Human rights lawyer Felix Agbor Nkongho has been nominated alongside seven other Cameroonians for the first edition of the Nelson Mandela memorial prize.
The award organised by the Denis and Lenora Foundation to commemorate the Nelson Mandela day in Cameroon will hold on the July 17 in Yaounde.
As well as Agbor Balla, retired magistrate Ayah Paul Abine, former mayor of Njombe-Penja Paul Eric Kingue have been nominated for the award.
The Vice Rector of the University of Yaounde I, Prof. Jean Emmanuel Pondi, the Archbishop of Douala Samuel Kleda, Civil Society and Peace Advocate Achaleke Christian, the Bishop of Mamfe Andrew Nkea and the founder of Rayons du Soleil Fidèle Djebba complete the list of nominees for the award.
The UN General Assembly declared the 18 July as “Nelson Mandela International Day” in honor of Nelson Mandela’s contribution to peace and human rights. Following that declaration, the UN joins the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s call for people worldwide to spend 67 minutes every July 18 to acknowledge and celebrate Mandela’s contribution and dedication to peace and human rights.
In Cameroon,the Nkafu Policy Institute, think tank at the Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation will organize an event to commemorate the Nelson Mandela International Day.
This year’s conference comes in a critical context of insecurity, informed by the Anglophone crisis and the rise of secessionist ideology and separatist violence, as well as a debate on what ‘living together” entails, given the resurgence of ethno-identity speeches and tribalism.
The conference this year also has an unusual point which is the institutionalization of the Nelson Mandela Memorial Award to recognize an individual whom by virtue of his/her actions exemplifies the character and commitment to human rights as espoused and practiced by Mandela.
JDC TV, Video news 
