By
Macdonald Ayang Okumb
After a lingering string of controversies and
uncertainties, the deceased nonagenarian Paramount Ruler of the Bakweris, His Royal
Majesty Samuel Moka Lifafa Endeley was finally laid to infinite rest in his
native Mokunda last weekend.
Funeral Service and Tributes
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Vice Prime Minister, Minister Delegate
at the Presidency in charge of relations with the Assemblies, Ahmadou Ali,
represented President Biya at the funeral ceremony, during which he conveyed
the Head of State’s ‘deepest condolences’ as well as posthumously decorated the
fallen statesman with the medal of Grand Cordon of the Cameroon Order of Merit.
It is the highest medal any meritorious citizen can ever have, we learnt.
The Dignitaries
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Dignitaries including, members of the Diplomatic
Corps, past and present Government Ministers, Secretaries General, Directors, General
Managers of State Corporations, Supreme Court President, Chief Justice Daniel
Mekobe Sone, Judges and other top members of the Judiciary, Bar Association president,
Jackson Gnie Kamga and former Bar President Ben Muna, Roving Ambassador, Albert
Roger Milla, Main opposition party leader, Ni John Fru Ndi, Bureau members of
the National Assembly and Senate, plus other members of Parliament, Traditional
Rulers from around the country, Divisional
Officers and Senior Divisional Officers, former Governors, Religious Leaders including
two former Moderators of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, viz; the Very Revs.
Drs. Nyansako Ni-Nku and Festus Asana as well as the current one, the Rt. Rev.
Samuel Fonki, Bishop emeritus of the
Mamfe Diocese, His Lordship Francis Teke Lysinge, the Academia including Vice-Chancellors
and Rectors of State Universities and well as Professors, were among the
several top officials present. Family members, friends and members of the
general public were also present. The crowd at the Independence square totalled
close to 10,000.
During the funeral service that took
place at the Independence Square in Buea Saturday in honour of the deceased,
prayers were offered for the peaceful repose of the soul of a man who was described
as God-fearing and a devout Presbyterian Christian.
Gospel Ministers who officiated at the
solemn service led by the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon,
together with other family members and friends, who eulogised, were unanimous
that the late Patriarch was indeed a fulfilled man. They said he led the life
of an exemplar be it as a lawyer, traditional ruler, politician and father,
adding that news of his demise stroke them like a thunderbolt.
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Several individuals paid tributes to the
deceased at the service. Some of them included the mayor of Buea, Patrick
Ekema, Prof. Kofele Kale who read his biography to the event attendees, Senator
Peter Mafany Musonge who spoke on behalf of the Fako elite and people, the
first son of the deceased Charles Endeley on behalf of the family, Nfon V.E
Mukete on behalf of traditional rulers of the South West, Chief Johnson Njombe
for Fako Chiefs, the Supreme Court President on behalf of the judiciary family,
the Bar President in place of the Cameroon Bar, Fako Senior Divisional Officer,
Zang III, who read the condolence message from the Presidential Family as well
as Jean Kuete who eulogised on behalf of the CPDM party to which the late chief
belonged.
Soul-searching Sermon
The preacher of the day was erstwhile
Moderator of the PCC, the Very Rev. Ni-Nku who in his usual captivating oratory,
soul-searchingly preached on the theme; “Teach Us Lord to number our days.” By
this, he urged the mourners to live their lives in such a way that they’ll be
ready to meet their maker anytime he calls. “...Take time to be holy, the world
is rushing on. Cultivate a forgiving spirit...” he implored.
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He also took time off to pay tribute to
late Endeley saying he gave his all to the PCC, serving the church at one time
as a member of its Board of Trustees. “...Chief Endeley gave his time freely
and generously for the church” Nku said.
Judicial Honours
Before the funeral service, there was a
stop over at the Buea Court of Appeal where judicial honours were bestowed on
the deceased. Members of the Supreme Court, the First Instance, High and Appeal
Courts, the Bar Association, government officials, family and the public were
all present. After the honours, there was a brief stop at the Buea Mountain
Club where it is on record that the late Paramount ruler enjoyed spending some
of his time.
The drama and the controversy
The King is finally buried but how the
process unfolded from when he died, to when his remains were removed from the
Buea Regional hospital mortuary, to when they were lowered to the sub terrain, was
more or less akin to the scenes of a Hollywood theatrical.
He was buried not in his Palace but at
some other family location just below the palace, in consonance with his wish,
a family source told News-cameroon. The source
went on that his first son had insisted that he should be buried in the palace
but that when they started digging the grave, they met with an unbearable rock.
It remains a huge topic of debate when exactly
he was actually buried. While some say he was buried on the same night he
passed on (on the night of 7 July 2015), others say he was surreptitiously
removed from the Buea mortuary on Thursday 23 July and buried on the night
breaking Friday 24 July. Whatever the case, the one thing that is clear is that
he was not buried on Saturday 25 July as the official funeral programme
indicated.
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To buttress this, once the funeral
service came to an end at the Independence Square, guests were immediately
directed to various venues for refreshment without any mention made by the
official announcer of any burial. And secondly, there was no coffin at the
funeral service.
Organisers of the funeral virtually
dribbled the public with what they published as the official funeral programme
as most of it was not respected, some were heard saying.
During the Judicial Honours, a coffin
was brought to the court premises in a hearse but it was not displayed. At the
Funeral service some minutes later, the said coffin was not available. Rather,
some traditional stuff formed with knitted thatch and grass in the shape of a
coffin, with wreathes and effigies kept all around it, was displayed under a
canopy in front of the official tribune.
The funeral programme for example said
the removal of the corpse was supposed to be on Friday 24 July but that was not
the case. Reporters and other members of the public turned out at the Buea
regional hospital premises that afternoon only for them to learn from reliable
sources that the remains of the deceased chief were not there.
Even at the deceased’s palace that
Friday afternoon where the official funeral programme talked of viewing, there
was none. Between 11 am to about 5pm, time which this reporter spent there,
activities were very timid with just a few persons spotted.
There was no mammoth crowd as expected.
Security was surprisingly not tight too. Only a handful of some South West
Chiefs in the likes of Nfor Tabetando, Nfon V.E Mukete, Esoh Itoe, and a few
Fako chiefs were present at the palace.
Whatever the case, the greater joy of
the family and the Buea population is that their Paramount Ruler was given a
befitting funeral ceremony. Businesses in Buea were shot down for the whole of
that day.
And so as the sun finally sets on Chief SML Endeley, where curious attention is now focused is on how and when his Royal successor will be chosen. Affaire a suivre...
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