The Cameroon English Language Newspaper Publishers Association (CENPA) has conferred its Cameroon Diaspora Personality of The Year 2026 Award to renowned Cameroonian-American surgeon and internationally recognized pioneer in metabolic and bariatric surgery, Dr Mathias Asongwei Lawrence Fobi who is popularly known as Dr MAL Fobi.
The renowned surgeon received his recognition at the CENPA Award night in Douala on Saturday, September 19, 2026 chaired by legal juggernaut and internationally acclaimed peace crusader, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle.
The jury said Dr MAL Fobi had been rewarded “for flying Cameroon’s flag high in the Diaspora in the field of medicines for decades and for hugely impacting the lives of Cameroonians in the diaspora and back home”.
For Fobi, however, the honour carries a significance that goes beyond the more than 100 awards he says he has received during a medical and social-service career spanning decades as it is the first national recognition he has received in the country where he was born.
“I have travelled worldwide and received more than a hundred awards for my work, both academic and social, but this is the first time I am receiving a national recognition in my country where I was born,” Dr MAL Fobi said after receiving the CENPA Award in Douala.
Dr MAL Fobi said the CENPA recognition was sufficiently important for him to make the journey from the United States to Cameroon to personally receive it.
“When I am honoured by my own people, it is more important,” he said, explaining why he flew from the United States to Cameroon for the ceremony, which was also holding at a symbolic moment in his life.
The ceremony on Saturday, September 19, was held one day before his 80th birthday. Dr MAL Fobi disclosed at the Award Night that his children had organised a week-long programme of activities in the United States to celebrate the milestone.
Following the announcement, the Chairman of the award night, Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, improvised and led the gathering in singing “Happy Birthday” to Dr MAL Fobi, with attendees rising to their feet as the octogenarian smiled through the surprise celebration during which he also received a bouquet of flowers.
Fobi, who left Cameroon in 1966, said his connection with native country had remained a defining part of his life despite spending most of his professional career in the United States.
“I left Cameroon in 1966 and have since been coming back intermittently to give back to my country,” the renowned surgeon explained.
Retired but not tired
Now retired from active surgical practice, he leads a medical device company he founded, with his daughter serving as Chief Executive Officer. He continues travelling internationally, sharing knowledge from a career that transformed how the medical world understands obesity.
But while his surgical career took him around the world, Dr MAL Fobi told the audience at the CENPA Award Night that his idea of giving back to Cameroon has never been limited to financial contributions.
He said his educational his journey where he faced the challenges of being an African student in a competitive environment in the United States was made possible because others invested in him. Scholarships, he said, opened doors to education for him in the United States, and individuals provided support at critical moments. Those acts of generosity shaped his own commitment to creating opportunities for others.
He established scholarship programmes that supported members of his extended family through universities in Cameroon, producing doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, engineers and other professionals at the universities of Yaounde, Buea, Dschang, Douala and Garoua.
“Most of the students know me but they are just seeing me for the first time,” he said reiterated at the CENPA Award Night in Douala.
For the renowned surgeon, knowledge transfer is one of the most valuable things a successful professional can bring home.
“I am retired but not tired. I have been giving back to Cameroon for 60 years. The most important thing I can give to my country as a surgeon is surgical teachings,” he said.
He also said he assists Cameroonian doctors who travel to the United States to establish themselves professionally.
He paid glowing tribute to the current President of the Cameroon Medical Council, Dr Rodolphe Fonkoua, for extending a hand of fellowship to him by helping to open closed doors at the Ministry of Public Health.
Calls for end to Anglophone crisis
Dr MAL Fobi hails from Nkwen in Bamenda but his recent trip back home also brought him face-to-face with a painful reality – the ongoing separatist crisis in the two English speaking Region of the country. He told the audience at the CENPA Award Night in Douala that the crisis has prevented many other Cameroonians in the diaspora like him from investing back home.
He used the opportunity to challenge the press to push for a negotiated settlement of the Anglophone crisis so that more Cameroonians in the Diaspora would be encouraged to come back home for investment. He also promised to open doors for the press to talk to other practicing Cameroonian medics who would want to invest in Cameroonians but are discouraged by the security situation in the country.
Dr MAL Fobi was accompanied to the award ceremony by a high-powered delegation, including renowned academic administrator, parasitologist, and immunologist Prof Theresia Nkuo-Akenji, VC of University of Bamenda; renowned educationist founder of the Bilingual Kindergarten and Primary School (BKPS) and Mother Teresa’s College (MTC) Douala Chief Mrs Ada Kesi Makia; and his older brother and renowned Architect, Hon. Fobi Nchinda Simon among others.
This report was first published in NewsWatch Newspaper No. 239 of Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
