Buea Chieftaincy Succession: As Kingmakers reject Essuka Endeley’s candidature, Late Chief Endeley’s son likely to become heir

By Chris Ambe


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SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2016

Buea Chieftaincy Succession: As Kingmakers reject Essuka Endeley's
candidature, Late Chief Endeley's son likely to become heir

By Christopher Ambe

Kingmakers and notables of Buea have in an enlarged Buea Royal
Traditional Council Session rejected the selection of Robert Essuka
Endeley made a few weeks ago as candidate to succeed late Chief SML
Endeley, who died in July 2015 at the age of 92 after serving as the
Paramount ruler of the first- class chiefdom of Buea for 25 years, The
Recorder has been reliably informed.
The rejection decision was taken, Sunday June 26, during a unique
royal traditional council session presided over by Dr. Humphrey Ekema
Monono, chairman of Buea Traditional Council.

Late Chief SML Endeley: who will succeed you?
The crucial meeting was attended by kingmakers, notables, internal
and external elite, matriarchs, and patriarchs of Buea, quarter heads,
and some senior traditional rulers invited from some chiefdoms of Buea
subdivision.
According to our reliable sources, Essuka's candidature was
rejected for allegedly not respecting required procedure. It is still
unclear whether if Essuka now follows the right procedure his
candidature will be accepted. With Essuka having been knocked out, The
Recorder gathered that one of late Chief Endeley's sons is most likely
to ascend to the throne.
It was a tense and stormy meeting from start to finish showing the
camps that exist in the ruling Likenya Family.
The Royal Traditional Council had reportedly asked the Likenya
family to propose to them their candidate for the succession to the
throne following the death last year, 7th July, 2015 of Chief SML
Endeley.
The Likenya family was given up 30th May, 2016 to make known their
choice to the traditional council in order for the succession process
to go on in earnest according to the Bakweri customs and traditions
and in pursuance of the laid-down administrative procedure.
Rather than the Likenya family complying by duly selecting and
furnishing their choice to the traditional council, a faction of the
family ,The Recorder gathered, hurriedly met and came up with Robert
Essuka Endeley, as the man to take the throne.
Robert Essuka Endeley is a US-based son of the late Dr. EML
Endeley, the first premier of Southern Cameroons, who himself was
never a chief.
After the hasty arrangement, the faction of the Likenya family
celebrated rapturously and gave the impression that their choice was
final as they reportedly forwarded the name of their candidate to the
administration for the rest of the succession process to unfold
eventually.
But the faction is said to have drawn sharp criticism for failing
to report back to the traditional council which had called on them to
designate a candidate for the scrutiny of the kingmakers before
engaging the required administrative procedure.
This informed the decision of the royal traditional council to
convene an enlarged session Sunday, 26 June 2016 which was opened to
the shakers and movers of the Buea dynasty.

Dr.Ekema Monono.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, the chairman of the Buea
Traditional council, Dr. Humphrey Ekema Monono, recalled that they had
duly written to the Likenya Family for a candidate but the family had
not formally given them their choice. He underscored that the Likenya
family cannot hold Buea hostage, saying that the dynasty is very
distinguished in the traditional institution in Cameroon.
He, as chief co-coordinator of the village's affairs, implored the
house to chart the way forward so that the first-class chiefdom of
Buea does not remain vacant sine die.
Moved by the power of the opening remarks, Mola Wose Njoh, a
kingmaker of the village, said that according to the customs and
traditions of the Bakweri tribe, succession is from father to son. As
such, he argued that since the late ruler left eligible sons, it was
incumbent on the house to choose from among them as customs demand.
He was corroborated by another speaker, Mola Loka, quarter head of
Bonya Lyonga. He insisted the Likenya family had shown unpardonable
and uncautionable disrespect to the traditional council, so the
traditional council should take the bull by the horns to give Buea its
rightful leader without any further waste of time- so as not to show a
rather bizarre image of Buea to the outside world.
Immediately, the head of the Likenya family Mola Otto Endeley
representing the estranged faction stood up to challenge and negate
all what had been said. He boasted that they received the letter of
the traditional council and went ahead to make their selection but
failed to state why they did not report back to the traditional
council as required.
As expected many voices rose in support of this or that camp and
whether another selection should be made during the enlarged council
session.
The procedure earlier taken was generally rubbished without
reservation. Even the invited traditional rulers frowned at the
irregular conduct of the fractious Likenya family and pleaded that
some more time be given to them to meet the traditional council and
then make a choice that would be in conformity with the rules and in a
peaceful manner. They advised that since the late chief has able
sons, it would not be necessary to bend the rules for a choice out of
late Chief Endeley's House.
The kingmakers, notables and the traditional council then rejected
the choice of Essuka Endeley as invalid for now, and ordered the
ruling family to meet with the enlarged traditional council in another
date to make known their choice. The embarrassed faction of the
Likenya family was dumbfounded and could not state when they would
meet with the traditional council.
No date was given for the next meeting between the Likenya family
and the royal traditional council.


Posted by Chris Ambe on Sunday, June 26, 2016

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