
This Friday, August 20, Mola Njoh Litumbe will be talking to the community in Silver Spring, Maryland. The details about that engagement are here. I shall be there, and I think you should be there too, whatever designation you give yourself: anglophone, francophone, Southern Cameroonian or la republique. If you are an anglophone, you owe it to yourself to listen to a lucid and masterful description of the case. If you are a francophone, you owe it to yourself to understand fully what your friends are so worked up about, away from the pressure cooker of the internet.
In the old days, in Africa, it was customary to gather around the wise elder for words of wisdom on how to live properly. Unfortunately, many of the modern elders have been a disappointment, because either their lives have not been exemplary or they have been compromised in some significant way which makes the outspoken young people of today not to listen.
Mola Njoh Litumbe is an octogenarian with a difference. He was a successful business man--along with the late Nangah, Che and others, one of the West Cameroon “tycoons”. His style was low key, so he was not as well known. He is now retired, but is one of the smartest and most original political figures and activists in our land. He engages eagerly with younger people, and debates deeply with people four decades younger. You do not have to agree with him, to understand that he has lived a successful life and there is something for the younger generations to learn and to copy.
About Mola Njoh Litumbe
Mola Njoh, the son of a clergy man, attended Sasse College, graduating in December 1946 with a Division 1 Cambridge Oversea Senior School Certificate. He then joined the Cameroons Development Corporation at its inception in January 1947. He was awarded a scholarship to train as an Accountant, and graduated in the city of London, England, as Cameroon's first Chartered Accountant in May 1957, some three years before the state of La Republique du Cameroun gained independence.
Later that year, he joined the African accounting firm of Messrs Akintola Williams & Co. Lagos as a senior audit clerk and rose progressively until at his retirement 30 years later in 1987, he had become Chairman of the Akintola Williams group comprising accounting, auditing, taxation and management consulting divisions. Akintola Williams is now part of the Deloitte Touche group.
Upon retirement, he has diverted his skills to politics, and has written numerous press articles and spoken extensively on radio and television. His latest TV interview can be accessed live by going to the Google search engine, and seeking to see: Mola Njoh Litumbe - Interview at Equinox TV. As an eye witness to the political evolution in Cameroon from the outset of independence, he is eminently qualified, as no other, to discuss matters pertaining to the disagreement between Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroon, and to recommend the way forward.
Mola Njoh is also Secretary General of the Bakweri Land Claims Committee, an advocacy organization created since 1946 to campaign for the restoration of private Bakweri land expropriated by the Germans since the 19th century, and which the Cameroon government continues to occupy without payment of rents. During his tenure, the BLCC successfully sued the government of Cameroon in the African Human Rights Court, and the victory in that case was used as template for successive Southern Cameroonian victories against Cameroun at the court.
I wish people like Nzo had remained engaged like this. I guess it is because this Mr Litumbe did not have to depend on handouts for his survival, that is why he can speak his mind.
Posted by: facter | Wednesday, 18 August 2010 at 12:02 PM
As an independently wealthy individual, Mola Njoh Litumbe has always been diligent, intelligent and a fair man in both his personal and political interactions. It is my personal opinion that he does not fear political retaliation even though at times it may seem imminent. Whatever the case, it is about time we, the younger generation research some, if not all of the political facts about Southern Cameroons. Our country as a whole can benefit from past generations such as Mr. Litumbe, so that we are able to pass this knowledge on to future generations, while CHANGES in our country are forever pending....I wonder why?
Posted by: Ade E. Nangah | Wednesday, 18 August 2010 at 01:31 PM
Independently wealthy is a good thing, which we should all aspire to. Cameroon government placed a lot of hurdles to our people becoming independently wealthy and we must change that. This gentleman can be trusted because he does not need them for anything.
Posted by: Oyez | Wednesday, 18 August 2010 at 07:37 PM