By Ntemfac Nchwete Ofege
In his time, Doh Gah Gwanyin of Balikumbat suffered from delusions of his own grandeur. So much so that a kyrie of myths were created from the realities of the fellow’s deeds and misdeeds: the man murdered hapless villagers in Balikumbat; he shot and killed a gendarme officer and nobody cared; he trashed his own mother several times a month; he threw people down to their deaths from a precipice behind his palace in outback Balikumbat, etc.
In addition, the man personally rigged the 1997 parliamentary elections that returned him to power under the watchful eye of the Divisional Officer for Balikumbat. In addition, when, reportedly, Doh Gah suspected that his alternate to the parliamentary seat in Balikumbat was overtly ambitious, Doh Gah invited the man over for dinner and fed him the Balikumbat staple - poison. The hapless alternate died within 24 hours.
Along the side, Doh Gah proxies claimed that the man rubbed shoulders with the other “Lion man” Paul Biya; he made his former bosom friend, Mr. John Fru Ndi of Ntarikon, see red; he owns a small army which army is armed to the teeth with thousands of AK 47s to boot and Doh Gah gleaned government contracts at will which contracts are never executed, the works. In fact, the myths make out that this fellow would be Cameroon’s equivalent of Count Dracula of Transylvania who throve on blood.
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Those myths, however, pale before the reality of a pitiful, pathetic, dirty old man who cries himself to sleep within the confines of the Ndop Prison since the doors of that even more pathetic prison in outback Ndop slammed behind him on Wednesday April 12, 2006. Since then, Doh Gah has been whining like the whipped dog that he is, his tail between his legs; begging to be let loose from the slammer. Along the side the man denounces the “uncooperative” nature of his friends in Yaounde who having used him to fight the opposition have dumped him like a sack of sweet potatoes. Along the side, Doh Gah flirted briefly (very briefly) with a so-called hunger-strike and gave up the exercise in futility fast: Very fast. Along the side, Fon Doh slaps a hapless lawyer, Barrister Kemende, who had the poor judgment of bringing the fon the traditional jailbird fare - bread and sardine. That Barrister Kememde spruced it up with some fruit drinks and took his wife along did not tamper Doh Gah’s propensity for tyranny.
Doh Gah’s pathetic whines, ad nauseam, reached an overdrive last April 25th when a drama of alarming proportions took place at the premises of Bamenda Appeal Court. The occasion was a Motion for Bail, filed on the behalf of one Doh Gah Gwanyin, which motion requested that the said Doh Gah be granted bail pending the determination of an appeal filed at the Bamenda Appeal Court by the 05 slick (but not smart) lawyers defending Doh Gah.
Never mind that some not-so-funny individual in the “jungle” (the word came from a magistrate) called Cameroon found it ludicrous that Doh Gah was jailed alongside nine other Cameroonians (whom he instigated to commit murder) yet, bail was being sought for Doh Gah alone. Never mind that with there murderous father in jail, the Doh Gah whelps have activated the royal army and are terrorizing Balikumbat. Never mind that the 06 Cameroonians whose testimony nailed the said Doh Gah would now learn to sleep with both eyes open should this convicted murderer be released. Never mind that keeping the convicted murderer Doh Gah in custody is not only ridding society of a deviant; a man, (as in Clint Eastwood’s epic film, Unforgiving) “of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition,” but this could (Doh Gah has no monopoly of violence) actually be in the interest of the man himself. Never mind that the Cameroon-Nigerian border (less than 100 miles away) remain so porous that Doh Gah might just be contemplating doing a Charles Taylor at the expense of the good people of Cameroon. However, Cameroon being Cameroon, the chances that Doh Gah will once more persecute society with his vicious personality are high. Very high. Someone apparently forget to read Doh Gah the Riot Act (on record) when he was arraigned at the Ndop High Court. So? So this convicted murderer may soon be walking the streets…on a technicality. What ever happens Doh Gah is just what he is…a bully. Period: The kind of nauseating bully who is only strong when savaging cripples to death is concerned. The late John Kohtem was a cripple. The time-tested truth about all bullies is that the know how to give it but they can’t take it. Proof of that? Doh Gah does not want to serve out his minimal 15 years imprisonment sentence. He is crying like a child to be let out of the slammer! John Kohtem never had that privilege.
