On 14th March, in #Kigali, #Rwanda, @MosengoOmba, the General Secretary of @CAF_Online, called me a “mercenaire” (mercenary) because of my journalism, which criticises, FACTUALLY, what is going wrong in CAF. I am going to ask him who the real mercenary in African football is. 
For the first time in the history of @CAF_Online, we have a General Secretary that is NOT the LEGAL national of any African country. Yes, he is of #DRC descent. But he has no legal citizenship of any country in #Africa. I will explain…
Under the laws of the Democratic Republic of Congo, dual nationality is strictly forbidden by law. Once you take up the nationality of another country, you CANNOT be a national of DRC. @MosengoOmba is a citizen of #Switzerland, and lost his DRC nationality, as a result.
This is a copy of @MosengoOmba’s Swiss passport. I have blacked out the number and other details, for confidentiality/personal information privacy reasons.
On the 26th of June 2021, three months after being appointed the General Secretary of @CAF_Online, @MosengoOmba @OmbaVeron obtained a DIPLOMATIC passport from the #DRC government.
A diplomatic passport, which a government can give to ANYONE they choose, is different from a regular passport issued to citizens of a country. But here’s another question: the diplomatic passport says he is Congolese. How is that possible, when he is Swiss?
Before anyone comes to talk to me about my dual nationality - #British by birth and #Nigerian by parentage, I hold both nationalities LEGALLY. British law and the Nigerian constitution expressly permit it. Is this the case with @MosengoOmba? 😄
@Christophbongo is a son of a former DRC diplomat and minister. He can tell you a few things about this. He holds South African nationality and had to sign a document forfeiting DRC nationality to become South African. He can testify that what I am saying is accurate.
Franck Kamunga, a DRC lawyer, prepared, in conjunction with the @i_robertschuman and the @EdinburghUni law school, a legal paper explaining the DRC citizenship conundrum. This is his bio.
And here are the relevant excerpts of his legal paper. #Africa, @CAF_Online exco, over to you… If anyone is interested in reading the full paper, get in touch and I will send you a copy.
As the old saying goes, opinions are free. But FACTS are sacred. Nous allons le voir. 🙂
CORRECTION: The #DRC diplomatic passport was issued on 26th MAY, 2021, just over TWO MONTHS after he was appointed as @CAF_Online General Secretary.
And by the way, you can read my deep dive into @CAF_Online, the most detailed piece I have written on CAF in my 30+ year journalism career, in the current Issue 48 of the @blzzrd. Here the link to buy a digital copy - theblizzard.co.uk/shop/issues/is…
PS - There were two people that witnessed what he told me - @EmekaEnyadike, a longstanding colleague and friend, and Alois Hug of @FIFAcom, who were standing beside us, as the exchange happened, at the @serenahotels, just after the @CAF_Online President's awards ceremony.
*Here's the link... 🙂
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