Ntumfor Nico Halle eulogises late Barrister Yondo Black.

In his eulogy to the late Yondo Black in which he also commiserated with his family and loved ones, Ntumfor Nico Halle said Barrister Yondo Black’s demise was a loss of monumental proportion.

The Douala-based lawyer said Barrister Yondo Black was not only a legal icon, but a statesman of national and international repute.

Describing Yondo Black’s death as the end of a very rich chapter of Cameroon’s legal system, Ntumfor Nico Halle recounted that: “The sad news got to me as a thunderbolt as it is not long since I saw him”.

He said: “Though devastating and numbing, I felt a little relieved after remembering his fulfilled and accomplished life as a very high profile International legal colossus”.

Ntumfor Nico Halle recalled that “I became a Barrister when he was Batonnier, and since then, we have had a very cordial relationship each time we met”.

Nico Halle said he knew the late Yondo Black as an outspoken personality who shunned hypocrisy and falsehood. 

Ntumfor who also served as President of the General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association said Yondo Black stood for the respect of the Rule of law each time he identified any violation. He said his professional aura and wherewithal were ubiquitous. 

“The Bar Association has lost a model to be emulated by all and sundry. The void created by his demise will be very difficult to fill,” he said.

“All I can say here is that where he is now is better than where we are as we are engulfed in moral decadence in all its forms. May he find respite in the bosom of our awesome God. My sincere and heartfelt condolences to the entire family, the Bar Association and friends alike,” he concluded.

A fearless advocate for human rights

The late Yondo Black was a vocal lawyer who advocated for democracy and respect of human rights. A tireless defender of civil liberties, the late Yondo Black was renowned for his political activism during the 1990s following the return of multiparty politics in the country.

Yondo Black’s love for the legal profession began at a very tender age. While still a 2nd year secondary school student, Yondo Black frequent the premises of Courts in Douala. 

From there on, Yondo Black decided to become a lawyer. The late Yondo Black was the son of a civil servant who was a sympathizer of the UPC. 

He lost his father on January 4, 1960.  Yondo Black attended Vogt College in Yaoundé, where he is said to led a strike for a better breakfast.

He obtained a scholarship to study law and later became a lawyer. He arrived in France in 1961.

As a young student in the 1960s, he was active in student associations in France, including National Union of Students of Kamerun, UNEK, with Woungly Massaga, who was expelled from France following the unrest surrounding the death of Patrice Lumumba. 

Yondo was also active in Black African Students Federation in France, FEANF. He began legal practice in France but decided to relocate to Cameroon. The head of his law firm in France was disappointed by his choice.

When Yondo Black arrived in Cameroon in the 1970s, he was interrogated at Douala airport from 8:00am to 4:00pm about his political activism in France. After a lengthy integration he was let go.

He was admitted into the Cameroon Bar at the same time as Barrister Tokoto, whose uncle was one of the first mayors of Douala. Yondo Black was President of the Cameroon Bar from 1982 to 1986. 

In that capacity, he represented his Bar at the meeting to create the International Conference of Bars and Law Societies on November 29, 1985. Yondo Black often ended his remarks with the expression ‘I have said’.

Among others, he was appointed by Jean Fochivé as a court-appointed lawyer in the trial of the state of Cameroon against former President Ahidjo. 

He was appointed in his capacity as President of the Bar and the oldest French-speaking lawyer in training at the time. 

He described the trial as a sham, as the conviction in absentia could not take place. On July 6, 2024, he became the first honorary lawyer in Cameroon. He was an active campaigner for political change in Cameroon during the 1990s.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3600 of Monday October 20, 2025