We foray into an on-going saga.
Murder in the Market
On April 20th 2004, the Governor of the North West province, Mr. Koumpa Issa arrived in Ndop for a political meeting. Among other items, the governor had to address the voters’ registration and other human rights issues in the division. During the meeting an altercation arose between Fon Doh and the SDF Chairman for Balikumbat, John Kohtem, who, for the record, was Fon Doh’s brother in-law.
Publicly challenged by John Kohtem on his numerous election-rigging and other tyrannical tendencies in Balikumbat, an incensed Doh Gah threatened Kohtem. “What do you expect when you provoke a lion?” Doh Gah declared to the hearing of many. This unveiled threat to the presence and life of Kohtem was made in the presence of the governor, all top military brass in the province (army, gendarme, police and military intelligence top officials).
Governor Koumpa Issa alongside Fon Chafah and some other fons who attended the meeting tried to calm tempers but as it subsequently developed, to no avail.
The meeting with the governor over, the fons drifted to a watering hole called the Royal Ship in Ndop at the invitation of Fon Chafah XI of Bangolan, who was campaigning for the presidency of the North West Fons Union, NOWEFU.
Fon Chafah offered drinks and ‘transport money” of 20.000FCFA each to the fons in attendance. Between 2-3pm, the fons then attended lunch at the Divisional Officers insistence with the governor still in attendance. The barman of Royal Ship deposed that all the fons had left his premises by 3.pm.
The victim, John Kohtem, left Ndop sometime between 2-3pm and hired a bike to take him to outback Balikumbat. The bike developed problems en route and Kohtem had to trek the rest of the way until he got to the Balikumbat Small Market. While the fon of Bafanji, declined a drink from Doh Gah and who testified to repairing his car in Ndop and actually riding part of the way with Doh Gah, came and drove by to Bafanji, Fon Doh and his thugs found Kohtem around the Balikumbat Small Market walking along and eating groundnuts.
Fon Doh told his thugs to bring Kohtem to him. The thugs went along and dragged Kohtem to the fon who started the beating. The exact number of blows delivered to Kohtem by Fon Doh is a matter of conjecture but the fon gave Kohtem some slaps and when the cripple fell, the fon kicked him in the head. Spurred along by the fon’s lead the other thugs fell upon Kohtem and beat him to death.
“We caught Kohtem and took him to Mbeh (the fon). Mbeh gave the kick-off. I gave him four slaps and two kicks,” said one of the participants by name Sikod. Sikod also testified that Doh Gah had called them earlier from Ndop and told them to get Kohtem well-beaten.
Duma Godfrey, whose provision store is at Small Market, says that he “saw” Fon Doh kick Kohtem “over and over.” When he, Duma, went to the fon to appeal on the behalf of Kohtem, a cripple, Fon Doh assaulted him. Duma produced a medical certificate to justify the fact that he was actually savaged by Fon Doh.
Kola Clement, a storekeeper testified that he also witnessed the savaging of Kohtem and that Doh Gah led the beating.
A Reverend, Pastor Maurice, who was unplugging a blocked gutter outside his abode some distance from the Small Market, also testified that he “saw” Fon Doh savaging Kohtem.
Of the 21 prosecution witnesses, 06 gave “direct evidence” that they saw Fon Doh beating up Kohtem. In fact, the court ruling stated clearly that Doh Gah gave the “kickoff” to the beating and concluded the process by kicking Kohtem in the head. The court ruling also stated that based on a tradition that fons should not see cadavers, Doh Gah upon discovering that Kohtem was dead ran towards his car. The fon, in panic, missed the side entrance to the pickup, bashed his head before getting in. The fon then ordered that Kohtem be thrown into a gutter.
Doh Gah’s Comedy of Lies and Alibis
Less than 24hours after the murder of Kohtem, and without doubt, based on the huge outcry from the opposition Social Democratic Front, the office of the Attorney General of the North West province ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing of John Kohtem. Gendarmes from the North West Legion and the Ngoketunjia Company went and interviewed Doh Gah. With his movements on that fateful day “still fresh” in his mind, Fon Doh said Kohtem had abused him in front of the governor of being a “thief, a fraud and a tyrant” and of threatening to kill him. Fon Doh also said that Kohtem accused him of hiding “ballot boxes inside his palace.” He claimed that he reminded Kohtem that “violence was not the monopoly of the SDF.” He also claimed that he got back to the Balikumbat palace at 8.30 pm just to hear that the population, who, he claimed, was angry after learning that Kohtem had insulted him, had beaten Kohtem to death. The fon also claimed that Kohtem angered the population even further by telling people around the Balikumbat Small Market that he had “dealt with that your fon.”
