Remarks at the Service of Commemoration for Victor Pungong
Date: 21 Jun 2007
Speaker: Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon
Location: London, UK (Marlborough House)
‘Brilliant.’
’Kind.’
‘Generous.’
‘Inspiring.’
‘Smiling.’
‘Friendly.’
‘Gentle.’
‘Charming.’
‘Dignified.’
‘Elegant.’
‘A scholar and a gentleman.’
‘A role model.’
‘A born diplomat and a natural leader.’
‘The negotiator, the peace maker, the teacher of love.’
‘He lived and walked in humility, gentleness and honour.’
‘Prime Minister Pungong would have made Cameroon a better place for future generations.’ …..
All those are your words, not mine.
They are words taken from the internet pages now bursting with tributes to a much loved colleague and friend, Dr Victor Pupesie Pungong.
They say everything I want to say about Victor – a man whom I had the privilege of knowing.
He traveled with me.
He advised me.
Sometimes the Secretary-General’s Commonwealth Good Offices coordinated by Victor Pungong felt like Victor Pungong’s Commonwealth Good Offices, with occasional interventions from the Secretary-General….
In his beloved Cameroon and beyond….
in some of the most delicate situations in national and international politics today…
Victor’s advice was of the best, combining his intellect and his humanity – his professional expertise and his personal stature.
It was far-sighted advice, that always looked over the horizon.
Wherever he was – here at Marlborough House or ‘on the road’, Victor would always be immaculately dressed: the well-pressed double-breasted suit, the matching tie and pocket handkerchief. For him, just to take his jacket off, even in the hottest climates, would be like displaying himself in a swim suit.
So he had great standards….
…. and wonderful manners.
After we got back to London, he would write me a thank you note afterwards.
It would always end: ‘May God bless you and your family.’
Perhaps only twice did I see him lose his cool.
One time, we were flying between Johannesburg and Dar-es-Salaam; both of us were dozing. We suddenly smelt smoke. Victor looked at me in fear: ‘what do we do?’ he asked. ‘For a start’, I replied, ‘you hang on to the arm-rest, rather than break my wrist…..’!
Another time, boarding a plane in Swaziland, Victor realized that he had lost my passport. If it were possible for Victor to go pale, he did so then….
There’s a Cameroonian proverb: ‘thought breaks the heart’.
Victor was thought – and thoughtfulness – personified.
His truly was a heart of gold – and for that we give thanks.
So today we stand alongside Victor’s wife Jessie, his children Christine, Solomon and Ngo Efemi, his mother Grace, his sisters Rita and Juliet, his brothers Elias, Emmanuel, Kingsley and Devine.
We recall the memory of his own beloved father, Solomon.
We stand alongside all those who loved Victor – and in all our great loss, we celebrate him.
His great life, his great gifts, his great dedication, his great legacy.
We celebrate everything about him.
Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.’
Victor was a peacemaker.
He said, too: ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’
Let none of us feel that we are alone in our sadness.
Jessie and family, may I conclude with some of Victor’s own words?
Another West African colleague’s father died a few months back, in March.
And it was Victor who wrote to that colleague to say: ‘we thank God for your father’s life and all its fulfillment. He lives on in you and your wonderful children.’
Victor rests in peace, and rises in glory.
He lives on in us all.
We thank God for Victor.
Download the speech: 
Remarks at the Service of Commemoration for Victor Pungong
delicious
digg
reddit
facebook
stumbleupon
News feeds