PAP member Hon. Joseph MBAH NDAM passes on

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) has announced with sadness, the passing of Hon. Joseph MBAH NDAM, a national of the Republic of Cameroon who served as a member of the PAP between 2004 and 2020. Hon. Mbah Ndam succumbed to a brief illness on 13 April 2020.

This is contained in a release by PAP’s Media Officer Jeffrey ONGANGA.

In its condolence message, the Bureau of the PAP has paid tribute to one of the founding members of the institution for his contribution, while describing his sudden demise as a blow to his beloved Cameroon and Africa.

“Hon. Mbah Ndam played an instrumental role in advancing the African agenda during his tenure at the PAP. He was a fearless representative of our people and his voice will be dearly missed in the political discourse of both his country and at continental level. He formed part of a distinctive group of Parliamentarians who have been part of the PAP journey since its inaugural session in March 2004 and have ensured that the institution is given a more prominent role within the African Union architecture”

The PAP Bureau also extended, on behalf of Parliamentarians and the Secretariat, its condolences to the Republic of Cameroon, the Joseph Mbah Ndam family and the Central African Regional Caucus of the PAP.

In his time at the PAP, Hon. Mbah Ndam served in the Permanent Committee on Justice and Human Rights where he helped craft some of the most critical resolutions undertaken by the PAP to date. He was a former Vice President of the National Assembly of Cameroon and member of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF).

Hon. Mbah Ndam who served as a Member of Cameroon’s National Assembly from 1997 to 2020 and was the Party's First Legal Adviser and will forever be remembered for his last public appearance at the Constitutional Council where he defended the petitions filed by the SDF substantive candidates calling for the cancellation of the February 9, 2020 legislative elections in some constituencies. The Council cancelled the elections in 11 constituencies and ordered for a rerun.

According to close family sources, “Hon. Mbah Ndam was fine on Sunday, April 12, 2020 and even drove his car. He reportedly stayed up until 11 p.m. when he started complaining that he was not feeling fine and was rushed to private clinic in Yaounde where he finally died”.

Mbah Ndam was born in Batibo, Momo Division of the North West Region on February 28, 1955. He obtained a Doctorate Degree in Private Law in the then University of Yaounde. With this background, he joined the Cameroon Bar Association in 1990 and has since then actively defended a multiplicity of cases in courts. He is known more in the political landscape in Cameroon since the reintroduction of multiparty democracy in 1990. He joined the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) upon creation in 1990. In the SDF, he rose to the position of the member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) and the National Advisory Committee (NAC). He has also served as the National Executive Committee team leader to the North West and South West Regions until death. He equally represented the SDF in the Commission for the Final Counting of Votes in many presidential and parliamentary elections.

Cameroon's National Assembly will forever remember Hon. Mbah Ndam not only for his 23 years of service in the Lower House of Parliament but also for his service in the various positions he held. He entered the National Assembly on the SDF ticket in 1997 and served as the SDF Group leader from 1997 to 2007. From this position he was promoted to the position of one of the Vice Speakers of the National Assembly, a position he held from 2007 to 2020 after the February 9, 2020 legislative election. He contested in the election and the rerun that took place on March 22, 2020 and his list was defeated in the Momo East constituency. Besides Cameroon, Mbah Ndam also served as a member of the CEMAC, Pan African and Commonwealth Parliaments. He was equally a human rights activist.

Hon. Mbah Ndam is survived by his wife and children.

According to PAP, the Parliament’s flags will fly at half-mast for the duration of the mourning period.