The President of the Buea Chiefs’ Conference, His Royal Majesty Chief Eseye Isuma Nyoki of Bova II, who was elected into office only in August, this year has resigned.

Chief Nyoki said he was stepping down due to his ailing nature which increasingly deterred him from fully exercising his functions with vigour and charisma.

The frail-looking Chief Nyoki tendered his resignation letter to a large assembly of Chiefs in a meeting at the South West Chiefs’ Conference Secretariat in Buea Thursday 18 December. The meeting saw the immediate election of his replacement in the person of His Royal Majesty Chief Johnson Njoke Njombe of Wokaka.

Njombe was elected by 15 votes out of an electoral college of 25, shrugging off competition from two other candidates namely, Chiefs Patrick Ikoke Moli and WML II Liteke. Since Chief Nyoki was the only one who resigned, the Chiefs unanimously agreed that all the other Executive members who were elected alongside him on 20 August this year should maintain their respective posts.

Addressing his peers after the election, Chief Njombe said he was honoured by the confidence bestowed on him and thus promised to get to work immediately to tackle some of the pressing issues facing the association. He said one of his first missions would be to reconcile colleagues that have suffered strained relations lately for one reason or the other.

Hear him: “…It’s always good for your peers to give you such trust. I know also of the challenges that await me. I will lead with a participatory approach so that everybody can be involved. With the experience I have gathered from the Muea Court Area, I am sure I will deliver the goods…”

Before being elected Buea Chiefs’ Conference President, Chief Njombe had served as Secretary General of the Fako Chiefs’ Conference; a post he too happened to have stepped down from in the course of his mandate. He is also the incumbent President of the Muea Court Area Chiefs and Elite Association in Buea.