John Ngu Foncha (21 June 1916 – 10 April 1999) was a Cameroonian politician, who served as 5th

Prime Minister of Cameroon Under the current Constitution of Cameroon, the Prime Minister of Cameroon is a relatively powerless position. While the Prime Minister is officially appointed to be the head of government, the President retains most of the executive power and c ...

Career

Foncha was born in

Bamenda Bamenda, also known as Abakwa and Mankon Town, is a city in northwestern Cameroon and capital of the Northwest Region, Cameroon, Northwest Region. The city has a population of about 2 million people and is located north-west of the Cameroonian ca ...

. He founded the Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP) in 1955 and became Premier of the

British Cameroons British Cameroon or the British Cameroons was a British mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of the Borno, Adamawa and Taraba states of ...

on 1 February 1959. He held that position until 1 October 1961, when the region merged into a federation with Francophone Cameroon. From 1 October 1961 to 13 May 1965, Foncha concurrently served as 5th

and Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. He held the latter title until 1970. In 1994, he led a delegation of the

Southern Cameroons National Council The Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) is a political organisation seeking the independence of the former anglophone Southern Cameroons from the predominantly francophone Republic of Cameroon (République du Cameroun). It is a non-v ...

(SCNC) to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

to request its backing of the movement's drive for greater

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

in Cameroon's two

English-speaking Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest langua ...

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. His grandson is Jean-Christian Foncha. He died in

on 10 April 1999 at the age of 82.

Gallery

File:Aankomst van vice president van Kameroen J Foncha op Schiphol, nr 4 J Foncha , Bestanddeelnr 916-4473.jpg, Arrival of Vice President of Cameroon J. Foncha at Schiphol, no. 4 J. Foncha (head) File:Aankomst van vice president van Kameroen J Foncha op Schiphol, nr 4 J Foncha , Bestanddeelnr 916-4474.jpg, Arrival of Vice President of Cameroon J. Foncha at Schiphol, no. 4 J. Foncha (head) File:Aankomst van vice president van Kameroen J Foncha op Schiphol, links achter zij, Bestanddeelnr 916-4472.jpg, Arrival of Vice President of Cameroon J. Foncha at Schiphol, left behind his wife Mr. Ngu on the right

References

* 1916 births 1999 deaths People from Bamenda Kamerun National Democratic Party politicians British Cameroon Prime Ministers of Cameroon Vice presidents of Cameroon Southern Cameroons Kamerun National Congress politicians {{Cameroon-politician-stub