Relatives mourn late mother of First Lady

Mrs Chantal Biya joined other family members over the weekend to exercise traditional rites in honour of late Rosette Marie Mboutchouang.

The post- mortem traditional and mourning rites in honour of Mrs Mboutchouang née Ndongo Mengolo Rosette Marie, mother of Cameroon’s First Lady, took place this past weekend in Nanga Eboko, in the Upper Sanaga Division of the Centre Region, birth place of the deceased.

The lone daughter to the deceased, Mrs Chantal Biya, was flown into Nanga Eboko by helicopter by midday December 27, 2014 to join other family members alongside the widower, Ernest Mboutchouang to pray for the peaceful repose of Rosette Marie Mboutchouang.

The erstwhile Mayor of Bangou in the West Region, who passed unto eternal glory on October 2, 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa, was laid to rest in Mvomeka’a in the South Region on October 17, 2014 in a ceremony that drew a sea of sympathisers and well-wishers to the village of her son-in-law, President Paul Biya.

This weekend’s event was therefore a culmination of the cultural and customary requirements in honour of the deceased whom the officiating priest, His Lordship Sosthene Bayemi Matjei, Bishop of the Obala Diocese, said she respected and never forgot the tradition of her clan.

Before the special mass, the traditional rites began as early as 5:00 a.m. with rituals at the family graveyard in Nanga Eboko. By 10:00 a.m. family members and well-wishers gathered around the main gate of the deceased’s home to know exactly what killed her.

While presiding at this section of the ceremony which is called “Nsili awu” in the local dialect, the head of the Yebekanga family, Maximilien Ndouma, in turns, handed the microphone to different groups who wanted to know the reason behind Mama Rosette’s death.

The first family which came up was the maternal family of Mama Rosette from Mbang, followed by the Yezoum family, which is the Bulu in-laws to Mama Rosette. Grandparents, namesakes, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law and other families such as those from Badenkop and Dimako, also expressed their grief on the passing away of Mama Rosette.

Thereafter, His Lordship Bayemi Matjei, in his homily from the book of John 20:2-8 talked about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because the population believed in the resurrection, Mgr Bayemi said that is why they gathered at Nanga Eboko to pray that on the day of resurrection, our Heavenly Father will grant Mama Rosette external rest.

“The Bishop urged the family to know that it was time to continue the charitable works of Mama Rosette with love and unity. “Forget your self-pride and fully work for peace, unity and progress not only in the family but the Upper Sanaga Division at large,” Bishop Bayemi told family members. The population was also urged to give their best in continuing late Marie Rosette Marie Mboutchouang act of generosity and love so that the entire village will prosper and progress.

During the event which was graced by a common meal, several members of government amongst which the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, the Minister Director of Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic, Martin Belinga Eboutou, members of the Circle of Friends of Cameroon (CERAC) and a host of well-wishers joined Mrs Biya to pray for the peaceful rest of her late mother.