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| Chief A.S Ngwana: Died August 17,2014 |
By Christopher Ambe
When the telephone number of Chief A. S. Ngwana ran this reporter on Monday morning, I thought
he wanted both of us to have a lengthy exchange on a number of issues as we usually
did in the past several years.
But unfortunately, it was a female voice I heard, which gave me an
unpleasant surprise: “Mr. Ambe, Chief is no more ! He died last evening.” That is how the sad
news was broken to this reporter who served as a communication adviser to the
senior citizen.
Albert Samba Ngwana,( popularly
known as Chief A.S Ngwana), the
Chairman of the Cardinal Democratic Party (CDP), a Douala-based opposition party,
last Sunday evening, August 17 died in a hospital in Douala, where he was hospitalized
on Thursday August 14, 2014,family members told The RECORDER.
The politician died at the age of 80 plus .He was born in
Beba, Northwest region of Cameroon on December 19, 1933 and he gave up the ghost on
August 17, 2014.
Chief Ngwana, a career British-trained banker, became the pioneer
Managing Director and Chief Executive of the now defunct Cameroon State bank,
the Cameroon Bank Limited, from 1961 to 1966.
It was in 1983,that the courageous Chief Ngwana launched the first opposition
party in Cameroon, the Cameroon Democratic Party(today known as the Cardinal
Democratic Party),to challenge the one party dictatorship of President Biya.
In 1985, he was forced into exile to Nigeria for six years by
the Biya regime.
Upon his return, following the re-launch of multi-party
politics in the 1990’s, Chief Ngwana became
actively involved in the political life of the nation by regularly expressing
his views via the audio-visual media , the Internet and the
print media on sensitive matters of national interest .
He was also a devout Catholic Christian, pro-lifer and Human
Rights crusader, who organized anti- condom and anti-abortion public lectures
in some major towns of Cameroon such as Buea,Limbe,Douala and Bamenda.
At one moment, Chief Ngwana, as a moralist, urged the Cameroon
government to arrest and prosecute known prostitutes, since prostitution is a
crime in the country.
Chief Ngwana was a sharp
critic of the Biya and at a press
briefing at Akwa Palace Hotel, Douala on August 10 ,2012 ,he made public an open letter he had written to
Cameroon President, Paul Biya ,calling on him to rescue the country from
breaking up because of various crises, but without any response.
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| Chief A.S Ngwana is no more |
Chief Ngwana, no doubt, was an advocate of a two-state federal
government for Cameroon and sympathizer of the SCNC, which is campaigning for
the restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons.
The politician and senior citizen believed that the marginalization
of Anglophones or better still, the Anglophone problem could only be resolved
if Cameroon reverted to the 1961 federal constitution.
He was also an advocate of population growth. “Development is
by the people for the people. Where there are no people, there is no development.
Development is for people. Abortion is the greatest hindrance to development,” he
argued.
Chief Ngwana was an author of several books such as: “The Cameroon Democratic Party (1983-1988)”,
“The Struggle for Political Pluralism and
Democracy in Cameroon” and “Population and Development”
He was married and had five children, as well as many
grandchildren and great-grand children.
(Funeral arrangements will be announced by the family in a
later date. The family can be reached by Tel: +237 33 43 1072 or +237 77757173)
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