Category: Kumbo-Limburg

Interviewed by Mirabel Azangeh Tandafor

With the nomination of Bishop Cornelius Fontem Esua as Archbishop of Bamenda early this year, Christians in the Diocese of Kumbo have constantly expressed their impatience over the naming of their next bishop. So the news of a new Bishop for the Kumbo, on Saturday afternoon was a welcome relief for many people. In Buea, there has been a steady influx of merry-makers to the Bishops? House in Buea. Amidst the jubilation, L?Effort camerounais caught up with the new Bishop for an exclusive interview. Excerpts.

My Lord, how did you receive the news of your nomination as the new Bishop of Kumbo?
Nobody expects a thing like that. It was a surprise. Actually, I was out of the country when my Bishop called me back. That was breaking news for me because I was not expecting anything like that at all since I was going to be out of the country for about three months. I then had to rush back home. It was a big surprise to me.

What were you doing out of the country?
I accompanied the Catholic Women Association, CWA, of which I am the National Chaplain. We went for the World Meeting of Catholic Women Association. We were going to have a General Assembly, and after that I was going to take a short holiday.

How do you think your new flock can help to make your ministry move smoothly in Kumbo?
It is a journey of faith. I will like to accompany the people of the Diocese of Kumbo, bring the word of God to them and I am hoping that they will join us to proclaim and build the Kingdom of God in that diocese. I will just be continuing what my predecessor, Archbishop Cornelius Fontem Esua started.

What about the priests and Religious?
I know a good number of them. I have been working with the priests as their Provincial Chairman of the Association of Diocesan Priests. So I know their concerns, their expectations. They know me. I am one of them. I think the important thing is that we should work together; work hard, preach the Gospel, be dedicated and take active part in building the Kingdom of God in Kumbo.

What message do you leave behind for your former parishioners and collaborators?
In Buea, I have been Education Secretary for Catholic Schools. I can only tell the teachers and principals, managers and students with whom I have worked, that we have done a great job and I would like them to continue to foster Catholic education in the Diocese of Buea. I know they are capable of the task. My main wish is that that they should continue to build these schools because that is where the future of the current generation lies.

Do you have a message just for educationists?
Actually, I have worked mainly as education secretary. I have never really been a Parish Priest. But I also have a very keen interest for Pastoral Work. The people of Buea with whom I have worked for 12 years, know that I like celebrations; celebrating the word of God with them, celebrating the Liturgy with them. I will like to encourage them to be more dedicated, more committed in their Christian lives.
Particularly, my real concern is that as Christians, our faith should not just end at Church-going or ?Sunday-Christians?. The Gospel has to be part of our daily lives. My major preoccupation has always been for every Christian who comes to Church to take back with him or her a piece of the Gospel that will help change our lives.

How prepared are you, as an individual, to meet your new folk?
Who can ever be prepared? Nobody is ever fully prepared. All I know is that I have been a priest, I have always done my best to be a priest and I will continue to do my best in the new task that awaits me. There is no other way to prepare than to pray and ask God to assist you and to follow all the directives of the Church at any point in time.

Any special message?
I wish like to thank God for calling me to serve him in a new capacity as Bishop of Kumbo, and I ask the people of God to pray that I live up to the task and dedicate myself entirely to that service. I also ask God to bless me and the people I will be serving.

Thank you My Lord.

Brief Biography
Rev Father Geaorge was born in 1953 in Njinikom. He attended primary school there, and secondary school in Bishop Rogan College, Buea. He went to St Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui, where he completed in the third batch and was ordained priest by Bishop Pius Awa in 1981.
He has served in parishes in Mamfe and Kumba and was the Bishop?s Secretary in Buea for some time. He pursued further studies in Ireland on Education. He is an educationist by profession. When he returned to Cameroon, he was appointed Catholic Education Secretary two years later, a position he occupied for the past 12 years, until his nomination on July 8, 2006, as Bishop of Kumbo.
Bishop George Nkuo is from a family of five. Both his parents are of blessed memory. He is the first boy, and has two brothers and two sisters. His older sister, who is the eldest among the children, is a Franciscan Sister in Shisong.

