By Victor Ngwa
BUEA, Cameroon – Cameroonian international striker Léandre Gaël Tawamba Kana has officially signed with Colombe Sportive du Sud, with the 35-year-old signing a short-term deal with the Elite 1 champions.
Tawamba, who built a prolific career across Europe and the Middle East, including stints with Partizan Belgrade in Serbia and several clubs in Saudi Arabia, returns to his homeland with the ambition of helping Colombe qualify for the group stages of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League. Before signing for Colombe, Tawamba had been a free agent after leaving Al Tai in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
The former Aigle Royal, Union Douala, Cape Town FC and Al-Okhdood player’s arrival comes just months after Colombe were crowned champions of Cameroon, a triumph that secured their place in next season’s CAF Champions League. His signing is viewed as a major boost to the club’s continental ambitions.
“Colombe is a team I have been following for years, and today, it is with a lot of emotions that I join this club,” Léandre Tawamba said after he sealed the move. “First of all, it is a return to Cameroon and it is a club that will permit me to realise a career objective – a moment where I am playing in my country, and being close to my family and friends.”
“Colombe has permitted me today to fulfil that dream. So for me, it is with that motivation that I join this club, and I hope by realising this dream, I can also help in attaining the objectives of the team.”
Though an old broom, Tawamba, who has been registered by Colombe for the CAF Champions League qualifier, will be looking forward to making his debut at the competition next month. Colombe is scheduled to face off against the Senegalese side Jaraaf in the first preliminary rounds of the CAF Champions League. The first leg will be played in Cameroon, with the return leg in Senegal.
“The CAF Champions League is not a tournament to neglect. It is a competition that, through Colombe, can permit Cameroon to regain the image it has always had on the continental scene,” Léandre Tawamba said when asked about his objectives with Colombe.
“I want to be part of this campaign, and I think with the group we are putting in place, together with the technical staff that we have and with the engagement of the management of Colombe, we will be able to achieve this objective.”
It has been a miserable three-year absence of a Cameroonian side at the group stage of the CAF Champions League, and the hope and aspiration is that Colombe will change that feat this year. The last time a team from Cameroon participated in the group stage of the CAF Champions League dates back to 2022. That year, Coton Sport lost all 6 of their group stage games against the likes of Mamelodi Sundowns, Al Ahly and Al Hilal Omdurman.
With his return, Elite One gains renewed attention at a time when Cameroonian football has been seeking stability and credibility. For Colombe Sportive, the signing symbolises ambition. For Tawamba, it represents a full-circle moment: from his early days at Aigle Royal Menoua and Union Douala to an accomplished career abroad, now back to where it all began.
