Mami Akwi Elizaberth Tah nee Anyangwe, fondly called Avo Martha is estimated to be born in 1933, to The Royal family at Bereje Oshie. Her mother was called Mami Sabina Endah Atungang (Avo Tiseri) and her father, Achakie Abraham Anyangwe was a king maker, Brother to Fon Etunyi the First and a famous traditional doctor. Doctor Achakie married two wives; the first called Monica Akwi and the second Sabina Endah Atungang.

Mami Akwi Elizaberth was one of the many children of Dr. Achakie. Majority passed away in their childhood, but Mami has a maternal sister who is currently the only surviving sister Grace Ekiengyi Ambele, fondly called Oyi Mamfe. These two sisters had a paternal brother called Okanimba Joseph and sister called Anna Ambo, both of blessed memory. 

After the death of Pa Achakie and soon after, his successor and son Okaninmba, their four wives and orphans were by Oshie traditional rites cleansed and inherited by the Oshie Palace. 

Childhood

As a child Akwi Elizaberth was very obedient and attended to all calls to her with a smile. She was naturally smart to carry out all assigned tasks and could use her personal ingenuity to overcome her life challenges with care and ease. It’s important to note that the name Akwi was given to her by her stepmother Monica Akwi. Mami Akwi Elizaberth lived with her stepmother Monica Akwi and mother and loved them very much.  Together with her stepsister Anna Ambo (Avo Tom), the mother of Late Mr Atogho Thomas of Ngwo the ensured the smooth running of their mother’s affairs while remaining very close and connected.

Akwi Elizaberth and her Sister Anna Ambo were very friendly with their siblings and cousins in the Oshie palace. Being very beautiful, welcoming, smart and obedient, each time an assignment was given to them by the late Fon Anyangwe Etunyi I, she would quickly invite her palace brothers and also play mates-Adi Lucas and Ataba Scott.  She began to nurture and lead them from a tender age. She also had enthusiasm and passion for farm work so she would not hesitate to help her parents do farming whenever necessary.

 Mami Akwi Elizaberth never received a formal education because she was born at a time when Oshie people believed that Oshie girls should not be allowed to acquire formal education. The best she could have was moral education from her parents and Christian education from Sunday school. She was a very brilliant, happy and greatly appreciated by her family and friends. However, later in life she attended adult education classes and learned how to write basic English and got a mastery of numbers and arithmetic.  Her educated continued when she visited the USA as her grand children spent time teaching her enabling her to maintain her own finances, phone records and sign her documents when necessary.  Mami even kept a very detailed phone book and diary.

Marriage and Family Life

At a tender age, Mami Akwi Elizaberth was betrothed to a very handsome gentleman called Mr Tah Isaiah of the Binda Aneh’s family. After the engagement rights were performed, she got married and observed a marriage confinement with the Father Inlaw Pa Aneh of Achi for some time. After this, Pa Aneh organized a powerful traditional marraige ceremony for Akwi Elizaberth as a princess from the Oshie palace.  He officially handed her to his 0ldest son Isaiah Tah Aneh. The happy young couple soon left Oshie Village for the South West Region in search of greener pastures at Matute village. Here Mami Akwi took a very matured step and solidified her Christian faith by being baptized at the Basel Mission Church in 1949. The presiding clergy was Pastor Esok.

A few years later, the couple moved from Matute to Bota Middle farms in Limbe where life was better. While in Middle Farms she joined the Christian Women Fellowship (CWF) and Halleluyah Choir of the congregation simultaneously. Lateron, she concentrated with the activities of Halleluyah Choir where she belonged for the rest of her life.

 While at Bota Middle Farms, Mami Akwi Elizabeth and her Husband worked very hard in the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) plantations. Besides Mami Akwi also took up a challenge to learn sewing and became a fantastic skilful seamstress for her entire life. She also worked the fields and her farms were very productive. She soon learned another trade known as brewing of local maize liquor called KWACHA. This was her most lucrative business because some of her customers consumed alot and could not settle their bills in monetary terms. They ended up paying with landed property. This important transaction “trade by Batter” enabled Mami Akwi and her huaband Isaiah to own two large pieces of Land in Bota and Wovia Limbe. Serious farming on these landed properties generated to them much capital income that enabled them to support the immediate and extended families.

Mami Akwi Elizaberth had vision for future investments. She encouraged her husband and they were amongst; the first Oshie couple to purchase land at Great Soppo Buea on which they constructed a house that served as a central point for all family members who arrived Buea. This is why most of the family children of the Binda family called Pa Tah’s house in Great Soppo their home for years.

Mami Akwi Elizaberth took raising her children and grandchildren. She was always present at the birth of most of her grandchildren to perform the delicate duty of caring for both the mother and the new born child. Mami’s job as mother of children and grand- children enabled her to travel to the New York State of USA 2 times during her lifetime. She went to America to help to help raise the last two children of Dr and Mrs. Nyambi. Mrs. Nyambi was the youngest of seven children, so this was the home stretch in her duties as mother and grandmother. She dedicated her time and poured all the love she could give into these two children who were named after her and Pa Tah her husband.  Mami’s presence in New York was marked by the bombings of September 11, 2001. She witnessed it firsthand and as such has been wired to handle any type of disaster such as the ongoing unrest in the North West Region.



Mami Akwi was a very beautiful princess and could never be caught looking off point. Her skin, cloths and shoes were always impeccable and talk of the town. After many years of battling various health challenges, she still looked just gorgeous, and her dentition is one to die for. Her beautiful genes blended with the handsome genes, colour and perfect hair of her husband Pa Tah is clearly evidenced in all her grandchildren. They are all super beautiful young men and women.

Every single house in the Binda and Anyangwe’s family has either an Akwi and/or a Tah which clearly a testament to the influence and important role Mami Akwi and Pa Tah played in the lives of their siblings, children and extended family. Mami Akwi a Princess from the Anyangwe’s house and Royal family of Oshie is leaving this world on a very accomplished note. She has worked hard for all those who came into her life, she has left an indelible mark in the lives of soooo many children and grandchildren. Her soft-spoken nature and calm disposition made everyone very comfortable around her. She was just a very calming soul even in the midst of the biggest storm and of which she weathered many. Mami had 7 children, 31 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren.

 Mami Akwi’s life is the epitome of endurance, perseverance and then satisfaction. She lived with grace and has eventually won the crown which she wears now. In the end she lived for God and is gone to be with her God. She leaves behind 3 children, 31 grandchildren, 23 great grandchildren, a sister, brothers, many cousins and the entire Binda, Okanimba, Anyangwe, Atungang families and Halleluyah Choir in Bereje Oshie to mourn her. She is gone to meet her husband who died on Thurday 21st march, 1998.

She deserves to rest from all her labours and a very long and fruitful life.