Kini Nsom
30 June 2008
One of Cameroon's well known lawyers, Barrister Henry Ndifor Abi Enonchong, died on Thursday, June 26, in the wake of criminal proceedings filed against him by the Pamol Plantations Company.
According to Pamol management, Enonchong was to face charges for spreading false information and usurping the title and function of the General Manager of Pamol, Obi Okpun Wanobi Osang.
The late lawyer was expected to appear before the Ndian High Court in Mundemba today, Monday, June 30, to answer criminal charges.The Pamol-Enonchong conflict emerged shortly after the company was born out of the ashes of the liquidated Plantations Pamol du Cameroun in 1997.
In a letter to the Prime Minister dated June 21, the Board Chair of Pamol, Chief Stephen Esoh Itoh, said Dr Enonchong had initiated cases in Buea and Douala to pursue his false claim of the ownership of Pamol.
The Post learnt that the problem cropped up when one of the shareholders of Pamol UNILEVER, wanted to sell its shares. After debating the issue, the company's Board of Directors resolved that it could not buy the shares because its priority at that time was to refurbish the company's mills.
In the circumstances, any third party that was not a shareholder could buy the shares in strict respect of the provisions of the company's articles of association and the OHADA law.
On February 8, Barrister Enonchong sent a notification letter to Pamol informing its management that he had bought the UNILEVER shares for FCFA 150 million through his company known as Fresh Food Cameroon Sarl.
In reaction, the Pamol Board of Directors held a meeting on February 20, and rendered Enonchong's claim null and void. They argued that UNILEVER had not complied with the procedure for transfer of shares. Enonchong replied by insisting on the claim that he bought the UNILEVER shares.
On April 14, the late lawyer held an extraordinary assembly of a company he called Plantations Pamol du Cameroun. Pamol authorities claimed that the whole thing was illegal because it is the company that was liquidated in 1997. They said the people who attended the meeting, were not even shareholders of the defunct company.
The minutes of the meeting Enonchong held under the banner of the defunct company claimed that the transfer of the assets of the Plantations Pamol du Cameroun to the new company Pamol Plantations Ltd, was against the instructions of the Head of State. They also claimed that the creation of the new company was a fraud.
Enonchong argued that a court of justice ought to have supervised the liquidation of the former company. Meanwhile, the inspection committee of the former company had dragged the liquidator, Christian Mure to court for overpaying himself. The Ndian High Court dismissed Mure and asked him to pay back a sum of FCFA 300 million to the company.
He went on appeal and the Southwest Court of Appeal in Buea reversed the decision of the Ndian Court.It ruled that Mr. Mure should not pay back any money to the company. According to the court ruling, the shareholders and creditors of Pamol could either continue with him or appoint a new liquidator.
The company preferred to drop him. It appointed Evariste Ngaba and Moses Obenofunde as joint liquidators. But Enonchong argued that the Court of Appeal never gave the former company any possibility to dismiss Mr. Mure as liquidator. He also held that Plantations Pamol du Cameroun was still under liquidation.
"Enonchong made hostile and rather intimidating notification to the Pamol Plantations PLC on February 8, 2008, bearing on a purported transfer of UNILEVER shares from the latter to him, as well as the purchase of a Pamol company Ltd which he says is incorporated in the United Kingdom," the Pamol Board Chair wrote in the letter to the Prime Minister.
He said banking on such a claim; Enonchong argued that he should have been given ownership of the land which Pamol Plantations PLC is using. In consequence, Enonchong argued that the company should pay an annual rent of FCFA 220 million to Fresh Food Sarl and its alter ego, Barrister H.N.A Enonchong.
The Pamol management countered this argument by stating that the purported transfer of UNILEVER shares to Fresh Food is null and void. It equally states that the land occupied by Pamol is state land.
This provoked the late lawyer to file a case at the Southwest Court of Appeal praying the court to abolish Pamol Plantation PLC, by striking off the name from the register of companies. He equally asked the court to sack the General Manager and his deputy besides blocking the bank account of the company.
The hearing of the case was expected on July 16.In, yet, another in case in the Douala court, the late Barrister sued the former General Manager of Pamol, Hon Moses Obenofunde and the current Manager, Obi-Okpun Wanobi Osang, for perpetuating fraud.
Given that the State is still the majority shareholder in the company, the BOD meeting that held in Limbe on June 20, appealed to government to check the "destructive declaration" and actions of Barrister Enonchong for the effective function of the company.
The representative of the Prime Minister's office at the Pamol board, Dr James Ashutakang Tabetah stated the same views. He condemned the fact that the late Enonchong had written to Estate Managers and employees of Pamol threatening them with claims that he was the rightful owner of the company.
Dr. Enonchong's death, many believe, may also be logically the death of the controversial cases in the court.
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