Why Many Family Businesses In Cameroon Do Not Survive Their Founders (Part 11)

 SIR DR NTUMFOR BARRISTER NICO HALLE,  Was Contacted By A Party In A  Case Over The Big  Family Business That PA FRANCIS YONG  Left Behind In The Northwest   

  But The Reputed International Peace Crusader, NTUMFOR BARRISTER HALLE, Shelved His Personal Interest In The Matter That Would Have Fetched Him Millions Of Francs CFA.

Instead, NTUMFOR BARRISTER HALLE Initiated A Dialogue, Reconciled The Family, And Saved The Francis Yong Estate That Would Have Been Ruined By Selfish Interests And Endless Legal Battles

In a number of articles in the series on, Why Many Family Businesses In Cameroon Do Not Survive Their Founders, The Mentor News in the last few weeks highlighted some very disturbing cases such as the Chief Enonchong and Soppo Priso Estates or Family Businesses, that the Founders, Chief Dr HNA Enonchong and Patriarch Paul Soppo Priiso respectively, left behind, and that were unfortunately transformed into the goldmines of some unscrupulous persons in the judiciary.

The exploitations all started with some unscrupulous lawyers without a conscience, whose interest in cases is always to make big money at all cost. And then extended to some equally unscrupulous State counsels including some Attorney Generals, some equally unscrupulous magistrates and bailiffs, as well as unscrupulous administrators and liquidators of parts of the Family Businesses appointed by the courts.  They exploited the conflicts that erupted in the different families over the Family Businesses after the Founders passed away, to be feeding fat on them and even ruining parts of the Estates, through cases deliberately tied down in courts.

Come to think of it that the Sawa patriarch, Paul Soppo Priso, died way back in 1996. But till today, the conflict over the Family Business that he left behind is still in court. Along the line the court placed the Estate under an administrator, and then later under a liquidator, and has been appointing one liquidator after the order. Lawyers, magistrates, State Counsels, bailiffs and so called liquidators have continued to feed fat on the ‘gold mine’, while the family members that were supposed to benefit from the Estate, have nothing from it.  Part of the Estate, like the great Polyclinic Soppo Priso at Bonapriso, Douala, which a famous Cameroonian artist, Kotto Bass (now of blssed memory) mentioned in a hit song, today lies in ruin. But if the conflict that erupted in the Soppo Priso Family over the Family Business had not gone to court, or better still, if the conflict was resolved out of court, the story of the Family Business or assets that Patriarch, Paul Soppo Priso, left behind, would certainly have been very much different today.  It is a similar story with the Enonchong Estate that Chief Dr. HNA Enonchong left behind in the Littoral and Southwest Regions.

  The Big Family Business That Francis Yong Created

Bobe Francis Yong, who was fondly known as Pa Yong, hailed from Belo Sub –division in Boyo Division of the Northwest Region, and settled in Bamenda, the Northwest regional headquarters. Pa Yong was a good example of a man with a humble beginning who through hard work, good management and humility, grew over the years to become a great educationalist, a big economic operator, and a prominent Northwest elite.

Pa Yong was the modest Proprietor of a two room typing institute (Progressive Typing Institute) in Bamenda in the 70s. Hard work and good management over several years led Pa Yong to become the Proprietor of a number of colleges and higher institutions of learning in the Northwest Region.  One of Pa Yong’s schools is the Progressive High School Bamenda, which for quite a number of years have indisputable been the biggest or most populated private school in the Northwest Region. There is also among others Polytechnic Bambui, a higher professional institution.

Pa Yong also had great passion for football, and was in fact a First Division football referee in his youthful days. It did not thus come as a surprise that Pa Yong later created the Yong Sports Academy, as well as two football clubs which included the First Division side, Yong Sports FC of Bamenda, a one time winner of the prestigious Cup of Cameroon. Pa Yong was still alive then.

Management Board

Pa Yong got married to a total of three women, but by the time he passed away some years ago, he had been living with one, who was the third wife. Pa Yong like many Founders of Family Businesses in Cameroon seemingly did not groom any particular child, close family member or members, as the eventual successor or successors in the management of the Family Business, especially when he would no longer be there.

However Pa Francis Yong left behind a will, in which he clearly stated how the Family Business or Estate that he left behind, should be managed. In the will, Pa Yong created a Management Board and named some of his close family members including his beloved junior sister, as members of the Board. He designated his third wife as President of the Board. In line with the Kom tradition which practice matrilineal succession, Pa Yong designated one of his nephews (his sister’s son), as his next – of – kin.

 Schemers / Tussle Over Assets

Meanwhile when Pa Yong died, things did not continue smoothly, despite the will he left behind. The second woman he got married to, and who had been away for some 10 years, tried to make a comeback allegedly in a bid to also benefit from the ‘gold mine’ that the former husband left behind. But she was pushed away by the Yong Family, which showed evidences that she had long separated with Pa Yong. Another problem that surfaced over property after Pa Yong’s death was caused by the next – of – kin, who as aforementioned was the late man’s nephew. The next – of – kin claimed that it was his right to inherit all the assets of his late uncle (Pa Yong), wherever they were.  But the Yong family as well as traditional authorities strongly rejected the claim. They explained that according to the Kom tradition, the next – of – kin of Pa Yong, only had the right to inherit the properties that his late uncle had in the village, and not those outside the village like in Bamenda or elsewhere.

