Ambazonia: Understanding the Tapang Ivo-Barrister Kongny Nsahlai Affair ⁰

Meet Barrister Emmanuel Kongnyuy Nsahlai, the California lawyer who is suing Ambazonia front line activist, Tapang Ivo Tanku in a US court. His father, Christopher Nsahlai, from Jakiri in the NW region was a former minister of transport and ambassador to the Central African Republic. His mum is Beti and a relation of the former first lady, Jeanne Irene Biya; which means Nsahlai and Biya are “moyos” since they married from the same family. A graduate of University of Arkansas, Barrister Nsahlai was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2000 but in 2002, his law license was suspended for failure to pay his Bar fees.

The California Lawyers Association describes Nsahlai as a Workers Compensation attorney and this raises a red flag why he would be involved in a complicated human rights case. The address of Nsahlai Law Firm provided in the lawsuit -3250 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 1500, Los Angeles, CA-90010 – happens to be the same address of another law firm, Onwaeze & Nwabuzor. The phone number provided by Nsahlai-(213-797-0369) has a voice recording referencing the law offices of Onwaeze & Nwabuzor; owned by Emmanuel Nwabuzor and Victor Onwaeze, with 4 employees and an estimated annual revenue of $429,288.

All these red flags raises fundamental questions why a relatively obscure attorney without even an office, would decide to engage in such a lawsuit on behalf of some anonymous plaintiffs who claim to be US citizens. The questions then becomes: if the regime really wanted to take action against Ambazonia activists in the US, why pick this featherweight lawyer?

The answer lies in the relationship between Paul Atanga Nji and the Nsahlai family. In the countdown to the 1997 presidential election, Atanga Nji, then general manager of a mafia money-laundering outfit called Highland Cooperation Bank, whose only office was its headquarters at the Yaounde Hilton hotel, hatched a sinister plot to ban the SDF from contesting the election after repeated threats from Fru Ndi that another stolen victory risk precipitating all out war. The plot involved presenting Ambassador Nsahlai as the candidate for a potential coalition of CPDM-satellite opposition parties led by the UDP of Lawan Bako; as a counterpoise to Fru Ndi and its boisterous base of supporters in Bamenda.

The regime hoped such a move would incite SDF militants to target Nsahlai and his family. To crown it all, Atanga Nji conspired with the Nsahlai family to fake the kidnapping of Mrs Nsahlai; to give the regime the excuse it wanted to blame the SDF, ban Fru Ndi and impose a state of emergency on the NW region. The Nsahlai family knew the story was fake, and did not bother to alert the police. Rather, one of the Nsahlai daughters came to The Herald office in Yaounde to report her mum has been kidnapped in Bamenda. Her story was contradictory; she hadn’t called her Dad to inform him and her reason for not alerting the police was unconvincing. After grilling her, I let her know that I will be writing the true story that the kidnap of Mrs Nsahlai was fake. Atanga Nji came to the rescue. Atanga Nji paid FCFA 1, 000, 000 to get the fake story published as a missing person’s report, but all that was inconsequential because the SDF decided to boycott the election.

So, does it surprise anyone that Ambassador Nsahlai’s son will agree to do the dirty job for the Biya regime? Atanga Nji has been getting away with murder. He and his handlers are war criminals. He is directly responsible for the Ambazonia genocide. His death squads are killing innocent Anglophones and blaming it on rival Ambazonia fighters; all in a desperate effort to divide Anglophones and weaken the resistance. The Beti cabal are looking the other way shrugging their soldiers and saying: if Atanga Nji wants to slaughter his own people to protect Biya’s power, then so be it! Atanga Nji is too ignorant to understand that there is no military solution to the crisis. So all his antics, including frivolous lawsuits by fifth columnists and regime apologists targeting Ambazonia activists abroad will never defeat the resistance. Ambazonia shall overcome.

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai