Former PM’s Son Elected as King of Buea
- Who is Prince Robert Esuka Endeley?
- Why he was chosen by the Buea Kingmakers?
- Why Chief Justice Endeley’s son lost the succession battle
By Ojong Steven Ayukogem with field reporting by Boris Esono
in Buea
 |
| Prince Robert Esuka Endeley paraded by Buea Kingmakers |
The die was finally cast Monday 5 February 2018 bringing an
end to the long-drawn contentions for the succession to the vacant throne of
the Buea First Class Chiefdom. The Royal Family (Wonya Likenye) of the historic
Buea Town have confirmed 43-year-old Prince Robert Esuka Mbella Lifafa
l’Endeley as their candidate to succeed the late Nakuve Chief Justice Samuel
Moka Lifafa l’Endeley, who disappeared on 7 July 2015.
Prince
Esuka got 13 out of the 15 votes cast by representatives of the 16 households
that constitute the Royal family (Kingmakers) of Buea. The remaining 2 votes
were shared among the three other contenders, including Prince Charles
Effungani Endeley (eldest son of the last occupant of the throne, Nakuve Chief
Justice SML Endeley); Remy Endeley (nephew of Chief Justice Endeley’s
predecessor, Chief Gervasius Mbella Endeley) and Daniel Ngomba Wose Likenye
(son of Wose wo Likenye).
Prince
Robert Esuka is the youngest son of the late former Prime Minister of the then
British Southern Cameroons, Dr. Emmanuel Mbella Lifafa l’Endeley, who was the
eldest son of Chief Mathias Mbella Lifafa Endeley and elder brother to Nakuve
Chief Justice Samuel Moka Lifafa Endeley.
It
should be recalled that the kingmakers of Buea had in an earlier conclave on 7
April 2016 chosen Prince Robert Esuka Endeley as their consensus candidate to
succeed Justice Endeley on the throne. But because one of the contenders to the
very coveted throne notably Prince Charles Endeley contested the choice of
Prince Robert Esuka, the Buea traditional council led by its president, Dr.
Humphrey Ekema Monono, convened a meeting during which the initial verdict of
the kingmakers was challenged.
The
confusion and stalemate that ensued persisted until a new SDO was appointed to
Fako Division. The New SDO upon his installation said his first task will be to
make sure the Paramount Chieftaincy stools in Buea and Limbe are occupied in
the soonest future.
Thus,
the crowd puller consultation that was held at the ‘pala pala’ field in Buea
Town, on Monday 5 February, was at the behest of the new SDO, Engamba Ledoux.
The open consultations were witnessed among others by the DO of Buea, Kouam
Wokam Paul and the Mayor of Buea, Patrick Esunge Ekema among several other
political and traditional dignitaries.
And the
outcome of the consultation once again showcased Prince Robert Esuka as the
most popular and widely accepted candidate for the coveted Buea throne.
That
was perhaps why observers wasted no time to hail the Buea Royal Family for what
they saw as an exemplary and unprecedented show of maturity and solidarity.
Many said they had feared that the contentions for the succession of the late
Nakuve Chief Endeley would be long-drawn and ghastly, like the ugly battles
that eventually saw Chief Justice
Endeley succeeding his uncle, the late Gervasius Mbella l’Endeley in 1991,
almost 10 years after the latter died in 1982.
Many
denizens of Buea Town arehoping and praying that the hitch-free election of
Prince Robert Esuka Endeley should silence dissenting voices and bring an end
to further contentions for the throne.
Some
said that by this exemplary show of solidarity, the Royal Family has
demonstrated a firm resolve to right the wrongs of the past, re-write their
centuries-old history and chart a better and more honorable course for the
future.
Talking
after the successful consultations, the SDO of Fako, Engamba Ledoux, did not
conceal his joy and satisfaction.
“I have
done my job successfully and objectively. I have helped the population of Buea
Town to select the best candidate for their First Class Chieftaincy Stool…. I
gave the Royal family one full month to select a candidate; I think their
decision is fair,” the SDO noted.
