Black weekend:

Inoni’s wife, Senator Jikong Stephen, high profile Kondengui detainee, former Indomitable Lions’ midfielder die

By Sylvanus Ezieh in Yaounde

Last weekend was a black one in the history of Cameroon as the country lost four of some of her major actors both on the political and sports domains.

The four, including Senator Jikong Stephen of Donga Mantung, one of the wives of the former prime minister now in prison, Inoni Ephraim, the former Cameroon’s ambassador to the United States of America, Jerome Mendouga and former Indomitable Lions’ midfielder, Valery Mezague all passed on last Saturday.

Professor Stephen Yerima Jikong who was elected senator last April 2013 died at the Yaounde general hospital where he was hospitalized on Friday. He was 69. Even before his election as senator last year, Jikong who hails from Nwa sub division was not in good health.
He becomes the third senator to pass on in seven months. Fon Njifua of Fontem in the South West region opened the way in April, followed by Francis Nkwain in October. The trio, all of them Anglophones, died in Yaounde.
For his part, Jerome Mendouga who served for long as Cameroon ambassador to the United States of America died in hospital in Yaounde after battling with a prolonged ill health.

He was serving a-10-year jail term that was handed down in 2012 by the Mfoundi high court over the botched presidential-jet-purchase scandal. The court also condemned him to pay the sum of 121MFCFA. He had however appealed the verdict which is still pending hearing at the supreme court.

Mendouga was convicted alongside Marafa Hamidou Yaya for complicity in the mafia transactions that led to the purchase of the ill-fated jet that almost cost the lives of the presidential couple. He is the third high profile prisoner to have died while still serving his prison term.

Prime Minister Inoni’s first wife whose names we couldn’t lay hands on by press time died in the United States of America where she was residing after a protracted illness. She had refused to return to Cameroon when Inoni was called back home. The lady who had four children with Inoni had not divorced with the former prime minister who is now serving a 15-year jail term in Kondengui.

Meanwhile, the former Indomitable Lions’ midfielder, Valery Mézague was found dead in his apartment in France. The Cameroonian spent a year with Portsmouth after agreeing a one-year loan deal to join the south coast side from parent club Montpellier in 2004.

Mezague spent last season with League Two club Bury where he made seven appearances before joining French fifth division outfit Sporting Toulon Var.The midfielder was part of the Cameroon side that reached the final of the 2003 Confederations Cup, in which team-mate Marc-Vivien Foe tragically died during the semi-finals.
Later that year, Mezague was involved in a car crash that left him hospitalised and in a coma for three days. His last club confirmed his passing: “It is with great sadness that Sporting Toulon informs you of the death of Valery Mezague.”
The cause of death is unknown, but a Toulon police source told AFP: "An autopsy will be done on Monday. We do not currently have any suspicions (of criminal activity)."
Mezague was born in Marseille but represented the country of his parents, although his international career was cut short after his car crash. A promising, athletic youngster, he joined Sochaux in 2005 but the last five years of his club career were mostly spent in France's lower leagues, with the exception of a season in Greece with Panetolikos. Mezague's younger brother, Teddy currently plays for Belgian side Mouscron.