(NDI NKEM JINYA)

SENIOR REGISTRY ADMINSTRATOR

 

Mr Atabong Jinya Joseph was born on 1st April 1957 in Lewoh –Fotabong Fondom of christian parents, Jinya John and Anjikoah Agatha.

He attended the Roman Catholic Mission Primary School, Fotabong where he obtained the First School Leaving Certificate in 1967. He proceeded to Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College Fontem and graduated in 1972. Because he felt pity for the huge sacrifices his parents were making to sponsor him in school he decided to work and raise some money to augment his parent’s contribution. He then went to Bafoussam and picked up a teaching job in College de la Mifi 1972-73 where he taught English language. The savings he made from teaching enabled him to get enrolled in CCAST Bambili where he completed in 1975. After that he fell back again to teaching; but that time around he taught French Language in St Agustine College Nso.  Thereafter, he moved to Yaounde where he did the ENAM Preparatory Cycle. He eventually passed the Cycle A entrance examination into the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) where he pursued studies in Court Registry and Administration.

Upon graduation from ENAM in 1982, he was posted to the Chambers of the Procureur General of the Supreme Court of Cameroon in Yaounde where he served until 1984. In 1984 he got married to the love of his life, Ms Awung Josephine Anyingang. For 32 years their marriage was modelled after the Holy Family of Nazareth and they should be one of the model couples in recent history of Holy Matrimony. From 1984 to 1986, he was Chief of Service for Administrative and Financial Affairs, Legal Department Buea. From 1986 to 1990 he served as Chief of Judicial Affairs at the Procureur General Chambers, Buea. In 1990 he was appointed Registrar in Chief of the South West Court of Appeal, Buea where he served until 1999 when he was transferred from Buea to Bamenda as the Registrar in Chief of the North West Court of Appeal. In 1991, the Paramount Fon of Lewoh raised him to the rank of Royal Notable (Ndi Nkem Jinya) in recognition of the role he was playing in the promotion of culture and development of the Fondom.  A founding member Lewoh Cultural and Development Meeting (LECUDEM) he occupied positions in most of the central executives since its inception in 1983 and never missed any of the cultural weeks except the one that was held in March 2016 when he was in his sick bed in the hospital in India. Between 2009 and 2016 he was Registrar-in –Chief of the High Court of Momo and the Court of First Instance, Mbengwi.

True to his penchant for continuous search for knowledge, whilst working, he got enrolled in the Department of Law where he read and obtained a degree in Law from the University of Buea in 2003.  While working in Buea he gave part-time lectures in the National School of Penitentiary Administration (ENAP) Buea.

Mr Atabong Jinya Joseph’s years of public service were based around his unwavering belief that the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. As a civil servant, father, husband and family man, he fought for happiness, love, unity and struggled for justice. Through all this he never wavered in his beliefs and principles. His generosity, compassion and profound sense of servitude will continue to inspire many and give us all lessons to learn and live by.

Joseph Atabong Jinya is of the 2nd batch of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College. He was a founding member of the Seat of Wisdom College Ex-Students' Association (SWESA) during the 20th anniversary celebration in the college premises in December 1986. Following the formation of this noble association, he was then elected the first National president. He served as Pioneer President of SWESA from December 1986 until December 1991 when his term of office was over, and was replaced during the 25th anniversary (Silver Jubilee) celebration.  After handing over the leadership of SWESA, Nkemnjinya remained a very active member of the Buea chapter of SWESA until his death. 
It could be said that from his matriculation in Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College to the time of his demise, he had never found meaning not to belong to SWESA because he lived by it, swore by it, nurtured it and leaves behind a loving wife herself SWESAN and loving kids who are SWESANs and a host of SWESANs all over the world to mourn his loss at the threshold of the Golden Jubilee of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College. A jubilee he planned to actively stage and probably play significant roles during and after the celebrations.

He died on 25 June 2016 after eight months of battling with cancer of the lungs.  

He leaves behind his most beloved wife Mrs. Atabong Josephine  Anyingang,  four children, Linda, Sylvie, Cynthia, Carlson and three grand daughters, Malia, Anyi and Delyanne, two sisters, a brother and a host of relatives and friends to mourn him.