Pa John was born into the family of Joana and Neba Muleh of Bafut. He got married to Odilia Sirri on the 22nd of April 1957. His darling wife died on the 25th of June 2016. He treated his wife as a queen, during their 59 years of marriage, before his wife moved into glory.

He served as a father’s cook in Nkar, Kumbo and other places. He used to trek from Nkar to Bota and to Kumba. He also used to trek from Bafut to Njinikom during Easter. He grew in the catholic faith from childhood and all his life until death. To buttress this point, Papa John’s home was used as the first presbytery and Church in Benakuma, Esimbi. He further offered his land for the construction of the Church, where he served as a voluntary catechist, at inception, until such a time that a Catechist was appointed.

Pa would want to be known as a great “Blacksmith”, given his passion for the profession. Some of the things he made were pots, plates, cutlasses, hoes and other household utensils. He did first aid training and because a Red Cross officer. At the time most males were circumcised at mature age, but with Pa’s influence and advise, infant circumcision was first introduced in Benakuma Esimbi. He actually did circumcision of many children at the time, given that he was a male midwife. Considering the fact that there was no hospital, he was made the reference point of all women in labor.

Furthermore, he was a court register. During his reign, he insisted on the fact that children must have birth certificates. Through this initiative, Pa was given the authorization by the SDO of Wum to issue valid birth certificates. A court clerk was later sent who worked with him.

Another area of interest was Pa’s passion for farming. Pa John was a great farmer, with large estates of cash crops such as sugarcane, coffee, rice, cocoa. He also farmed yams, potatoes, rice, beans, ginger, okro, pineapples, etc., which was one of the sources where he made some money, to take care of his family. He also did animal husbandry, rearing fish, keeping goats, pigs, fowls etc. Pa John introduced all these to the farming community of Esimbi. With his stringent management style, he was appointed as the representative of the Marketing Board in the entire Menchum Valley Subdivision. During farming seasons, he will invite the villagers and give all of them seeds for planting. We asked him why he was doing that and he took time to give us a lesson on cross pollination. He made usunderstand that he is doing that because he cannot have a good harvest if the other farmers do not have good seeds. What a great lesson to emulate.Papa was a shoe mender, a tailor. a mechanic

Together with his wife they went from village to village animating wedding ceremonies and other occasions, using their gramophone and record player, which was one in town. Pa John was a twin, her twin sister passed away two years ago. He was blessed with a triplet, Peter Paul and Pauline. Paul the lone survival was named after late Archbishop Paul Verdzekovof the Bamenda Archdiocese. Papa was President of the Parish Pastoral Council for many years. While in Benakuma Pa John and Ma Odilia’s home was always full to capacity during summer holidays with his children, grandchildren, friends of his children, nieces, nephews, cousins etc. We can vividly remember that we were 39 of us in the house one summer. It looks like fiction, right? But guess what? This was just those in the house, because even the homeless, passerby and mad people found refuge in Pa’s compound. In those days at Benakuma Esimbi, Mama would never sleep without food in the house because our compound was the stopping point of all visitors into the clan, who could stop over any time even at midnight. John and his wife Odilia were able to provide food for all around them.

During great feasts such as Christmas, Easter, Assumption, Pa and his beloved wife will stitch clothes for all his children and even those in the neighborhood without discrimination. While in form two, one of us was asked to write an essay on our family and to list the names of our brothers and sisters. His list had fifteen names. The teacher was taken aback by this. He asked whether papa was a polygamist. He said no. He asked how it is that two of our sisters had the same name Magdalene? We were all embarrassed at this fact after the teacher interrogated Pa after school. The other eight were cousins, godchildren, and adopted children. It was only then that we realized that we were seven at the time. Yes, Pa John never discriminated. He was, indeed, a man of the family, for the family and of the people.

We would like to end with these few impressions of Pa Muleh John Che niwi. Pa was a “jack and master of all”. “Not quite literate, yet well educated. Not so rich yet had in abundance, not a priest, yet so religious, so spiritual, yet not mystical, born and bred in a manger, yet lived and died in a castle”. Adieu Pa John Chenwi Muleh.