As
a young boy Moka Endeley studied at the German Basel
Mission Vernacular Kindergarten School at Soppo Wongaga and obtained
the Statutory First school Living certificate with distinction in 1939. This
permitted him to gain admission into the Government College at Umuahia in Eastern Nigeria and the School of
pharmacy in Lagos from where he obtained the Pharmaceutical Chemist Diploma in Forensic pharmacy.
Doctor Samuel Moka Lifafa Endeley Later
enrolled to read law and eventually graduated with a Law Degree in 1959 in
London. He returned to Cameroon in 1960 and worked in the Court of West Cameroon. He was later appointed judge of same in 1966.
An aspect of his personality that many still refer to as controversial was the declaration on several
occasions that he was not an Anglophone, but simply a Cameroonian. Opinions from those close to him hold that the Pharmacist and Chief Judge saw things from the vantage point as he was
immersed in all local customs, culture and expressions as was the tradition in
his family. He defended Cameroon energetically in the case over the Bakassi
conflict with Nigeria at the International Court of Justice at The Hague in The
Netherlands.
He
succeeded his Uncle Mbella Endeley as the Paramount Chief of Buea in 1982. From then, Samuel Moka Lifafa Endeley played a stabilizing role on the Sociopolitical landscape of Cameroon. He got married to the late
Gladys silo Endeley who passed-on in 2010. They had five sons and a
daughter.
Things here and there
In 1940, SML Endeley passed the competitive
entrance into the Government College Umuahia in Eastern Nigeria. During the Second World War, the
college was closed down and converted into an internment camp for German war
prisoners. As a result, the students were transferred to Hope Waddel Training Institute in Calabar. SML Endeley left Hope
Waddell at age 22 after obtaining the Cambridge School Certificate.
In 1946 SML Endeley passed the highly competitive examinations into the prestigious Nigeria School of Pharmacy in Yaba, Lagos, where he obtained a Pharmaceutical Chemist and Druggist Diploma with a distinction in Forensic Pharmacy.
From 1950 to 1957, he worked as a government pharmacist in Lagos and Port Harcourt in Nigeria, and Tiko, Bota, Victoria(both now in the Limbe City Council Area) and Kumba all in the former Southern Cameroons which now constitute the Southwest and Northwest Regions of the Republic of Cameroon.
In 1953 SML Endeley married Gladys Silo Steane, an Accounts Clerk with the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC).
Against the tumultuous backdrop and the soci-political effervescence of the late 1950s in Southern Cameroons,Sam Endeley soon lost his passion for pharmacy and turned his attention to law, a profession through which he believed he would contribute more to the development of Southern Cameroons.
In 1956 he was admitted into the University of Leeds where he obtained a diploma in Sociology. In 1957 he sought and gained admission into the Middle Temple Inn of Court where he read law at the Inns of Court School of Law in London. In 1959, he passed the final examination for the Barrister-at-law degree and was called to the English Bar in January 1960. He returned to Cameroon in April of that same year when he got called to the Nigerian Bar.
Between 1960 and 1966 he ran his bustling and lucrative private practice, Lifafa Chambers, located around the Buea town market. This was a period when Nigerian lawyers dominated the legal field in the Southern Cameroons but Samuel Endeley rose and stayed at the top.
In 1946 SML Endeley passed the highly competitive examinations into the prestigious Nigeria School of Pharmacy in Yaba, Lagos, where he obtained a Pharmaceutical Chemist and Druggist Diploma with a distinction in Forensic Pharmacy.
From 1950 to 1957, he worked as a government pharmacist in Lagos and Port Harcourt in Nigeria, and Tiko, Bota, Victoria(both now in the Limbe City Council Area) and Kumba all in the former Southern Cameroons which now constitute the Southwest and Northwest Regions of the Republic of Cameroon.
In 1953 SML Endeley married Gladys Silo Steane, an Accounts Clerk with the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC).
Against the tumultuous backdrop and the soci-political effervescence of the late 1950s in Southern Cameroons,Sam Endeley soon lost his passion for pharmacy and turned his attention to law, a profession through which he believed he would contribute more to the development of Southern Cameroons.
In 1956 he was admitted into the University of Leeds where he obtained a diploma in Sociology. In 1957 he sought and gained admission into the Middle Temple Inn of Court where he read law at the Inns of Court School of Law in London. In 1959, he passed the final examination for the Barrister-at-law degree and was called to the English Bar in January 1960. He returned to Cameroon in April of that same year when he got called to the Nigerian Bar.
