12/17/2023
TONIGHT, THE LIONESS SLEEPS | My dear mother, the Matriarch of the House of Tita Fombang, now sleeps. A Business Pioneer | A History-Maker | A Woman among Men | Loved. Feared. Respected
Here is her story...Biography of Princess Nguendap Tita Fombang
Princess Nguendap Catherine Fombang was born in Bali Nyonga in the North-West Region of Cameroon in or around 1936. While her legal birthday is January 1st, her exact birth date is not known because good birth records were not kept when she was born. She transitioned on December 12th, 2023, in Houston, Texas after a period of prolonged illness. When she took her last breath, she was not alone. One of her many grandchildren was there holding her hand and comforting her so that her moment of transition was peaceful.
Princess Fombang (known variously as One-in-town, Blackie, Auntie, and, Ma Catha) was the eldest daughter and child of Ba Tita Fombang Jonas of the House of Tita Fombang, and Nah Vakilla Nkakahnu. As a young girl, she was vivacious and hardworking, and played the role of big sister and counselor to her siblings with deftness, a role that remained with her throughout her life. In those early years, she longed to be educated more than anything else; she had big aspirations and wanted the opportunities that a good education afforded those who had the certificates to prove their qualifications, but her father refused to enroll her in school because she was a girl. That was so, even though the house of Tita Fombang donated the land on which both the Presbyterian Primary School and church Njenka were built.
On the advice of one of his brothers, in 1952 Ba Tita Fombang married Princess Fombang off, as a young teenager, to a much older man, Ba Lawrence Gwanmesia. It was a turbulent marriage and did not last very long. That short marriage gave her two sons, Ni Xystus Bambot Gwanmesia (now Ba Lawrence Gwanmesia ll) and Ni Kehbila Augustine Gwanmesia (of blessed memory 2007). After years of physical abuse, Princess Fombang took her two young boys and left her husband. At a time in history when women all over the world were fighting for equal rights, she was seizing all the rights that she knew belonged to her, especially the rights to life and freedom for herself and her young sons.
Princess Fombang had a reputation for being a strong woman. She was like a lioness, gentle and compassionate, yet fierce and formidable. That strength, and a sharp aptitude for survival, enabled her to navigate her life and take care of her two young sons despite not being educated. She tapped into her entrepreneurial side and launched into business, buying and selling various goods to and from neighboring Nigeria, where, as a seven-year-old girl, her father and uncles would take her and her siblings to go carry the gun powder they traded, on their heads, and would walk for days to transport the goods home. That entrepreneurial spirit remained with her all through her life and engraved her name in the Cameroonian history books for her many achievements.
By the time Princess Fombang was thirty years old, and before her third son, Ni John Fombang, was born in 1963, she had already bought and owned two brand new cars successively, the ministerial vehicles of the day, the legendary Opel Kadett and Opel Record. She did not just own them, but she also drove them. In the city of Bamenda, close to her birthplace, she was the first woman to build and own a cement block building located behind the Bamenda stadium.
Being the ever-savvy businesswoman, she found out that house rents in Victoria were over three times higher than in her beloved Bamenda, so she sold the property in Bamenda and used the proceeds to buy a smaller one in Victoria. She immediately realized that her instincts were spot on as the monthly profits from the smaller property overshadowed anything she made Bamenda. In the annals of high achievers, her name was being firmly engraved. However, it wasn’t houses but cars that cemented her name in the national history books.
Her love for cars remained with her throughout her illustrious life, and she owned many of them. She even owned a few taxis in the 70s and early 80s, but after years of mismanagement by her drivers, she finally decided to drive one of her taxis herself. Back then taxi owners named their vehicles. Hers was “Aunty”, a name that many still know her by even today. She became a legend, having been the first known woman to accomplish such a feat in Cameroon. By this time, she had given birth to her fourth and fifth sons, Sylvanus and Sammy.
Princess Fombang raised all five sons as a single mother. She was feared by the numerous girls who fancied her sons, respected all who knew her as a businesswoman and mother, and loved by all who were close to her because of her great generosity and innumerable acts of philanthropy.
In her older days, she would be seen in the back right passenger seat of her white Mercedes Benz 190 as she was chauffeured to and from appointments in Limbe and to her country home in Bali Nyonga, where she was born a Princess in the House of Tita Fombang.
Princess Fombang is survived by, Ba Lawrence Gwanmesia ll, her eldest son and his family, Ni John Tita Fombang, her third son and his family, Ni Sylvanus Tita Fombang, her fourth son, and Dr. Sammy Tita Fombang, her youngest son and his family. She is also survived by numerous grandchildren, Emmanuel, Belinda, Beltus, Brian, Samuel, Pearl-Catherine, Jean Mangueh (Ma Ngeundap), Samgwaa, and Samjella. She also leaves behind multiple great-grandchildren, including Kinge, Ruth-Abigail, and Samuel Malcolm lll.
