Renowned teacher trade unionist, Afu Stephen, dies!.

His death was disclosed by his family members. It was gathered that Afu Stephen, prior to his demise, was battling with an unknown illness. 

He was rushed to hospitals in Douala and Bamenda before he finally gave up the ghost.

Described as a rare nationalist, committed ideologue, and a genuine patriot, who spoke truth to power on behalf of the downtrodden, Afu Stephen’s demise has been greeted with regrets by his admirers.

We gathered that his health condition deteriorated last week, making it impossible for him to communicate with the people around him, who with much sorrow placed him on life support.

His departure has been described as a great loss not only to the education family in the North West Region but the nation as a whole.

Several persons have since been taking to social media to express their regrets following his demise.

In an outing on Facebook, one Amuntung Joseph, described the late Afu Stephen as a great fighter.

He recalled that “besides having taught my son in CPC Bali, vibrant Afu Stephen interacted with me at CATTU-UPTA outings”.

He said Afu was such a loveable and loved gentleman “yet a bold great fighter for others' rights”.

“He has followed to join Simon Nkwenti, another great Trade Union Leader of his time. Both, plus others before them, climbed the stage, played their parts so well and have exited,” he added.

Another Facebook user whose name we obtained as Alexy Biget said Afu’s departure remains as massive loss to society.

“…my entire village and the world at large will mourn you for the fight you fought for Anglophone Cameroon as per educational system,” she wrote.

For her part, one Ezagha Melvis merely said Afu was an outspoken leader.

“Oh, my Literature in English teacher. The outspoken and bold father. The disciplinarian. Rest in peace,” she said.

The battles he fought

Afu Stephen, it should be recalled, was the founding President of the Presbyterian Education Authority Teachers’ Trade Union, PEATTU. He was a celebrated teacher, a trade unionist and above all, a reformist. 

On April 24, 2010, despite resistance from the Presbyterian Education authorities, Afu took courage in his right hand and determination in his left, to launch PEATU. 

Then, Afu Stephen had condemned bribery, blackmail, tribalism and other ills within the education sector of the PCC, stressing that nobody was more Presbyterian than the other and concluded that "PEATTU will fight against all such vices with all its might”. 

Afu stood tall in the madding crowd of teachers’ trade unionists in Cameroon. He was an exemplary voice amongst his contemporaries.

In August 2010, Stephen Afu and Michael Kima, President and Vice of PEATTU, respectively, were detained following a complaint from Joseph Baboni, then PCC Education Secretary. 

The clash had its origins in the wide gap between the luxury surrounded lifestyle of Presbyterian Education authorities, Baboni for instance, and that of the average Presbyterian teacher who lives in a ghetto.

Struggles for better working conditions for teachers

Afu Stephen during his active days as a trade unionist, fought several battles, winning most. He was one of the members of the Anglophone Civil Society Consortium which fought fiercely for solutions to longstanding Anglophone problem when the ongoing crisis in North West and South West regions started in 2016. 

Afu was at the fore of several campaigns for an improvement in the working conditions of teachers in schools owned by the PCC.

In September 2019, Afu Stephen made disturbing revelations against the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC, regarding what he had described as “poor management of PCC schools”. 

In a statement he had signed on behalf PEATTU, Afu had noted with dismay that the Moderator of the PCC, Rt Reverend Fonki Samuel, and the Education Secretary, Kale Samuel, had been paying little or no attention to acts and decisions related to the handing over of schools to presbyteries, with governing laws least respected.

The statement had also revealed that teachers in some of the schools and colleges had been laid off and their terminal benefits paid to them, thus defeating the notion of suspension of schools.

Through the voice of Afu Stephen, PEATTU had expressed worries over the fate of teachers in the sector; the payment of taxes and contributions for the National Social Insurance Fund, which they said had all been stopped.