Between 1960 and 1966 he ran his bustling and lucrative private practice, Lifafa Chambers, located around the Buea town market. This was a period when Nigerian lawyers dominated the legal field in the Southern Cameroons but Samuel Endeley rose and stayed at the top.
Young Sam Endeley
with Lawyers Fred Eko and Koffi Mensah, the first generation of British-trained
Southern Cameroons lawyers. Picture courtesy of Cameroon Census forum/Henry
Monono.
During this period, Samuel Endeley became involved in the major contemporal social and political issues. In the 1950s and 60s, he was instrumental in setting up the Bakweri Co-operative Union of Farmers (BCUF) and the Bakweri Land Committee (BLC) which sought to reclaim Bakweri ancestral lands wrested by the Germans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was also a major role player in the plebiscite campaign leading up to the unification of the British and French Cameroons, and was even selected to address the UN Trusteeship Council in 1961. He was also part of the Southern Cameroons delegation to the Foumban constitutional conference of that same year.
During this period, Samuel Endeley became involved in the major contemporal social and political issues. In the 1950s and 60s, he was instrumental in setting up the Bakweri Co-operative Union of Farmers (BCUF) and the Bakweri Land Committee (BLC) which sought to reclaim Bakweri ancestral lands wrested by the Germans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was also a major role player in the plebiscite campaign leading up to the unification of the British and French Cameroons, and was even selected to address the UN Trusteeship Council in 1961. He was also part of the Southern Cameroons delegation to the Foumban constitutional conference of that same year.
Arriving at the Foumban
conference. From left to right, PM Kemcha, SML Endeley and
legnedary photographer, E. Mbwaye. Southern Cameroons archives.
He later became a prominent member of both the CNU ;Cameroon National Union
and the CPDM;Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement.
In 1966, SML Endeley turned his back on private practice and turned to the bench and it turned out to be a lengthy and luminous legal career.
In 1966 he was appointed Judge of the High Court of West Cameroon and President of the West Cameroon Bench of the Federal Court of Justice.
In 1968, he became an Appeals Judge of the Full Bench of the Federal Court of Justice Yaoundé, and a year later, he was appointed member of the Higher Judicial Council.
In 1970, he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of West Cameroon.
When the Cameroon Federation was dissolved in 1972, SML Endeley moved to Yaounde where and became Vice President of the Supreme Court of the United Republic of Cameroon. In 1973 he was appointed President of the Administrative Bench of the Supreme Court and later returned to Buea as President of the South-West Court of Appeal.
In 1966, SML Endeley turned his back on private practice and turned to the bench and it turned out to be a lengthy and luminous legal career.
In 1966 he was appointed Judge of the High Court of West Cameroon and President of the West Cameroon Bench of the Federal Court of Justice.
In 1968, he became an Appeals Judge of the Full Bench of the Federal Court of Justice Yaoundé, and a year later, he was appointed member of the Higher Judicial Council.
In 1970, he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of West Cameroon.
When the Cameroon Federation was dissolved in 1972, SML Endeley moved to Yaounde where and became Vice President of the Supreme Court of the United Republic of Cameroon. In 1973 he was appointed President of the Administrative Bench of the Supreme Court and later returned to Buea as President of the South-West Court of Appeal.
Justice Endeley with J.C Ngoh (Federal Inspector of Administration for West Cameroon,) and Mr Ngwa, SDO Fako Division. Source: Cameroon Census forum/Gervase Ndoko.
Throughout his legal career, SML Endeley was a member of every law harmonisation and law revision commission set up by the government of the United Republic of Cameroon ;a clear indication of how his legal opinions were valued by the state. He was also a Member of the Cameroon-Nigeria Joint Border Commission and was also a member of the Cameroonian legal team in the land and maritime border dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria which culminated in the award of the Bakassi Peninsular to Cameroon by the International Court of Justice-ICJ. Between 1982 and 1990, SML Endeley served as Board Chairman of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC).
Justice SML Endeley was as crowned Paramount Chief of Buea in 1990 in
succession of his uncle Gervacius Mbella Endeley who reigned as District Head
and Chief of Buea from 1925 to 1982.
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