Current state of the Bamenda Municipal Stadium
The former President of the Cameroon Football Federation Tombi A Roko Sidiki on April 20, 2016 accompanied by the Governor of the North West region, Adolph Lele Afrique laid the foundation stone of what was described as the Bamenda Olympic stadium.
The laying of the foundation stone was greeted with euphoria by the football loving population of Bamenda, who have not had the luxury of a modern stadium in their city despite currently priding themselves with four elite clubs.
With almost 10 years down the road since the laying of the foundation stone, the stone itself is nowhere to be found. Few months after take off, construction works stopped inexplicably to the dismay of the population whose appetite for a modern sports infrastructure was already wetted. Tongues started wagging with different reasons advanced for the dilemma. It was getting glaring that the football loving public of the city of Bamenda will have to wait a little longer to enjoy their dream Olympic Stadium. And like all abandoned projects, the worse started happening - the depreciation of the few installed structures and the carting away of materials installed on the project site.
Crowd at the Bamenda Municipal stadium during the then Foncha Street FC VS PWD Bamenda match in the Bamenda Pre-season solidarity Tournament in 2024
As seats, irons, and other materials remained packed in the stadium, a section of it is now being used to rear animals, parking lot for vehicles. While grass has been planted on the playing turf, Buns Construction Company is also using the stadium as a parking lawn and garage.
Before the planting of the grass and subsequent closure, some North West Elite clubs and some regional league clubs were ‘illegally’ (according to the former North West FECAFOOT President Mbigha Felix) using the facility for their training sessions. This is unfortunately, the better option for them.
In the buildup to the 2022/2023 football season, efforts from organizers of the Bamenda Solidarity Pre-Season Tournament to use the stadium met with stive resistance from some football authorities of the North West region. The organizers after receiving a notice from the then FECAFOOT North West president visited the Bamenda City Mayor who happens to be the ‘landlord’ of the field to get authorization but it was rejected.
Building plan of the Bamenda Olympic Stadium
The playground was given a facelift, poles changed and two matches of the Bamenda Solidarity Pre-season tournament were played and it attracted thousands of football lovers.
With Samuel Eto’o Fils at the helm of the country’s FA hopes were again rekindled as he dispatched Maboang Kessack, his Chargé De mission, to visit and take first hand information about the situation of the stadium. At the end of his visit, he promised to take the worries to his national President. Unfortunately, till date, nothing has been mentioned about the fate of this lofty project.
The Bamenda Olympic stadium project has been likened by many to the famous Ring Road Project which has been executed at snail space over the years.
Enter the Bamenda Proximity Stadium
The Bamenda I proximity stadium
The construction of the Bamenda Proximity Stadium came as a sigh of relief to the football-loving population of Bamenda.
Since the stadium was opened to the public, it has been joy and football galore. PWD Social Football Club of Bamenda, Ngoketunjia United Football Academy, Bafmeng United and other clubs in the region have been enjoying the facility. Though with the slippery nature due to the absence of rubber on the synthetic, the Bamenda 1 Proximity Stadium is better than nothing.
What the Population doesn’t know about the Bamenda Proximity stadium
The said stadium, constructed in Atugolah, a quarter in Bamendakwe, Bamenda 1 subdivision, is the lone modern playground in the North West region.
The land used is property of the Bamenda I community and by extension the council.
The Bamenda 1 Proximity Stadium is a project under the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development (PPRD) of the North West and South West regions and implemented by the United Nations Development Program, UNDP.
PWD Bamenda, Bafmeng United, Ngoketunjia United Football Academy, Ita Mbong FC of Nkambe will be using the field for their elite one, elite two and Guinness Super League matches.
By
Nji Nelson CHEFOR
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