Born Aug. 15, 1938, in Yaounde, Cameroon, Ambassador Mendouga has a bachelor’s degree in government/international affairs from George Washington University, and certificates from American University and Johns Hopkins University. He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1961 as an attaché at the Cameroon Embassy and in 1964 became the first secretary and acting chief of mission at the Cameroon Embassy, Ottawa. From 1966-67 he was acting director for technical and economic affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yaounde, and was division chief for international organization in the Department of Political Affairs, Yaounde, from 1967-70. Ambassador Mendouga then served as second counselor to Bonn, Moscow, and Ethiopia. In 1980 he was analyst for Ministry External Relations and then head of Cameroon Economic Mission to the European Common Market and the Benelux countries, Brussels. In 1984, Mendouga was ambassador to Senegal, then ambassador to Zaire, Burundi and Rwanda. He has since been special envoy to the United Nations in 1996. Mendouga’s decorations include officier de l’Ordre de la Valeur (Cameroon), grand officier de l'Ordre National du Lion (Senegal), and Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Leopard (Democratic Republic of Congo).

He is an active soccer enthusiast and is married with six children.