By Simon Ndive Kalla and Elah Geofrey Mbongale
The paramount ruler of the Bafaws in Kumba, Meme Division and eldest member of the Senate, Nfon V.E. Mukete went into a tirade against Anglophone elite before defying all odds to beat a health malaise last Thursday, October 12, 2017 in Limbe.
Nfon Mukete collapsed during a meeting after delivering a powerful and lengthy speech at the Musango Beach Hotel in Limbe and was immediately rushed to the regional hospital by some of the participants at the workshop including another Senator, Mbella Moki Charles.
Before the unfortunate incident, the senior statesman went into a tirade against Anglophone elites whom he accused of being dishonest and not courageous. He accused them of not telling the president the truth.
Nfon Mukete, like many other dignitaries where in Limbe for a three-day workshop organised by SWELA and GIZ to analyse the diagnostic and protective reports of the zoning and master plans for sustainable development.
During the workshop, Senator Nfon Victor Mukete lamented over the fact that documents of the project were not properly written in both English and French to respect the bilingualism nature of the country. He said that he will not sign any documents in French.
He added that Anglophones are suffering and dying because they lack courage to archive their objectives.
He equally said that his fight against Anglophone marginalization has been for long time and some Anglophone elites even reported him to the president of the republic, accusing him of trying to divide the country which earned him a grilling at the Directorate General for National Security.
“We were among those who fought hard for the head of state, President Paul Biya to create the commission of Bilingualism and multiculturalism in the country”, Senator Mukete told participants at the workshop
Senator Nfon V.E. Mukete stated that if the issue of bilingualism and multiculturalism had been handled earlier, the situation would not have degenerated into what obtains now.
The Senator collapsed immediately after his long diatribe and rushed to the hospital in his car with blood profusely oozing from his mouth and nostrils, his traditional attire was drenched in his own blood.
At the emergency ward of the hospital, Nfon Mukete was responsive and managed to even engage the nurses into a conversation, much to the surprise of onlookers.
He will be later stabilized by a bevy of doctors including the Director of the Limbe Regional Hospital, Dr. Denis Nsame.
News of the incident spread like wildfire across the city of Limbe and beyond, with some claiming the traditional ruler had dropped death in the meeting. This prompted a series of sporadic entries of administrative officials in to the hospital, including the Government Delegates of the cities of Limbe and Kumba, traditional authorities, mayors etc.
Senator Nfon V.E. Muketer was later transferred to imaging center of the hospital for intensive medical examination and later transported to Douala in the night.
The cause of the malaise was not revealed by the doctors but one of his aides who was with him at the hospital said the Senator had taken some medications in the morning and had complained that he wasn’t feeling too well thereafter.