Febraury 12, 2016

Honorable Elizabeth (Reno) Namondo Mokeba
Mizpah Baptist Church
NewTown Limbe South West Region
Cameroon 

Auntie’s Biography

Hon. Elizabeth Namondo Mokeba

1937-2016

               She was born on September 20, 1937 to Michael Litombo Mokoko-Mokeba and Ida Mojoko-Lambe here in Victoria. She was the last of seven children and the last to die. The others were:

Nathaniel I.L. Mokoko-Mokeba (deceased in 2015)

 Ruth Limunga Mokeba-Kazeem (deceased in 1957)

Peter Mukoko-Mokeba (deceased in 1992)

Still born male

George Efema Mokeba (deceased in 2001)

Constance Evenye Mokeba (deceased in 1944)

Elizabeth Namondo Mokeba, whose life we are here to celebrate this 2016.

               She was the last of that generation. She was also the most well-known and prominent of them all. While others wandered away, for education and jobs in other places, she held on to the home soil and preserved the family name.

               To the family, she was simply known as Auntie because she is the only one most of us knew. She held steady in the extent that whenever others return on vacation or holidays, we could easily trust that the family flag was still there. She made the flag fly in the hard and good times. That will not be replaced very easily.

               She did primary school in Victoria before going for study abroad in Nigeria. Her study in business was cut short following the death of her father. She returned home to a fabulous career in fashion as she won several beauty contests. Most notable was the Miss Victoria Contest in 1959. She was also known to have played organized football. She served for various commercial businesses in Victoria, including the much renowned UAC, KINGSWAY and PRINTANIA  in Down Beach.

               Following the passing of an uncle, she was handed the management of the Mokeba freehold estate, properly known as Mokeba Farm. With the help of various agents and on-field managers, she controlled the estate until her death.

               Never did she let the ups and downs of land management deter her from other strivings. The first was politics. She began as a city council member attending regular meetings in Down Beach to get her feet wet into the sea of politics.

               She was active when political party unification began as she eventually held the post of WCNU President for the Victoria subsection and eventually for the Fako section.

               With the advent of multi-party politics in Cameroon in 1992, she defied the odds to beat candidates from other parties, including the governing CPDM. She served one full term in the National Assembly, earning the title of Honorable Elizabeth Mokeba.

               Her political success came alongside years of patronage and support of football activities in Limbe, in the province and across the nation. This, without a doubt, turned out to be her biggest thrill. She was the only one to serve as President of two rival clubs in the town: Victoria United and Electsport. She raised the profile of the community with Inter-Quartier football that involved competition with other sub-parts of this city.

               However, well before the Victoria football euphoria, she was a leading executive of CDC Tiko, which eventually became Tiko United. Players from that first division team would pass through the old house in New Town to get final instructions before travelling to places like Bangante, Nkongsamba, and Yaounde.

               Apart from football, she stretched her hand into other business ventures: turning her first car W8276 into a taxi and another brief experience with Maritime transportation of passengers and products from Victoria to Oron in Nigeria.

               Whatever she turned to, she displayed a deft ability to bring people together. Such people skills helped to make her Mbende home into a sanctuary for dispute settlement among married or unmarried couples, neighbors who did not get along and those facing family troubles. At least in this neighborhood, she had transformed social mediation into a work of art without any remuneration.

               As the years rolled by, and burdened by illness, she gradually faded from the limelight including her church activities at Mizpah Baptist. Initially, she was baptized on December 11, 1949 at the Ebenezer Baptist Church Down Beach. However, she became a founding member of the Mizpah Congregation in New Town , where she served for several decade s as head of the fabulous  Youth Choir  and a Church Deacon. Around 1965, she even became the National president of youth fellowship of the Cameroon Baptist Convention.

A life so filled with faith and family matters, football management, business and political involvement, seem to have taken its toll. Honorable Elizabeth Mokeba, lived in quiet seclusion until her quick end on Monday, January 11, 2016.

               So many have come to know a special human being and benefited from her exuberance, her drive and determination, her unswerving desire to serve all and sundry, in so many ways. She will remain, posthumously, a tower of strength and a champion of female empowerment. May her valiant soul rest in perfect peace as she approaches God’s heavenly kingdom.

               Our special thanks to the many generous people—doctors, domestic help, family members, and neighborhood peers—who helped to bring radiance to her spirit in the waning days of her life.

On behalf of the family,

Harry Mbella Mokeba, Ph. D.

Dept. of Political Science

Louisiana State University, USA

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