Another problem that surfaced over the Estate or Family Business that the Founder, Late Pa Yong, left behind, was much more serious and plunged the Yong family into a conflict that threatened to ruin the big Family Business that Pa Yong left behind. As aforementioned, Late Pa Yong in his will, designated his third wife as the President of the Board that he created in the will, to manage t the estate he left behind. But then Late Pa Yong’s brother, his son (child of the second wife), and a nephew who were named as members of the Board in the will, ganged up in a camp against Pa Yong’s third wife, who was supposed to be the President of the Management Board. The Founder of the Family Business in his will designated his third wife as President of the Management Board, but the camp against her wanted to take away the post from her. Fortunately for the widow, late Pa Yong’s junior sister who was a member of the Board, insisted that the late elder brother’s will must be respected, and thus stood firmly behind the widow as President of the Management Board. However that was not enough to stop the opposing camp.

 A Bitter Conflct Erupts In The Family / The Two Camps Go For Big Lawyers

A bitter conflict erupted in the family of late Pa Yong over the management of the Family Business that he left behind, and the conflict in fact headed for the court, precisely the Mezam High Court in Bamenda. The camp that was headed by late Pa Yong’s brother, hired a prominent lawyer, Francis Sama (now of blessed memory), apparently the most famous in town then.  Just to open the file of the case, two million francs CFA was paid up front. The case was filed at the Mezam High Court in Bamenda by the camp against the widow (designated President of the Management Board) and Pa Yong’s sister.

In reaction, the other camp comprised of Late Pa Yong’s widow and sister, left Bamenda for Douala, to also hire another prominent Anglophone lawyer, ,Sir Dr. Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, an international legal consultant and a reputed heavy weight in the profession.  It was a matter of getting a heavy weight lawyer to march with the heavy weight lawyer that the other camp had hired.  So the stage was being set for an explosive case at the Mezam High Court in Bamenda, considering the caliber of lawyers that were being hired by the two camps, in the conflict over the Family Business that the Founder, late Pa Yong, left behind.

Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle Opts For Dialogue And Reconciliation

Meanwhile Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle initially accepted to defend the defendants in the case at the Mezam High Court. Late Pa Yong’s widow and junior sister returned to Bamenda, to wait for the case.  They were also very ready to pay 2 million francs CFA to the Nico Halle & Co Law Firm in Douala, to open the case file, whenever Barrister Nico Halle would demand.

But on second thought, Ntunfor Barrister Nico Halle who is a reputed multiple international award –winner in peace crusading, concluded that it would not be for the interest of the Yong Family in particular and the Northwest Region and Cameroon in general, for the family of late Pa Yong to go to court over the Family Business or Estate that the decease left behind. For one thing too, court cases in such matters never end or are so protracted, and more so the rancour between members of the opposing camps splits the family lives for years.

So when Sir Dr Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle travelled to Bamenda, he instead transformed the expected court battle into a peace crusading mission. In Bamenda, Halle contacted the other camp led by late Pa Yong;s  brother, that was up in arms against the camp of Pa Yong’s widow and sister. Halle also discussed with his colleague, Barrister Francis Sama, who was the lawyer of the other camp.  After a lengthy discussion, Barrister Sama ended up agreeing with Barrister Halle that it would be a shame for the two of them as sons of the Northwest Region, to assist in tearing late Pa Yong’s family apart, and to also contribute to ruin the Estate that Pa Yong left behind, just because of the huge sums of money they were each supposed to rip from the case as lawyers.

 A Happy End Thanks To Barrister Nico Halle    

Suffice to say that the international peace crusader, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, then convened a reconciliatory meeting between the two factions or camps in the family of late Pa Yong at Ayaba Hotel, where he lodged in Bamenda. Barrister Sama also participated in the meeting. At the meeting, Ntumfor Halle succeeded to reconcile the two camps, and it was agreed that the case be withdrawn from the Mezam High Court.  It was certainly a big disappointment to some members of the judiciary in Bamenda.

So Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle shelved his personal interest to make big money as a lawyer, and opted to instead reconcile the factions in the family of Late Bobe Francis Yong, that had stood up in arms over the Family Business that the Founder (Pa Yong) left behind. That also barred the way to some unscrupulous members of the judiciary in Bamenda, who were certainly waiting to exploit the family conflict or case in court, to feed fat on the goldmine that Pa Yong left behind.

It is worth noting that the peace crusader, Barrister Nico Halle, did not receive a franc from the camp in Late Pa Yong’s family that contacted him to be their lawyer in the case. He also personally footed the bill for his trip to Bamenda where he reconciled the two camps. What a great man!