[3] In December 2000, she began renovating her father's palace at Efoulan, Yaoundé, a project that cost an estimated 150,000,000 francs CFA.
[4] Ahanda is the daughter of Charles Atangana—paramount chief of the Ewondo and Bene peoples under the German and French colonial regimes—by his second wife, Julienne Ngonoa.
[5] She was the daughter of Julienne (Yuliana) Ngonoa and Charles Antangana, the paramount chief of the Ewondo and Bene people.
[9] In the early 1970s, she married Jean Baptiste Assiga Ahanda, a finance manager from Yaoundé who later held a prominent position at Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC; English: The Bank of Central African States).
[8] Marie-Thérèse Assiga Ahanda ventured into many disciplines after receiving her education in Europe and returning to Yaoundé.
[12][13] The novel Sociétés africaines et 'High Society': Petite ethnologie de l'arrivisme touches on themes of westernization and colonialism.
[1][9] This was said to highlight societal or systematic oppression that most women face, in order to motivate her female readers to improve their situations.
[15] However, this individualistic perspective may come from the influence of the Westernized notion of individualism, as opposed to collectivism seen in the traditional village system.
She did however understand politics, corruption, and history through the research she conducted for her novel Sociétés africaines et 'High Society': Petite ethnologie de l'arrivisme.
[14] Cameroonian president Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned in 1982, and Paul Biya, the prime minister at the time, took over.
[5] Years prior to Ahanda's birth, before any colonial figures came to that region of Cameroon, the chief of the Etoa Meki village (present day Yaoundé) was Essono Ela.
[8] When the German colonial administration came in, they appointed Charles Atangana as chief supreme, and imprisoned Essono Ela in front of his people.
[17] During her time as a deputy, Marie-Thérèse Assiga Ahanda fought for the reestablishment of this position and adherence to constitutional decree #77/609.
[2][8] If this were to be achieved, she would be throned as chief of the Ewondo and Bene people, as it was her traditional blood right.
Hundreds of guests were invited to the event, and many tuned in to local TV and radio broadcasting to experience it live.
She made very little public appearances, and dedicated most of her resources towards the rehabilitation of her father's palace in Yaoundé as a landmark.