Buea:Late Mayor Ekema knighted for Patriotism

By Christopher Ambe

Ekema Patrick Esunge, 46, the controversial Mayor of Buea who suddenly died on October 27 in Douala, was, Saturday December 14 during his official funeral in Buea, knighted posthumously by the state as “Commander of the National Order of Valour”.

Paul Atanga Nji, Minister of Territorial Administration and personal representative of President Paul Biya, who performed the posthumous recognition rite, described the deceased mayor as a brave and patriotic Cameroonian, who has gone out of sight but not out of the minds of Cameroonians.

Taking advantage of the Anglophone crisis, late Mayor Ekema had nationally shot in prominence for his anti-ghost town/separatist onslaughts and outspokenness on need for national unity.

The late mayor, on ghost town days and guarded by armed security forces, would force open Buea business premises and or seal some for respecting separatist leaders’ calls for civil disobedience. 

His anti-ghost town actions reportedly earned him far more enemies than friends, but he received the support of the Cameroon government, which was losing billions of Fcfa because of the crippling effects of the ghost towns.

The funeral, which took place at the Buea Grand Stand,Bongo Square,was attended among other senior government officials by Peter Mafany Musonge,Grand Chancellor of National Orders; Paul Elung Che,Deputy Secretary-General at the Presidency;Prof.Nalova Lyonga,Minister of Secondary Education, as well as  Bernard Okalia Bilai,Southwest Governor.

Unfortunately, seats in a section of the grand stand reserved for Fako CPDM party, to which the late Mayor belonged were unoccupied, suggesting that the local party officials might not have mobilized militants to attend the funeral. 

The deceased, locally likened to a warrior, was said to have been at loggerheads with local CPDM authorities. It emerged that he also did not agree with a majority of Fako elite, as he accused them of blocking his political successes. 

Prior to the official funeral,Prof Victor Julius Ngoh,in a CRTV Buea tribute to the deceased claimed that late Ekema would have been more successful as mayor but for the “fact” that Buea elite made it difficult for him to operate smoothly. As Mayor,he spent much time and resources fighting his political enemies, and  did not have  enough time to execute his development blue print for council, according to critics.

On the same CRTV Buea tribute slot, Interim Mayor Lyonga John Efande described the deceased mayor’s fight against ghost towns as a good fight

Eulogies at the funeral, which was graced by an ecumenical church service, came from Buea Paramount Chief-elect,Dr. Robert E.Endeley;Dr.Lyonga John Efande,Interim Mayor of Buea;Hans Esunge,elder brother of the deceased; Bony Dashaco,business magnate;Buea elite,Prof Nalova Lyonga and Minister Paul Atanga Nji.

The eulogies summarily presented the fallen mayor as generous, courageous, patriotic, loyal and development-conscious man.

A message of condolence from President Paul Biya addressed to the wife of the deceased, Catherine Ekema who was unavoidably absent, was read by Fako SDO. 

Dr.Robert E Endeley,Buea Paramount Chief-elect, in his tribute, said:

“[Mayor Patrick Ekema], you defended your city so passionately that we can confidently say today, here lived a man who defended his city like no one else…

“You didn't live a long life, but you lived a meaningful life. Your life was distressingly small in quantity, but glowingly large in quality.”

In his tribute, Minister Paul Atanga Nji, who had earlier laid the wreath of President Biya and wife by the deceased’s coffin, admitted that the late mayor had a fighting spirit and was loyal to state institutions and the head of state.

The Minister stressed that there was no perfect person and warned against over judging people.

“When we are too hard judging people, God will be hard too judging you”,he noted, advising that people should focus more on the strengths of people and not their weaknesses.

Before becoming Mayor of Buea in 2013, the deceased was a faculty officer in the University of Buea, where he had obtained a Master’s degree in history. 

Late Mayor Ekema has left behind his mother, his wife and children, colleagues, friends etc  to mourn and remember him.

NB:This article also appears in The Horizon Newspaper,Cameroon,of December 18,2019