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| HRH Chief SML Endeley |
The king of Buea known also
as Paramount Chief
was equally seen
as the Leader
of the Bakweris.
Chief SML Endeley died last July 7 at the age of 92.
Was he really the
King of the
Bakweris?
Chief Mbella Sonne
Dipoko Chief of
Missaka and Cameroonian
novelist,now of late, said of
him ''...probably the
most popular, the
one who controls
more inhabitants than
any other Bakweri king and could
be the main
custodian of original
culture of the
Bakweri Clan.
Born of Marthias
Lifafa Endeley and
Mariana Mojoko nee
Liombe in 1924,
he was a
son of promise
just like his
brother Dr. E
M L Endeley.
He had a
fabulous public life
as an elite
pharmacist beginning in Kumba
which was an inaccessible
hinterland at the
time though Health Services
availed him a
brand new Bedford
truck to enable
him go and
take-up duty. In those
days it was
a day's journey
to move to
Kumba.
He said the
love of duty
was stronger than
love for money
so he travelled
from his post
in Victoria through
a rocky rough
terrain a quagmire of
a road with
utmost excitement to his
new station. No sooner
had he started
work his love
for medicine deserted
him for law.
He was later
called to the
Middle Temple Law
school London, where he graduated
into another honourable
second profession , in which
he made his
mark becoming a
bulwark of a
Court judge.
After a remarkable
career on the
bench, he became
the successor of
his uncle Gervasius
Mbella Endeley who
reigned for 45
years. He ascended
to the throne November 22 ,1991 after
an interregnum of
nine years and
reigned on the
stool for about 24years.
While he worked
as judge, he
had a sociable
life style which
kept him at
ease with his
kith and kin
maintaining a down
to earth amicable
camaraderie to the
admiration of a
community of folks.
He was a
member of the
famous Buea Mountain
Club to which
he drove to
and from himself
putting aside his
administrative position .It
was therefore easy
for his peers
to be unanimous
on his candidature
for the throne. His posture
for solidarity with
his people did
not change with
his honourable positions
even as chairman of
BOD for CDC
Cameroon Development Corporation.
He was charitable
in many ways
and a number
of orphans earned scholarship
because of his
largess. His wife
Gladys Silo Endeley
also late corroborated
extensively in this
philanthropy . On her
own she decided to
mobilize women towards
construction of the
first dormitory for
girls at PCSS , Presbyterian Comprehensive
Secondary School Buea Town.
These activities
were common place in
the lives of
both 'Mola Sam
and Auntie Gladys '. The
doors of the
palace were open to
all and sundry
irrespective of tribe
and lineage who
had both access
and a listening
ear.
Like the founder
of Hyundai Motor
Consortium who
used two pairs
of shoes alternatively for 30
years, HRH the
Chief , kept his Range
Rover car going for
upwards of three
decades turning down
offers to buy
or substitute it.
When put in
consideration with the
new generation of
chiefs , neophytes , some
who have barely
a handful of
subjects to govern
and who wallow
in poverty, they
bear false ungodly
trimmings, live in
exaggerated affluence and
whose source of
income is pillage
of territory and
cultural patrimony of
their ancestors and
the consequence is
that, they leave
their subjects suffocated
in poverty and prodigal
in matters of
inheritance.
He was loud
and clear about
the sale of
land which he
described as abomination.
It was one
voice in the
wilderness that is
why, he who
had the power
, acclaim ,
tools and jurisdiction
more than the
others did not
apply for land
surrender more so being
privy as chairperson
of the arsenal.
The issue of
land misappropriation, which
touches on an
incredible list of
both administrative, community
and individual personalities
does not leave
a blemish on
his personality his
periphery of influence
notwithstanding.
Selflessness was a
predominant aspect of
his life. He
loved sports and
had been chairman
of the Prisons
Club in Buea.
He maintained a Christian life
to the last
by making every
effort to walk up
the slope to
the PCC Buea
town every Sunday
to worship the
Almighty God.
He was a
man who carried
the upbringing of humble
parents and a
refined English Education
for his country
that this generation
might regret not to
eschew.
*YANGANGE Martin WOSE is a freelance journalist and fellow, London School
of Journalism.
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