ONE OF THE GREATEST AMONGST THEM

If there was one person that stood the test of time and had been so eloquent from the beginning of things, then it is Pa Mola Njoh Litumbe. Without any fear of contradiction, I stand to state that Pa Mola as we call him was the oldest amongst the patriarchs in the struggle. Born on February 1, 1919, in Victoria, he was the fourth child of his parents: Chief John Manga Williams and his mother, Iteki Ida Williams née Do’o of Bonabile in Bimbia. He was the second child of his mother and the only living one and he succeeded his father in 1959 till his last day on earth.

It is therefore clear that Pa Mola had seen the transitional history of the British Southern Cameroons from the League of Nations, to the United Nations, to the handing over to Nigeria and back to Cameroun as a Valentine’s gift. (www.bakwerirama).

This post is not about elaborating his biography. His biography if I want to elaborate may take a whole book. I therefore chose to celebrate the life of a great patriarch, a stateman par excellence who had given all was needed to take us to freedom. This was a man who could have decided to stay and work in London after his studies. He could have made a life for himself as an accountant, but Mola said NO my people needed me. At his return to Cameroon and the land of his birth, the colonial administration knew no peace in terms of his TV and radio broadcasts, his interviews in both national and international media driving the force of argument in the head of the occupier. From the Bakweri land dispute to the Southern Cameroons question, Pa had shown that his muscle were ready for a tough fight to free his homeland. As intelligent as he was, he had challenged the Cameroon government to present a certificate of the Union between the two Cameroons. He was part of those who sued and won Cameroun in the famous Banjul case. He fought and recuperated part of the Bakweri land that was being shared amongst colonial thieves in Buea in the name of Divisional Officers and Governors.

Talking of the independence of Southern Cameroons, Mola was noted for his famous phrase “Jumba no be married”. He saw the union of the two Cameroons as concubines in which the bride is simply asking for a marriage certificate that does not exist. In that case, it is only logical that either the bride goes home to her parents or the groom comes and settle his matrimonial debts.

Pa had been in all the capitals that matter in this crisis. He went to Abuja, London, Washington to present the case of the Southern Cameroons. He took active part in marches across the world to raise awareness for the course he so much believed in. We all saw him in the famous DC walk alongside the leaders when they went to the White House. His problem is not leadership but a free home land. He spoke his mind with all strength in it without blinking.

Those who live or lived in Buea, certainly know that at the approach of every October 1, his home was always locked with very big locks ferried in from the colonial capital of Yaounde. His resident was always encircled by arm colonial military with ready to kill riffles. They will never wear any identification batches and will arrest anyone who is found around his vicinity. Despite all these, Mola will still find a way of showing his love for Ambazonia. He will either hang the flag on his balcony for every passers-by to see or place a muffler around his neck and stand in his compound.

In short, this was a man who had given us all he had in his bones, never hungry for power but thirsty for freedom.
At his demise, pa was working for a united front for the front line leaders and groups to take us to the land of freedom. He once said, he doesn’t care who takes us there but we will get there with him or without him. To this brave soldier of the revolution

Atanga Achiri

Ambazonia Activist