Ngala Ronard (1998- 2024): Story behind kidnap, murder of UB student

By Hans Ngala

Ngala Ronard was 26 years old and was passionate about serving God. Originally from Ndu in the NW, he was a student at the University of Buea (UB). He was born on the 14th of August 1998 and had big plans for his life and was a vibrant young Christian man, according to his father who is also a pastor.
“He was fully involved in church activities, he often gathered the children to share Bible verses in the house and he practiced spiritual discipline like fasting, praying, studying the Bible and giving,” said his father, Reverend Tata Stephen, pastor of a local Baptist church in Buea where the family has lived since 2008 when Ronard was 10 years old.
Reverend Tata speaking to CNA amid his grief, said his last interaction with Ronard was on Sunday, December 22. “We separated on Sunday morning when we were going to the church and after church, I attended to some people in the office. He later stepped out of the house to Molyko and I only received a call through his phone around 7 pm from the kidnappers” Reverend Tata told CNA. That Sunday was the last time Tata saw his son Ronard alive.
The clergyman explained that he was taken aback by the incident and that his last conversation with his son was when the kidnappers gave Ronard the phone and Ronard said “Daddy…” and they snatched the phone from him again before he could say anything else.
The kidnappers demanded an initial sum of money which the Reverend paid and they demanded a second payment which he hesitated to pay, demanding that he wanted proof that Ronard was fine, but they insisted and he paid a second installment and they called again asking him to supply them with a generator and other items.
“I believe that Ronard was surely killed that very Sunday the 22nd when they kidnapped him,” Reverend Tata told CNA “We met his corpse that was already rotten because it is like he was killed that very Sunday. We feel that he surely recognized one of the kidnappers because in all the money they were asking for, he was already killed” Reverend Tata explained. “We went to the murder site and we could not even manage the corpse and we just struggled to gather pieces of his body, wrapped and buried him there. He was already decayed in a kind of way. It looks like he was hit around the back of his head because the decay was more deep around the back of his neck, so we will just take some ground from where he was killed and take it to the village because he was already buried last Saturday”.
Ronard’s father also explained that Ronard had just recently completed his degree in Plant Science at the University of Buea and was awaiting graduation in January 2025. He intended to continue with a Master’s degree abroad but the travel plans didn’t pan out and he was going to continue at UB before the tragic turn of events.
“He loved what he was studying so much,” his father said “You could see how he planted trees and fruits all around our house here in Buea and also at the university farm”.
Ronard’s father believes his son was targeted because he (his father) is a pastor whom the kidnappers saw as a “successful” pastor because he frequently travels abroad and they assumed that he had money.
“These are people that knew us very well because they specifically said I am a Baptist pastor” the man of God explained.
As the family grieves the painful loss of their son Ronard, Reverend Tata said that he leaves the kidnappers who murdered his son only to God who will deal with them accordingly.
To the government, Tata said “The government should do something with the left-over land between Bulu and the University. That land is the breeding ground for thieves. Many citizens have been kidnapped and hurt along that stretch. A security post should be installed there”.
Ronard’s murder proves that contrary to some who claim that Buea or the SW is safe, this is not the case. The Anglophone Crisis is sadly affecting all parts of the NW and SW regions of Cameroon and there is an urgent need for both sides to engage in a negotiated settlement that will stop the bloodshed and restore peace in the embattled regions.