By Francis Tim Mbom (Monday, 19 February 2007) from the Up Station Mountain Club newspaper
Prince Jesco Manga Williams has been designated the new Paramount Chief of Limbe after a family meeting at his Sapper Road residence, on Saturday, February 17. Jesco, 86, replaces Ferguson Billa Manga Williams who died in July, 2005.
The late Billa Manga was a younger brother to Prince Jesco and since his death, the Limbe throne had been mired in controversy as to who takes over.
As to how Billa Manga became Chief, Jesco said in 1959, when his father who was the then Paramount Chief died, he was studying in London. When he was called home, he could not come because of his studies. So he decided that his younger brother be made the Paramount Chief.
Going back to the controversy over inheriting the throne, The Post gathered that late Chief Billa Manga had willed the throne to the General Manager of CDC, Henry Njalla Quan, Jesco's nephew. But Jesco said that the "will was forged."
He said if they had to observe the will, many things would have been put into question. He had challenged the will at the Buea High Court. But the matter, Jesco said, was quashed on grounds that there was no substantive matter before on which his challenge was based.
Besides Jesco's claim to the throne, David Najia Carr of the Nanjia Carr Ovassee family at New Town was the first to lodge his claim to the throne, barely three weeks after Ferguson died.
Carr was seeking to be given "recognition and enthronement as the new Paramount Chief of Limbe."The head of the David Nanjia Carr Ovasse family, Carr had based his claims on the fact that, according to his documents, his grandfather was the first paramount ruler of Limbe and not King Manga Williams of Bimbia.
"My grandfathers were the founders of Limbe at New Town which is known as Liengu Mboke and not the Manga William family," Nanjia said at the time.On his part, Chief Martin Etule of Wovia, who died over a month ago, had said it was now the turn of the Wovia clan to designate a new Paramount Chief for Limbe.
He had said in an interview he granted to The Post that "Limbe belongs to the Wovia clan. Now the right man to be chief should be a Wovia man." Late Etule had argued that the Wovia people were the very first to settle in Limbe. He had said that the Bimbia people where the Manga Williams originated came and met them in Limbe.
Etule, who died at 99, was regarded as a custodian of the Bakweri tradition and history because of his age and especially because he was learned. That notwithstanding, the battle for succession had been raging on. The Fako administration led by the SDO, Bernard Okalia Bilai, had a few weeks back held another consultative meeting to lay the matter to rest.
Then Jesco said he called up last Saturday's meeting as a way to help the administration resolve the matter."I called this meeting as a step towards helping the administration appoint the actual Paramount Chief of Limbe," Jesco told The Post.
He said the Manga Williams family was the ruling house in Limbe and only it could designate a new Paramount Chief. He said he was going to take the result to the administration and the message would be transmitted to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation waiting for the Prime Minister's final approval.
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