LIFE STORY OF AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN
MRS. ANNE MOJOKO MUSONGE née MBONGO
SUNRISE: 22 FEBRUARY 1944
SUNSET: 20 OCTOBER 2011
“She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” (PROVERBS 31:27-29)
ANNE MOJOKO MUSONGE’s entrance into the world, three score and seven years ago, was anything but eventful. It did not make headline news anywhere; not in “Kamerun”; not in neighboring Nigeria; not even in "Liengu Mboke" (Victoria) itself, where she was born. It couldn’t have! World War II was raging! It was the middle of “The Big Week”! “Operation Argument” designed by “The Allies” to bring the infamous Third Reich to its knees had been launched and was on, full swing! So, on that Tuesday 22nd February1944, while Dora, Elizabeth, Fritz and Susan MBONGO all joined their parents, Thomas Isoke MBONGO and Sophie Namondo MATUTE, to welcome Little Sister ANNE MOJOKO MBONGO into the world, the world was preoccupied with other “issues”.
(Little Miss Annie Mbongo as a flower girl at a 1950 Wedding)
Interestingly, 67 years later, the demise of this same, erstwhile unheard of, ANNE MOJOKO MBONGO whose last name became MUSONGE 41 years ago – is anything but UNeventful! And that is putting it mildly! The instant it was made public on that Thursday, October 20th 2011, the news of her death took hamlets, towns, cities, cyberspace and the airwaves by storm, as it spread across several nations and continents, and Cameroon remains shaken to its very core, still reeling from the shock. WHY THE STARK CONTRAST?
Simply because of the innumerable, astounding achievements and accomplishments that this Remarkable Woman of Unparalleled Substance was able to cram into the 67 short years her Creator allotted to her, this side of heaven! Hers was certainly, a multi-faceted life from the very beginning …
With her father having already passed on when she was barely 2 years old, she began her primary education at Basel Mission Girls’ School Victoria. After successfully completing this very first phase of her education, she enrolled in Union Girls Secondary School in Ibiaku, Ikot-Ekpene, Nigeria, turning out to be one of only 2 girls from all of “The Southern Cameroons” in the entire school at the time. She attended this prestigious school from 1958 to 1962 and it is there she obtained her West African School Certificate.
(Miss Anne Mbongo, standing third from left, circa 1960, with classmates at Union Girls Secondary School, Ibiaku, Nigeria.)
Brilliant and studious as she was, it was no surprise to anyone that her quest for knowledge propelled her on to Queen’s School Enugu, Nigeria, where she wrote and passed the Higher School Certificate in 1965 with flying colors.
Miss Anne Mbongo then proceeded to the highly esteemed University of Ibadan from which she graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in English language. This graduation undisputedly placed her in the select group of the very few Cameroonian women who had a university degree at that time.
She returned to Cameroon and, in 1968, started her career as a civil servant, teaching in CCAST Bambili, an institution which was, and probably still is, the best Government High School in all of Anglophone Cameroon. It is in 1969, while she was working there, that she met the man she would spend the rest of her life with, Mr. Peter Mafany Musonge, a Drexel and Stanford University-trained civil engineer. They got married in 1970, and were blessed with the birth, later that same year, of their first child and only daughter, Etonde Musonge. Interestingly, that daughter is now married to Victor Tarkang whose father, Late Mr. Victor Tarkang (Sr.), was also teaching in CCAST Bambili at the time.
The Musonges moved to Yaoundé when Mr. Musonge was transferred to the Ministry of Public Works, and Mrs. Musonge pursued her teaching career, still teaching English, this time at Lycée Leclerc and at the School of Posts and Telecommunications for several years. It is during this time that the couple’s 3 other children – all boys, were born. Isoke first, in 1972, Ewange next, in 1973, and finally, Jackai, in 1978, and NO ONE can dispute the fact that, for 41 good years, this wife and mother faithfully, loyally, dedicatedly and tirelessly nurtured the family God had blessed her with, until she drew her final breath with 2 of them by her side!
The Children: (From left to right) Isoke, Etonde, Ewange & Jackai, at Ewange’s Wedding)
In 1984, the insatiable learner decided it was time to go back to school. This time, she stepped out of the teaching mould she had been in up to this point, and headed to Aberystwyth University in Wales where she studied for and brilliantly obtained a Diploma in Library Science.