Canvassed by Irenaeus Chia Chongwain

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has named a New Bishop for Kumbo Diocese. He is Mgr. George Nkuo, who has replaced Bishop Cornelius Fontem Esua, now Archbishop of Bamenda. Shortly after making public the nomination, the Archbishop of Yaounde, Mgr Victor Tonye Bakot, said he was full of joy, especially as the people of Kumbo did not have to wait too long before having a new Bishop. L’Effort camerounais also talked to Nso and Kom indigenes in Yaounde, since the new Bishop now belongs to the Diocese of Lumbo and is a native of Kom, respectively. Here is what some of them had to say:

Douglas A. Achingale ? Social Worker/ Journalist
The appointment of Mgr George Nkuo comes as a welcome relief especially for Christians who known him. He had long distinguished himself as a true man of God. His appointment as Education Secretary for Buea Diocese was sufficient proof. He is also a prolific writer and against this backdrop, the Pope?s decision is not surprising.
By expressing his view in writing, he elevated himself and stood out from the others. He is a square peg in a square hole. I am very delighted and I am looking forward to meeting him personally. I hope he completes the unfinished works of Archbishop Esua.

Njodzela Walter Yuver – Student, Yaounde University
I am very happy because Kumbo had gone for a long time without a Bishop. Mgr George Nkuo was not chosen randomly. He was appointed from Rome. He is an old man in his faith, given his years, his duration as a priest, and the portfolios he has held in the Church. I feel like going back to Kumbo as I can imagine the festive mood there.
I expect him to continue with the spirit left behind by Bishop Cornelius Esua. I expect him to equally carry on with the project Bishop Esua started, like creating more parishes, and opening more schools.

Godlove Versife Gham – Student
The news came as a surprise because many people had other priests in mind. Little did we know the Holy Father could go looking right in Njinikom. Kumbo was already like children without a father and we are now happy. We thank God for the decision. I hope he continues with the great work started by Bishop Esua. We expect him to build and create more vocations for Kumbo, unite our priests and the Nso tribe under the umbrella of the Catholic Church in Kumbo.

Njingu Mary ? Mangdalene Ndatchi – Teacher
I am overwhelmed because Mgr George Nkuo is somebody who is so hardworking and God-fearing. He is an exemplary figure. I expect him to tackle the problem of the ordinations of priests. There is a grudge now that children from Nso are favoured when it comes to the ordination of priests. I want him as somebody with a liberal mind to look into this allegation. If somebody has a vocation, nothing should impede his ordination.

Emmanuel F. Sanosi

At 12.00 Noon today, Saturday July 8, the Christian community in Cameroon had reason to rejoice, as the Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, Mgr Eliseo Antonio Ariotti, announced over CRTV, the nomination by the Holy Father, of Rev Fr George Nkuo, as the new Bishop of Kumbo.

The announcement, actually made by the Archbishop of Yaounde, Mgr Victor Tonye Bakot who was standing in for the Nuncio, came as a great relief to especially the Lay Faithful of Kumbo, who have on several occasions, expressed their anxiety as they waited for a new Bishop.
Father George was until today, Catholic Education Secretary in the Diocese of Buea. He is taking over the Diocese of Kumbo from Mgr Cornelius Fontem Esua, who took over the Crosier from Archbishop Paul Verdzekov in the Archdiocese of Bamenda in January 2006.
Father Nkuo was ordianed in 1981 in the third batch of the St Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui.

Fr. Peter A. Foleng, SD.

Ntansi Isaac Tita, the man who has seen the construction of the Diocese of Kumbo from its seventh year, is no more. He died last Wednesday, June 28, 2006 in the morning. According to his wife, Mr. Ntansi returned home, after work, on Tuesday, June 27 in his normal health and dined with the family, as usual, before retiring to bed.

She discovered later in the night that he had difficulties breathing, and he was immediately rushed to the St. Elizabeth Catholic Mission Hospital Shisong, where he died in the early hours of Wednesday 28th June; memoria of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and martyr.
For the last 17 years, Mr. Ntansi has supervised the construction of almost all the structures in the Diocese of Kumbo. Amongst the structures he began and completed are the Bishop’s House, John Paul II Diocesan Youth Centre, Tobin, St. Rita’s College Nkambe, St. Aloysius Minor Seminary Kitiwum, the magnificent church at Binju-Nkambe, the presbytery and hall at St. Martin de Porres Catholic Mission, Ndu, the presbytery in St. Michael’s Catholic Mission, Meluf, the Holy Family Health Centre Tabenken, the St. Kizito Health Centre and St. Therese Women Centre, Sabongari, the St. Jerome Pastoral Centre Kumbo etc.
Some of the big structures he was still supervising include the presbyteries in Tobin, Ngondzen, Ngarum, John Paul II Youth Centre and the Church of Misaje. Mr. Ntansi has left behind two wives, Elizabeth Fri and Victorine Kinyuy, seven children, a sister, friends, relatives and co-workers to mourn him.
He was buried on Saturday 1st July in his native village of Bali after a funeral service at the Presbyterian Church Njenka, Bali. The Curia and faithful of the Diocese of Kumbo extend heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.