Why Many Family Businesses In Cameroon Do Not Survive Their Founders (Part 6):

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First Cameroonian Multibillionaire, Paul SOPPO PRISO, Did Not Groom And Leave Behind A Manager Of His Big Family Business

The Sawa Patriarch Neither Left Behind Directives Of How His Huge Assets Should Be Shared, As An Alternative

Since Paul Soppo  Priso Passed Away in 1996, His Children And ‘Wives’ Are Still In Court  Following A Dispute Over The Assets,  And The Next – of- Kin Even Died In January 2020.

 The Court That Has Taken Advantage Of The Situation, Has Been Appointing One Liquidator After The Other, And Not For The Interest Of The Soppo Priso Family

Paul SOPPO PRISO is on record to have been the richest and most influential Sawa son of his generation. In fact the Sawa Patriarch was a very influential personality in Cameroon in many domains, including politics, and even the Ahidjo regime recognized that fact. Talking about wealth, Paul Soppo Priso was for many years years considered the richest Cameroonian. In fact Enoh Meyomesse, in his latest publication notes in passing, that Paul Soppo Priso was the first Cameroonian multimillionaire.

Paul Soppo Priso was a big investor. He had a number of enterprises which included IUGIC and UGID. He had a big real estate with buildings all over the place. He had large rubber and cocoa plantations. Soppo Priso also had shares in many multinational companies in the country like Brasseries du Cameroun, Cami –Toyota, Asquini, Encorad, Bollore Africa Logistics, Chococam, among others.

The One Big Mistake Soppo Priso Committed

There is no doubt however that the business of Soppo Priso that was well known by members of the public in Douala, was the famous ‘Polyclinique Soppo Priso’  (Soppo Priso Polyclinic) at Bonapriso, which many simply called, ‘Clinique Soppo). It was apparently the biggest polyclinic in Douala, with only Polyclinic Muna as the rival then.

But one big mistake which the business magnate, Paul Soppo Priso, like most Founders of Family Businesses in Cameroon did, was that he did not select and train a successor in the management of the huge Family Business that he created.  That is, train rusted persons or persons, in or outside the family that would eventually take over the management of the huge Family Business he founded, when he was no more.  His business empire was so vast, and since he did not bring in any close family person into the management of the Family Business, even his children did not know all his assets. They did not for example know all the buildings that he had all over Douala.

The Passing Away Of The Multibillionaire And Sawa Patriarch   

The Sawa Patriarch and multibillionaire, Paul Soppo Priso, passed away on May 25, 1996 in Neuilly, France.  He left behind a huge Family Business in his country, Cameroon, but without having groomed a successor to or successors in the management of the business empire he left behind. In that unfortunate situation, the only acceptable idea that not surprisingly, quickly came up in the family was that the assets that were left behind by Soppo Priso, should be shared. Even so, some serious problems came up.

To begin with, a heated dispute erupted over the number of wives that Paul Soppo Priso actually had, as only the woman or the women, he legally got married to, could benefit from the assets he left behind. The Douala Court at one point took a decision to ground a large part of the property of the late Soppo Priso, including the famous Soppo Polyclinic that was shutdown.

It should be noted that while he lived, Soppo Priso was known by the family to have had one legally married wife, who lived with him. But like most rich African men often do when they get drunk with the power of money, Soppo Priso made children with two other women outside.  In fact he had a child with each of the women. However that was also known by his family that recognized the two children. The two women who had children with Soppo Priso were not living with him, and were considered by the family as his ‘girl friends’. But the multibillionaire did not know that he was sowing a time –bomb in his family, with the extra –marital affairs.

Designation Of Next – Of – Kin / Seven Recognized Children

Meanwhile when Soppo Priso died, his first son, Gaston Claude Patient Soppo Priso (living with physical challenges) whom he had with his legally married wife, was designated the next – of – kin. Gaston had four siblings, who were Herve Soppo Priso, Jean Paul Soppo Priso, Laurette Soppo Priso, and Serges Soppo Priso. This meant that the legally married woman at home had five children with her husband, Paul Soppo Priso. The other two children he had with the two women outside, brought to seven the total number of children that Paul Soppo Priso was known to have.

Side Chicks Or Wives?

While Paul Soppo Priso lived, there was never a question that he had only one legally married woman, that was, the lady living with him.  But then when he died, a serious problem erupted, over the number of women he legally got married to. The problem was that the two other women (side chicks) with whom Soppo Priso had children, strangely enough formed a block, and surfaced with married certificates, claiming that they were legally married to the deceased billionaire, and that they too thus had a right to the property of their purported late husband. But the next – of – kin, Gaston, his siblings and mother, as well as other members of the family of Paul Soppo Priso, cried scandal, claiming that the marriage certificates paraded by the two women were allegedly ‘Kumba’, that is, fake.  They insisted that Soppo Priso had only one legally married wife, though it was known in the family that he made children with the two other women.

There was a bitter dispute over the issue. Without much surprise, the two children of late Paul Soppo Priso, presumed to have been born out of wedlock, stood firmly behind the claims made by their mothers that they were legally married to the late multibillionaire, and that they were thus entitled to equal share in the assets left behind by the decease.

It should be noted that the media organs in Douala interested in the affair are divided. There are some media organs that support the claim of the two women outside were legally married to Soppo Priso, while others reject the claim as fraud.

Matter Taken To Court

Meanwhile as the dispute dragged on without an acceptable solution to both sides,  the two women and their lawyers went to court to demand for the equal sharing of the property of late Soppo Priso, considering themselves as the widows of the late man. The next – of – kin (Gaston) and his four siblings and mother, also hired their own lawyers, and the matter dragged on in court, amidst allegation of corruption. A controversial court decision grounded almost all the properties in the estate of Soppo Priso, pending final judgment. The Soppo Polyclinic was among the property grounded, and that was how the once renowned ‘Clinique Soppo’ that Kotto Bass mentioned in one of his top hits in the early 90s, crashed, after the death of the Founder.

The Wouri High Court had recognized the total of seven children,  that is, Gaston and his four siblings and the other two children who were  born with the two women outside, as the children of Late Paul Soppo Priso, The court thus ruled that the seven children were all entitled to  equal shares of their late father’s properties. There was no problem at that level between the children. However there was a strong disagreement between the children, as to whether the two women with whom Paul Soppo Priso had children outside, were legally married to him or not.

The Wouri High Court took advantage of that and went on to appoint one Provisional Administrator after another to ‘manage’ the Estate of Late Paul Soppo Priso, leaving the children almost empty handed. The court later moved to the appointment of a liquidator. The court has continued to appoint one liquidator to succeed another, and is allegedly not interested in seeing the protracted matter come to an end.  Instead, the court has resorted to the game of long postponements of the case in the court.

Next – Of – Kin Also Passes Away

It should be noted that at one point, the next –of – kin, Gaston Claude Patent Soppo Priso, a handicapped person, got so frustrated with the way the Douala court, was handling their matter, that he decided to leave Cameroon and settle in France, precisely at Grenoble. However he did not give up the fight over the huge Family Business that his late father left behind. Unfortunately, Gaston passed away on January 4, 2020, in Grenoble, France, with the matter still pending in the Douala court, which has continued to appoint one Provisional Administrator or Liquidator to succeed another, in the running of what is left of the huge Family Business that his late father, Paul Soppo Priso, left behind. And so, Gaston, the next – of –kin to late multibillionaire Paul Soppo Priso, who too died 24 years after his father, passed away while still struggling to get his own share of the huge assets that the father left behind.