In the course of her career, she held several positions of responsibility within the Ministry of National Education and in each of them, without exception, she served with dignity and devotion, notably as:
•National Inspector of English, and
• Assistant Provincial Delegate for National Education for the former South West Province
Mrs. Anne Mojoko Musonge was an organizer, a woman of initiative and a pacesetter and so, while her husband carried out demanding managerial and state duties, she was not content to sit back and bask in the limelight. She spent her time uplifting people, particularly women, children, and the underprivileged, by publicly highlighting their struggles and challenges so that positive action could be taken to alleviate their suffering and improve their lot in life.
As President of the CDC Women’s Social Club, she was the primary force behind the construction of the Solidarity Ward, an extension of the CDC Cottage Hospital in Tiko.
While working in Buea, she assembled a group of women and together, they set up FASIRUD a training program for school dropouts that equipped its participants with skills they could use to earn a decent living, thus giving them a second chance at life, and keeping them away from an eventual life of crime.
She was also the Founding President of the Fako Women’s Development Association (FAWODA). This association, now orphaned by her death, plays a key role in the social, cultural and economic empowerment of the Fako woman.
As the pioneer General Coordinator of the Circle of Friends of Cameroon (CERAC), she enabled this association to develop the clout and influence with which it currently undertakes admirable philanthropic actions throughout the country.
In 2004 she created Radio Bonakanda, a community radio station that broadcasts important health, educational, cultural, social and political information to rural audiences in their native languages.
She was one of the founding members of the vibrant Fako Elements' Cultural Assocation, (FECA), formed in 1973 to foster the culture of the Bakweris in cosmopolitan Yaounde where she and her husband featured among the first top-notch anglophones to work in the nation's capital.
She was also active in the field of politics alongside her husband. In 1996, she was elected CPDM Vice President for Fako 1, thus becoming the first female to hold this post that she voluntarily relinquished upon her husband's appointment as Prime Minister, and their subsequent move to the Nation's capital.
Mrs. Musonge was a devoted Christian of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC). She was also a dedicated member of the Christian Women’s Fellowship (CWF) both at the Presbyterian Church in Middle Farms Limbe and in Bastos, Yaoundé.
A firm believer in the truth that “it is more blessèd to give than to receive”, Mrs. Musonge contributed generously and consistently to the Church, not just during Harvest Thanksgiving services or on “special” occasions.
She demonstrated her generous spirit not only at Church but in her daily life by playing the role of a mother figure to orphans and a comforter to the underprivileged.
She was an eloquent and viable spokes person for the CWF and the pastors, and also served as patron of a number of Church Choirs like the Elong'a David Choir of PC Middle Farms, Bota, that sings in the "Mokpe" language, and the Female Choristers of PC Bastos, that sings not only in English and French, but also in many other Cameroonian and African languages.
Mrs. Musonge also served on the Admissions Board of the PCC's Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kumba, and also worthy of note is the fact that she contributed immensely to the construction of the imposing PCC Bastos-Yaoundé church house, as well as the giant edifice of PCC Middle Farms-Bota. It should be recalled that, while her husband was Prime Minister, she made it a regular practice to ensure that, before his convoy left for any mission, all members of the entourage prayed for journey mercies, Christians and Moslems alike!
She will also be remembered for sponsoring the translation of the Gospel of Saint Luke into the “Mokpe” language of the Bakweri people of the South-West region of Cameroon.
Besides her devoted husband and their four children, Mrs. Musonge leaves behind four sisters - Mrs. Dora Evenye Ewusi, Mrs. Elizabeth Efeti Mbiwan, Mrs. Susan Efosi Mokeba and Ms. Esther Enanga Harry. She also leaves behind a son-in-law, Mr. Victor Tabe Tarkang, a daughter-in-law, Mrs. Manokia Musonge, five grand children, and several nephews and nieces to mourn her.
The Mafany-Musonge Family, "Au Complet"
The sisters, at their mother’s funeral in 2003. From Left to right: Mrs. Musonge, Mrs. Ewusi, Mrs. Mokeba, Mrs. Mbiwan (Ms Harry is not shown)
SO, today, we mourn but also celebrate and SALUTE:
. The Devoted Daughter, who was an INDESCRIBABLE BLESSING to her widowed mother till the latter left this world in 2003, and certainly the pride and joy of her father over the years, as he watched her look after his wife and support the children he left behind, from heaven.
