat with the production team, the President of the Southwest Cycling League, Barrister John Kameni talks about the race from inception to action.
Magazine: President John Kameni, how prepared are you ahead of this Ground–breaking initiative?
President Kameni: At our level we can say that we have the support and blessing of the administration, we have all the athletes ready to participate in this race, all the logistics are in place, and as a novelty, we have this magazine as an immortalizing document of the participation of the Cameroon Cycling Federation in the Reunification celebration of Cameroon.
Our various partners responded positively, and they gave us every reason to say the Reunification Cycling Race is ready to kick off, from Place de la Fête , Bonanjo in Douala, to Commercial Avenue, Kumba on the 24th of May, and from Commercial Avenue, Kumba through Limbe to Bongo Square, Buea. All is set, and we pray the weather accompanies us favorably, to make this show a wonderful one.
President John Kameni, tell us about the budget and prize money for this race.
President Kameni: Cycling is not like football finals where the winner has a particular amount of money. Cycling as a race has various stages and events such as best climber, best sprinter, the Yellow and Blue jerseys and various segments of the track where particular prizes are awarded. The next thing is that the race has not received any funding from the Ministry.
We were supported by our partners, for all the necessary logistics like hotel reservations, transportation, feeding, and CFA 1million, to take care of all the prizes and tokens to each and every cyclist participating in the race.
Magazine: We know that there is a Local Support Committee raising funds for the celebration of Reunification, and this race is a build up to that event. What support did you receive from the elite, particularly that fund raising committee?
South West cycling organising comitee in a session
President Kameni: It is said that whenever a beautiful and creative idea comes from the “kitchen”, those in the “living room” believe that it is not worth the salt. In Cameroon, we believe that only something that comes from particular persons must be supported.
It is unfortunate that after having sent a letter to the Local Support Committee, I received a call informing me that the elite cannot support us unless they have a word from the Government.
However, siting from what the head of state said, we should innovate, and we should dare! That is what we have just done.I think it is reasonable that a cycling race to accompany the celebration of the Reunification is worth supporting.
But we are grateful to our partners, the President of the Regional Organizing Committee and personal representative of the Head of State (Governor of the Southwest Region), for giving us his support, his blessings, and his willingness to be there personally at the ARRIVAL POINT at Bongo Square in Buea. That is what we need, that is what we will do, and that is what we are giving as our own gift to the Head of State, for choosing Buea to celebrate the Reunification. That is our gift to the population of Cameroon and sports lovers; that wherever you are from be it Douala, Kumba, Buea, you can live the effervescence of the Reunification without spending a dime.
We say without mincing words, that this cycling race will be the most crowd- pulling event to celebrate our Reunification, after the big event which will be the coming together of all Cameroonians, when the Head of State, President Paul Biya will be in Buea.
We are not disappointed by the response of the elite because we have invited all of them to be part of this wonderful occasion. What we need now is for the population to come out and accompany us, to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime event.
As we prepare for the coming of the Head of State, events like this cycling race are meant to boost up and galvanize the population in preparation for that D-day. In fact, moving across Mungo bridge, is a symbol of Reunification in itself.
Magazine: Barrister John Kameni, the Southwest Region is hosting this race, how are our athletes faring?
President Kameni: Our athletes are good, they accompanied us during the launching of the cycling season. All of them went through the 50km and were not the last. This means that they performed well, they are ready, and we hope that now that we are organizing the race within our region where they master the track, they will do better.