Doh Gah also claimed that at 7-7.30pm he was still at the Ndop watering hole called Royal-Ship with the rest of the Fons!
The proprietor of Royal-Ship, however, testified that there was no fon at his bar after 3.pm on August 20, 2004. The Fon of Bafanji testified that he left Fon Doh at the Balikumbat Small Market at about 5.pm and drove away. Fon Chafah testified that all the fons left Royal-Ship after 1pm.
Fon Chafah also testified that Fon Doh called him a day after the murder of Kohtem and requested that “all the fons meet to take a common stand” regarding the death of Kohtem. Per Fon Chafah, Doh Gah’s idea was that he and the rest of the Fons should provide an alibi for Doh Gah. Fon Chafah testified that he told Doh Gah that he “will not do it.” The Store-keeper, Duma Godfrey, saw Fon Doh slapping Kohtem at around 5.30pm.
The final report from this preliminary investigation by the North West gendarmes at the behest of the Attorney General of the province, Bessem Eneke, leaked. The leakage is said to have come from the presidency of the republic via Yoyo Emmanuel, former policeman, and SDF parliamentarian for Ngoketunjia. The leaked reported was circulated to the local press which press rushed to publish the “scoop.”
The thrust of the leaked gendarmerie report was that the office of the Attorney General of the North West province had found Doh Gah involved in the murder of John Kohtem and that the said Doh Gah had a case to answer. In fact, the Office of the Attorney General recommended that Doh Gah’s parliamentary immunity be lifted forthwith so that he comes to court.
When his immunity was lifted in January 2005, Fon Doh changed his song to suit the facts in the leaked report. Replying to a fresh gendarmerie investigation the Fon now claimed that he got to the Balikumbat Small Market at 5.pm just to discover that the population had beaten Kohtem to death for insulting him. The fon further claimed that he told the population that all those responsible for the killing will be prosecuted. The fon further claimed that he got to Balikumbat between 7-8.30 pm after a winding detour that saw him claiming that he spent time with a certain Stella in an inn and further going to UNVDA to buy rice. Of the 7 defense witnesses who appeared for Doh Gah in court, not one could confirm these new stories.
Further damning to Doh Gah was the testimony of his own wife (Kohtem’s sister Immaculate Vakumse with whom the fon has three children) who said that the fon got home after 6.pm and said that her brother Kohtem “insulted him” and that he wanted to beat him up just to “correct him” but he ended up dying. Immaculate testified that Doh Gah asked for forgiveness and told her to stay with him. Her mother, however, refused and so Immaculate Vakumse left the palace.
It is just one of those things that Doh Gah, for whom Immaculate is now pregnant, told the court that Immaculate was no longer his wife at the time of the murder of her brother. Doh Gah said another man had impregnated the woman. Immaculate says Doh Gah is the author of the pregnancy.
The Prosecution’s Case: Watertight
The “direct evidence” against Doh Gah Gwanyin in this matter was overwhelming. Take the prosecution’s case:
Had the prosecution reached for murder, Doh Gah might have slipped through. For one thing, there was no clear cut pre-meditation in the killing of John Kohtem. Instead the prosecution went for 278 (1) of Cameroon’s Penal Code – unintentional killing or assault occasioning death. All the elements of this count were present in the case namely: the use of force, the presence of assailants, the intention to cause bodily harm and finally a victim and death. The prosecution had 24 witnesses (reduced to 21 in court) and 17 exhibits to back up its case. State Counsel for Ngoketunjia, Ngwane James George, presented the prosecution case in court.
Justice Paul Mwambo Evande (47), the 2nd deputy to the Attorney General of the North West province was the man in charge of the Preliminary Inquiry that led to the watertight case against Doh Gah. Now Mr. (Justice) Paul Mwambo Evande is not exactly the archetypal stern, hard-nosed, vicious, no-nonsense prosecutor. Rather Justice (Mr.) Paul Evande looks and acts a playboy. He says of himself that he likes “expensive things.” He likes good suits. He races a collection of expensive cars (a BM.., a Chrysler and a sports car, are among the pile). He likes…dancing. However, make no bones about that. This magistrate also sees himself as something of a fundamentalist in dispensing justice.
