Highly respected Cameroonian international civil servant and good governance advocate, Dr Christopher Fomunyoh, has been voted ‘Man of The Year 2023’ for his sterling work in promoting democracy, good governance and the rule of law.
Dr Fomunyoh was honoured with the recognition during a heavily-attended award nigt organised by the Cameroon English Language Newspaper Publishers’ Association (CENPA) at the Hilton Hotel in Yaounde Thursday, July 25.
It was a historic event to honour and recognize excellence in Cameroonians from different walks of life based on the vetting of millions of readers of English newspapers.
Government Ministers, Members of Parliament, the diplomatic community, religious, traditional and civil society leaders attended the award night that was organised under the aegis of the Minister of Communication.
SG of MINCOM, Award Jury Chair and CENPA President, on behalf of Dr Fomunyoh
According to CENPA, Dr Christopher Fomunyoh was voted Man of The Year “for being a consistent prime character in crusading good governance, advancement of democracy, raising citizens’ awareness for political engagement that has stirred renewed interest in politics among Cameroonians ahead of the 2025 presidential elections”.
Dr Fomunyoh, it should be said, is one of Cameroon’s most influential personalities. He is currently serving as a Senior Associate for Africa and Special Advisor to the President of USA-based pro-democracy non-profit organization, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).
Fifteen-member delegation receives Award
Dr Fomunyoh was represented at the high profile Award ceremony by a 15-member delegation led by Dr. Jude Mutah of the National Endowment of Democracy (NED) who traveled all the way from Washington DC, USA for the ceremony and received the coveted CENPA ‘Man Of The Year’ 2023 Award on behalf of the recipient.
In a video message, Dr Fomunyoh said it was “with the utmost gratitude and humility” that he received and accepted his designation by unanimous vote for the prestigious award by the distinguished jury. He said he would have very much loved to attend the ceremony in person but could not do so because of circumstances beyond his control.
“I am truly honored especially when I think about the extremely difficult environment in which our journalists and our publishers are able to work,” said Fomunyoh. “Your presence here this evening is testament to the fact that our younger generation is more than ripe and ready to step forward in our shoes. It is therefore to you and other youth, and other marginalized populations of our country that I dedicate this Award”.
Committed and productive advocate of democracy
When it comes to crusading good governance in Africa and across the globe, Dr Fomunyoh is the name that rings in the minds of several stakeholders. He has also been consistent in putting the same energy to work in Cameroon to ensure citizens are politically engaged.
The award-winning Dr Fomunyoh has been a committed and productive advocate of democracy, good governance, conflict resolution and peace.
He has dedicated his life for over 20 years serving as member of the senior management of NDI. Dr. Fomunyoh is also Co-Chair of NDI’s Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, an additional role he has been playing since 2020.
Dr Fomunyoh has been in the limelight for years through his matchless consistency in helping several countries come of difficult political challenges. His works have been documented and cited severally especially across Africa.
He has invaluable footprints in nations such as; Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Nigeria, Liberia, The Gambia and several others. In most of these countries, he has been solicited by their leaders to consult parliaments, election management bodies, political actors, civil society, elections management entities and other vital voices other influential country-specific voices to ensure the democracy thrives. Today many of these countries are on the road of making many democratic gains thanks to Dr Fomunyoh’s selfless commitment to service.
It is also no secret that he engaged former democratically voted presidents in several countries through the African Statesmen Initiative – a prism through which he entrenched democratic governance in several countries.
‘Grain From Ukraine’ Goodwill Ambassador
Also to Dr. Fomunyoh’s credit is the Regional Initiative on Constitutionalism and Rule of Law. He is a star by all standards for having used this platform to standardize presidential term limits and ensure peaceful transfer of power in countries such as; South Africa, Kenya and Guinea. In West and Central Africa, Dr Fomunyoh is a household name in aspects of holding power to account in the citizens’ best interest.
To note that he once served as mentor on former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Center for Women’s Leadership in Africa. Dr Fomunyoh is also Goodwill Ambassador for Ukraine’s President,Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy’s “Grain From Ukraine”; humanitarian food programme through which Ukraine, partner countries and private sector donors supply Ukrainian grain to countries in Africa and Asia facing malnutrition and hunger.
He is also Adjunct Professor of African Politics at Georgetown University and the African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), in the United States of America.
Dr Fomunyoh’s love for humanity
Dr Fomunyoh also has a heart of gold, reason he is into several humanitarian initiatives. It is under such impulse that he created The Fomunyoh Foundation (TTF), around the year 1999 to make bold his commitment to serve the less privilege.
Through TTF, he has made huge donations in the North West, South West, Centre, Littoral Regions and beyond. In 2021, Dr Fomunyoh led a team through his foundation to Nigeria where he provided humanitarian support to Anglophone crisis refugees.
Hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), of the Anglophone crisis have also been enrolled for various empowerment schemes thanks to Dr Fomunyoh. Given such a record of accomplishments, many have not stopped hailing Dr Fomunyoh for clinching another prestigious award thanks to his genuine works across the globe.
The CENPA ‘Man Of The Year’ 2023 Award adds to a plethora of recognitions conferred on the Founder and President of The Fomunyoh Foundation.
One of the Awards also handed him recently is the NewsWatch ‘Exceptional Community Service Award’ conferred on him during the 10th anniversary of the newspaper in Yaounde in August last year. The jury had announced that Dr Fomunyoh was nominated “for providing much-needed support to displaced persons and other vulnerable groups of persons and empowering a generation of young people through the TFF Youth Empowerment Centre”.