For his
part, the Mayor of Buea, Ekema Patrick Esunge, also noted with joy the
hitch-free selection process.
“I am
happy for the choice of Prince Robert Esuka, who has been the consensus
candidate of the royal family from the onset. My satisfaction is the more
because the selection process was transparent and hitch-free,” Ekema Patrick
said.
From Nakuve to Nambella
With
the candidate of the Royal Family now known, it is hoped that the Prime
Minister will in the days ahead sign a decree appointing the new First Class
Chief of Buea. And except otherwise, the laureate should be no other person
than Prince Robert Esuka Endeley
According
to Palace sources in Buea, if Prince Robert Esuka is confirmed by the PM as the
Paramount Chief of Buea, he would be called Nambella Robert Esuka Mbella Lifafa
l’Endeley (Chief Endeley V), as opposed to his predeccessor who was called
Nakuve SML Endeley (Chief Endeley IV).
Why Robert Esuka was chosen in preference to others
The big
question that has continued to animate debates in Buea and beyond after the
election of Prince Robert Esuka as successor to Nakuve Chief Justice Endeley is
why the kingmakers chose instead the Nakuve’s young nephew, and not one of his
several sons, given that the Nakuve was a staunch advocate of chieftaincy
succession from father to son?
According
to information gathered by The Median, the emerging Prince Robert Esuka was
groomed both by his late father Dr. EML Endeley and his late uncle, Nakuve
Chief Justice Endeley. He spent 26 uninterrupted years of his boyhood days in
his native Mokunda village, living successively with his late father and later
in the palace with his uncle, the late Paramount Chief.
It is
therefore believed that Prince Esuka had been deeply steeped in the Bakweri
culture and traditions and had sufficiently imbibed the rare values of respect
and loyalty apart from inculcating both the esoteric as well as the
unrestricted cultural values of the Bakweri people.
That
aside, Prince Esuka is said to be a pure-breed Bakweri; he is credited with a
perfect mastery of his mother tongue (mokpe); is a member of the ‘nganya’
secret society and an expert singer and drummer of the ‘litembe’.
Besides,
Prince Esuka Endeley is said to be an epitome of maturity and dynamism; is
possessed of great leadership skills and has the requisite capacity to uphold,
promote and protect the fundamental interests of his community.
Prince
Esuka is also said to be impartial; has great problem-solving skills; is a
veritable ‘rassembleur’ with a benign character. Besides, his youthfulness
affords him the potential for longevity on the throne.
What’s
more, it is in the records that Prince Esuka’s late father, Dr. EML Endeley,
was the entitled successor to his uncle, HRM Gervasius Mbella Lifafa l’Endeley,
by virtue of the latter’s will and testament. But because Dr. Endeley, perhaps
for reasons of ill-health, thought it unwise to accede to the throne, he
expressed the wish for his uncle’s will to be put aside to permit instead for
his younger brother, Justice Endeley, to mount the throne.
Prince
Robert Esuka has thus been designated by the Royal Family to succeed his uncle,
Nakuve Chief Justice SML Endeley, just as the latter also succeeded his uncle,
Gervasius Mbella Endeley.
Sources
close to the Buea Palace say if the Nakuve Chief Justice Endeley had wished
that one of his sons should succeed him on the throne, he would have made this
known in his will and testament or he would have at least be seen to be
grooming such a son. But the sources say Prince Robert Esuka was closer to his
late uncle, the Nakuve, than any of the latter’s children. It is said that the
Nakuve also confided in Prince Esuka than in any of his own children.
Prince
Robert Esuka Endeley is a holder of an M Sc. in Applied Geology from the Buea
University, an M Sc. in Soft-ware engineering from the St. Thomas University,
Minnesota, USA. He is currently doing a PhD in Medical Informatics at the
University of Wisconsin, USA.
An
ardent Presbyterian Christian, Prince Esuka is married and has children.
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