The National Bureau President of the Youth wing of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, who died on Wednesday August 6, will be buried this Saturday in the presence of a powerful Central Committee delegation.
The nine person delegation will be led by Women’s wing National President Yaou Aissatou. The Secretary General Jean Nkuete is also expected at Mbonge, Mbonda’s home town to bid farewell to his collaborator. Mbonda died in his Kumba residence minutes before he could be rushed to hospital. So far, no medical report has been issued to attest what Mbonda died of. But it is alleged he had been suffering from a liver infection for a little over a month. Journalists close to the deceased said his condition worsened when he returned from Brazil for the 2014 world cup tournament. The station manager of Lake Site radio in Kumba, Divine Nyambot said “I was worried when I ran into Mbonda after the world cup campaign. He was no longer the huge, good-looking and dynamic YCPDM National Bureau President we knew months before. He looked frail, but assured me that he was going to be fine.” Mbonda’s death came as a bomb blast to the CPDM family as a whole and particularly to diehards of the Meme II section in Mbonge where he was YCPDM Section President since 2002. He was a model for the youths there. They saw in him, a dynamic leader who was going to bring them “light.” For his part, Mbonda never relented in his efforts at cautioning them to be responsible, respect hierarchy as well as preserve peace in order to move on. Upon his election at the helm of the YCPDM National Bureau at the 3rd CPDM Ordinary Congress in September 2011, Mbonda promised to deliver the goods during his five year mandate. Among other things, he promised to galvanize the youths and unite them behind the Head of State thanks to whom Cameroon has distinguished itself as an island of peace in a turbulent Africa. Barely half way gone into this mandate, the cold hands of death snatched him away.Leading up to the 2011 presidential election, Mbonda and his team undertook a tour of some difficult areas like Tombel and Sangmelima (where youths had risen against the CPDM) as well as the whole of Meme division to caution the youths on the need to support the CPDM candidate for an emerging Cameroon by 2035. Thereafter, he undertook a tour to meet the youths of all the 10 regions of the country and have a feel of their day to day experiences. The tour took him from Yaoundé to Kumba, Bamenda, Bafoussam and Douala. Plans were underway to continue the second lap when he dropped dead.
Jude Viban
JUDE VIBAN,