. The Caring Sister who stopped at NOTHING; REPEAT; NOTHING, to make sure her sisters were always comfortable, or if one must be candid, SPOILT ROTTEN!! Sister Dora’s medicine here; Repairs to Sist’Elizabeth’s front porch there; New blouse, watch and perfume for Sister Suzie; a shawl for Enanga … and the list goes on and on, ad infinitum!
. The Brilliant Student and Academician who had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and who, as a woman especially, set and beat records in the course of her academic pursuits.
. The Supportive, Dutiful, Faithful wife who stood beside her husband through the numerous delicate responsibilities he was assigned by the government. In a world and society where scandal-ridden, strife-engulfed, marriages are more the norm than the exception, this woman maintained a kind of “you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it”, intimate, loving, relationship with THE ONE AND ONLY LOVE OF HER LIFE, that is extremely rare to find ANYWHERE on our planet, to talk much less of in Cameroon!!!
. The Nurturing Mother, and Mother-in-law whose children – both biological and “adopted”, do actually rise up every day and call her blessèd.
. The Benevolent Aunt, whose nephews and nieces have her to thank, if not for their very careers, then at least for “room and board” graciously provided them as they pursued the education that now provides a living for them and their dependents.
. The Doting Grandmother whose grandchildren oscillate between missing their Mbamba so very much, and being happy that she has “gone to be with Jesus”.
. The Diligent Educator both inside and outside the classroom who not just taught but MENTORED, which is why so many of the students she taught in 2 of the country’s most renowned high schools on both sides of the Mungo, (CCAST, Bambili and Lycée Leclerc, Yaoundé), have become very successful professionals themselves in their respective careers.
. The Selfless Philanthropist who gave freely and unreservedly of her time, money and effort to see to it that the neediest amongst us were assisted and given a voice.
. The No-Nonsense Pragmatist who did not mince words when necessary, who faced challenges head on instead of dodging them or denying their existence, who was frank, sometimes blunt, but also tactful, diplomatic and realistic.
. The Committed Civil Servant and Forward Thinking, Progressive, Innovative, not just Community but also Nation Builder, who was often way ahead of her time, and who never gave up on any dreams she had to better the living conditions of her compatriots.
. The Apostle of Peace who did not hesitate to turn her living room, office or car if need be, into a “CAMP DAVID” of sorts, to settle disputes and “judge cases”. A woman at whose appearance or intervention, warring, striving, belligerent parties ceased their bickering, fussing and fighting, and accepted a Sister/Aunty/Mbamba Mojoko-brokered truce or ceasefire, “abandoning all hostilities”, even if only temporarily.
. The Humble Leader who led BY EXAMPLE, never imposing or dictating, but always seeking, in that soft BUT emphatic voice and tone, to get her plans, ideas, and objectives across, so that she wound up with a following that was enthusiastic because time had been taken to make everyone see what the benefits of the endeavor would be.
. THE DIE-HARD, SOLD OUT CHRISTIAN whose FAITH remained unshaken throughout the ravages of her health struggles, whose trust in the Goodness of GOD never wavered, who, instead of being bitter or wallowing in self pity took her challenges in stride, yielding and submitting to the SOVEREIGNTY of a GOD she KNEW PERSONALLY and believed was ALWAYS IN CONTROL AND MASTER OF EVERYTHING.
Come to think of it, it is not just the magnitude of what Mrs. Musonge accomplished that leaves us all lamenting her departure. It is also, if not more, because of her character, her personality; the way she went about doing the things she did, with seeming ease and incredible finesse! The inimitable poise, the regal grace, the spotless decorum, the selfless sacrifice, the unwavering determination, the unrelenting dedication, the unflinching loyalty, the fierce commitment to and defense of ideals and beliefs, are what she will ALWAYS be remembered for ! Hers was certainly a MULTI-FACETED, WELL-LIVED, PURPOSE-DRIVEN, MEANINGFUL LIFE, which is why it can truthfully be said that SHE NOW RESTS FROM HER LABORS. HER GOOD DEEDS WILL CERTAINLY FOLLOW HER!
SOLI DEO GLORIA!
REQUIESCAT IN PACE