Chief Nkemayang Paul: A Media Baobab Buried

By Shing Timothy M

Thousands of people from across the country have paid their last respects the media icon Chief Nkemayang Paul few weeks after his demise in Limbe.

 Before his demise, he was one of the leading media professionals in Cameroon and the Publisher of the Star Newspaper.

The burial of the journalist, traditional ruler took place July 25, 2020, in Limbe, South West Region of Cameroon.

Chief Foanyi Nkemayang Paul, died on June 18, 2020, reportedly because of diabetic coma at the Presbyterian Health Centre in Down Beach Limbe.

According to the wife, the late Chief Nkemayang Paul was rushed to the hospital and his vital signs were checked, revealing that his blood sugar level was above 500 which made him to go into a diabetic coma before his demise.

In his homily, His Lordship Archbishop Andrew Nkea of the Bamenda Metropolitan Archdiocese said it was a great loss to the country and his Division of origin in particular “We have lost a promoter of social justice, and an ambassador of truth.” “Chief Nkemayang was ready to give his all for his people and defend human rights.”

The Bishop went on to call on all to stay awake and for all to be ready as they do not know what tomorrow lies ahead. To him, everyone should be dress for action as one can just drop dead at any moment.

 “Always stand for truth and do not manipulate information for your advantage. Always have the duty for you to defend those who are being oppressed,” Bishop Andrew Nkea cautioned journalists.

Chief  Nkemayang was a journalist par excellence, dedicating over three-decades of his life to the journalism profession, advocating for a better society, improved working conditions for journalists and the abolition of obnoxious and archaic media laws.

As a journalist he was detained at least eight times without trial. He was never prosecuted, but was always persecuted. Chief Nkemayang’s courage and readiness to continue doing his work in truth won him several distinctions at home and abroad.

Chief  Nkemayang Paul was a man with many caps including recipient of the ‘Knight of the National Order of Valour’, founding member of the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists, pioneer President of the Commonwealth Journalists Association, CJA Cameroon cumulatively serving as Vice President of CJA Africa, founding member of the National Communication Council. He was also technical adviser to the Cameroon Anglophone Newspaper Publishers Association, and a traditional ruler in his native Lebialem.

He was crowned Osari Maribu in Manyu among other traditional titles he received.

At his funeral, he was posthumously decorated Commander of the National Order of Valour, something the chief had cherished before his demise according to the editor of The Star Newspaper, Solomon Agborem.

“… Today I feel like he is a happy man and I feel that what he wanted Commander of the National Order of Valour the state has recognized him even at his dead,”

He was prominent most recently in the campaign for justice for fellow Cameroonian journalist Samuel Wazizi, who died in suspicious circumstances while in military custody.

He led a cream of young journalists to the governor’s office to seek for answers. “A good journalist must be somebody who is courageous, one who speaks the truth without blinking, and one who writes without blemish,” Chief Foanyi Nkemayang Paul always told young journalists.

Amongst the hundreds of people who turned up for the burial were: family members, the Archbishop of the Bamenda Archdiocese, Andrew Nkea and the Apostolic Administrator of the Buea Diocese Bishop Michael Bibi, fellow journalists, and government officials (Minister Paul Tasong, Senator Mbella Moki Charles, Andrew Motanga Monjimba, Limbe City Mayor) turned out at the Catholic Church in Bonadikombo, Mile 4, Limbe to pay their last respect.

The editor of The Star Newspaper promised to continue with the huge task that was started by the late publisher which is ‘dedicating service and truth to the people’. “… We are going to miss him but I can assure the Cameroonian people that we will continue dedicating service and truth as our motto of The Star Newspaper. The paper lives on, and they should expect to read from us as the bigger stories are right ahead.”   He stressed 

Lawyer and human rights activist Felix Agbor Balla urged journalists to continue in the footsteps of the late chief, while leaving a legacy for posterity, “He was someone who not only fought for the rights of journalists but fought against all forms of gross human rights violations. It is a big loss not only to the media houses but for everyone in the North West and South West Regions.