“As a prosecutor you are a minister of justice,” says Justice Evande. “You are serving justice. The facts of this case could have gotten me a conviction for murder but I preferred to get something lower which I would prove beyond reasonable doubt.”
Although Justice Evande does not see it that way, the Doh Gah prosecution and conviction remains a record-breaker in the often unsung achievements of Cameroon’s judiciary. “This was just an ordinary case because to me every case is important,” says Mr. Justice Paul Evande. However, Justice Evande concedes that the “political ramifications” of the case gave it an aura extraordinaire. “The parties involved were related to the two main parties in the country. The accused was a member of the National Assembly and the victim was a local official of a political party that thinks it has the duty to check the excesses of the powers that be.” The above definitely accounted for the peculiar nature of the case.
“We looked at the holistic picture of the situation,” says Justice Evande. “From our point of view, the Fon only wanted to teach the victim a lesson. They did not want to kill him. Remember that this was his brother in law. Moreover, remember that the Fon admitted to his wife that he only wanted to teach Kohtem a lesson. Also, remember that a15-year sentence to this man is like a 100 years sentence to other people.”
The prosecution offered Doh Gah no escape routes and his battery of 05 lawyers with Asongwe and Amazee present played to the gallery and prayed that Yaounde would free the fon rather than defend their client.
In all fairness to them, the defense neither had nor could they make a no case submission. This is because the evidence against Doh Gah was very damning. The fon was seen and heard beating Kohtem to death. The defense antics were to discredit prosecution witnesses like Yebga James who was 75 metres away and witnessed the savaging of Kohtem. Fon Doh charged that Yebga was “a notorious petition writer” who had once called him “Tom Sawyer” and other negative names. Fon Doh said he also had a spate with Yebga over a Yebga cheque that bounced smartly. Fon Doh’s other charge that his accusers were all SDF militants out to spoil his good name did not hold any water. Duma Godfrey, who was 5 metres away and saw the beating, is a staunch CPDM militant. The fon’s new claim was that Duma Godfrey burnt his property.
Per Justice Evande, the prosecution was not being clinical or vicious, just doing a job.
“I feel like a doctor who has successfully treated a cancer patient. Society is like a person who has a malady. If we have a deviant in society we must do everything to put that deviant out of his misery. If you do the proper diagnosis the cure will be easy. I feel very fine after this process,” says Justice Evande.
A Milestone judgment? The retort from this public prosecutor is very fast. “What makes you think that this is the first time the high and mighty is condemned?”
We pass. Did you have instructions from the hierarchy? “Even if I had I will not tell you because this case is still going on. However, such instructions would have been very irregular.”
Justice Evande elaborates: “the examining magistrate does not take instructions from anybody but you would understand that he is working under the Attorney General who is the representative of the Minister, which ministry is under the executive. Under such circumstances, the “respect of the hierarchy” is about the only thing that binds the examining magistrate.
Pointed question. Did you feel any pressure because it has been reported that the three-judge panel (Justice James Eni Mokube, Beatrice Tayong, and Damian Ambe) had to pray every morning to avoid witchcraft before going to court? Justice Evande says: “I did not feel anything. I don’t believe in those things and even if I were affected I would have gone to hospital or some place.”
With the Doh Gah conviction now at the North West Appeal Court, this saga continues.
Hello
I have been reading what you people published on this website.so my personal interest is to say you people should keep on with the interesting stories because they make us to be alert with current issues all the time.Iam writing from Ndop in Ngoketunjia division of the North west province of Cameroun. I promise to sent more information to you people next time.If there is anything you people needs from me just write me using my email as seen above.
Posted by: Anyam Edison | June 28, 2006 at 10:33 AM
obly blood washes away blood. royalty or not, kohtem's blood shall be avanged!!!!!
YAHWEH said abel's blood was crying from the ground for vengeance. kohtem's blood is doing the same. whoever construes the contrary, shall not be helped by juju, or lies, or politics, or palace!!
Posted by: THEWATCHER | November 25, 2009 at 04:23 AM