SNA exclusive:A second damning report against Véron Mosengo-Omba and the governance of CAF

A former CAF manager sent a private report corroborating the allegations contained in the file written by Hannan Nur, the head of the governance department, risks and compliance, about Véron.

Revealed by Sport New Africa, Hannan Nur's report caused a lot of turmoil at CAF, particularly within the executive committee, very unfavorable to the retention in post of Véron Mosengo-Omba.

Ardent defender of his general secretary, President Patrice Motsepe took the lead by announcing that the file would be sent to the audit and governance commission which will appoint an “independent” auditor. A decision contested internally because of connections between Mosengo-Omba and Dieudonné Happi, the vice-president of this committee.

In this tense context, a second report written by a former CAF manager (Abiola Ijasanmi) confirmed the allegations made by Nur by going even further regarding the “toxic culture” inseminated within the Confederation of African Football.

“I was the victim of harassment and intimidation by the general secretary”

Accurate, the report sent to the audit and governance committee on August 1 highlights a whole series of dysfunctions divided into four key points : an unhealthy and dangerous working environment, the inefficiency of the human resources department, poor governance practices and abuse of power and favoritism of the secretary general.

Left last April, Ijasanmi says he was “a victim of harassment and intimidation by the general secretary to force my resignation” during the last eight/ten months of his engagement at CAF.

Other qualifiers are attributed to the management of Mosengo-Omba, notably “nepotism”. To support his words, the former head of operations at CAF, gives the example of sponsors affected by the “aggressive approach” of the secretary general.

With Orange, especially, the relationship seriously deteriorated with Véron ranting about “colonial” practices while the French firm, who owed money to CAF since 2019, recalled that it was time for the African Football Confederation to implement reforms. who are in the earth… I bring them back to life… It is a work of memory conservation that I do, a legal team led by Ijasanmi will simply take ten weeks to begin 2023 to unblock the situation and allow CAF to pocket the 19 million dollars owed by Orange. “During this process, the secretary general tried to derail the negotiations several times without giving a clear reason”, she writes.

The “personal interests” of the secretary general to the detriment of the institution

If Hannan Nur's report focused mainly on Sarah Mukuna, the director of member associations appointed by Véron Mosengo-Omba without the approval of the executive committee, this new file focuses mainly on the secretary general and his “personal interests” to the detriment of the good governance of the institution : “Key positions, such as the director of member associations or the head of human resources, were awarded based on loyalty rather than competence. »

Several federations are also cited as benefiting from “favoritism” and privileges depending on the connections they have with the general secretary or the members. (nationalities) from his office. So, Cape Verde, the Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Togo were allocated balloons or batches of equipment without any transparency. An “opacity” that affects, according to the report, all CAF decisions, from staff engagement to the guest list for events…

Safety conditions not respected

In the middle of these wanderings, symbolized by a deplorable and unfair working environment where Véron Mosengo-Omba forced contracts to depend on Swiss law – meaning that in the event of a dispute, Cairo employees must hire expensive Swiss lawyers ! -, CAF premises also constitute a global problem.

Without equipment worthy of the name, with outdated furniture and computers, employees crowd in unbreathable offices in summer without air conditioning ; unlike the general secretary's office which has functional air conditioning. Worse yet, the security conditions are not even met and the disaster was narrowly avoided when a fire broke out in the offices of the legal department in 2023.

Unable to maintain evacuation exits to standards or even have fire extinguishers, the CAF headquarters is distinguished by deplorable management where the head of human resources, Reem Adel, “divided staff between Egyptians and non-Egyptians, advocating only for local staff”. Adel, as for her, had obtained two promotions in the space of five months (between April and August 2022) by Véron Mosengo-Omba.

If other conflicts of interest and concerns are confirmed by this second file – particularly with regard to FIFA Forward funds -, CAF did not venture to comment and said it was waiting for the report requested by its president, Patrice Motsepe.

Romain MOLINA