This is the announcement as it was published on the Guneku village website ahead of the public presentation of the new Fon. It is reproduced here as part of the Palace record.

The People Receive The Returning Fon — A Public Coronation

On the 28th of January 2015, the Fon of Guneku, Fon Patrick Fomuki II, left the palace on an emergency call to a long journey. About a month later he returned, but promised to present himself to the people to tell them what news he brought back at a much later but very appropriate time. That time is the 30th of December 2016.

This presentation to the people of Meta in general, and Guneku in particular, is so packed with meaning and expectation that the people are leaving no stone unturned as they prepare to receive the Fon back home and, especially, to listen to the message he brought back from that emergency journey.

The Fon and the people of Guneku intend to use this God-given opportunity to usher in a new era in the Guneku village way of life, and to stretch out a much-needed hand of fraternity and solidarity to the entire Meta clan.

Reading the announcement

The language of this announcement follows Guneku tradition, in which a Fon does not die but leaves the palace on a journey, and his successor returns in his place. Read alongside the other records in this archive, the sequence is as follows.

  • 28 January 2015 — HRH Fon Fomuki Patrick Nji, who had reigned since 1965, left the palace on a long journey. Tributes from fellow North West Fons followed.
  • 27 February 2015 — sons and daughters of Guneku assembled on the palace grounds for the return of HRH Fomuki Walters Ticha, who arrived in new clothing to lead the Fondom.
  • 17 January 2016 — the coronation ceremony of HRH Fon Fomuki Walters Ticha IX, attended by Guneku indigenes from Cameroon, Germany, the United States and beyond, marked by traditional rites and the installation of the new Traditional Council.

Editor's note on the source

The announcement above gives 30 December 2016 as the date of the public presentation. The Palace record gives 17 January 2016 as the date of the coronation ceremony. These are different dates, and the archive does not yet establish whether they refer to two separate occasions — a coronation and a later public presentation — or whether one of the dates is in error. Both are recorded here as they stand; the Palace should confirm.

The predecessor is styled Fon Patrick Fomuki II in this announcement and HRH Fon Fomuki Patrick Nji elsewhere in the archive, while the reigning Fon is styled the ninth of his line. The archive does not yet explain how these numberings relate. They have been left as recorded rather than reconciled by assumption.