Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
Tatah Mbuy In A Presentation At A Peace Building Workshop That Was Organized In Douala By The Heritage Higher Institute And Nico Halle & Co Law Firm On The Theme – Justice, Peace Building And Reconciliation In Cameroon – Stated That In The Past, “Everybody Recognized And Respected Traditional Rulers As Guarantors Of Justice, Peace And Reconciliation” . (See Part 1 Inside).
A renowned cultural anthropologist and writer, Dr Rev Father Humphrey Tatah Mbuy, a Catholic Priest of the Bamenda Archdiocese, who also teaches at the Catholic University of Cameroon, CATUC Bamenda, has in a research work focused on the traditional institution in today’s Northwest Region of Cameroon, where traditional rulers are commonly known as Fons, explained how and why Fons used to be highly respected in the past (days of Southern Cameroons, and later West Cameroon), as compared to the waning authority of Fons today.
The research work was contained in a paper whose topic was, TRADITIONAL RULERS AS GUARANTORS OF JUSTICE, PEACE AND RECONCILIATION IN RURAL CAMEROON (Examining A Tragic Failure In Contemporary “Anglophone Cameroon”), which Dr Rev Father Tatah Mbuy, presented at a high level Peace Building Workshop, that was jointly organized in Douala, Cameroon on April 10, 2026. The workshop was jointly organized by the Heritage Higher Institute of Peace and Development Studies, and the Nico Halle & Co Law Firm, on the theme, JUSTICE, PEACE BUILDING AND RECONCILIATION IN CAMEROON, to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of their partnership.
Dr Rev Tatah Mbuy explained that: “This study uses the anthropological quantitative, participant –observer method to build on the major premise that, whenever there was a conflict in rural Anglophone Cameroon, the traditional ruler was the immediate recourse, and in most cases he succeeded in managing and resolving the conflict. Today, in the heat of the ongoing armed conflict in the same region, the absence of traditional authority, is one of the main reasons for the nightmare”
He noted that in the past, “everyone recognized and respected traditional rulers in rural Cameroon as guarantors of justice, peace and reconciliation. These rulers played an indispensable role in promoting social cohesion and harmony”. He added that in “In rural Cameroon, the Fon was accepted, and sustained by all.
Tatah Mbuy stated that the British that also have a strong traditional institution which they so much cherished, in the days of British Southern Cameroons so much admired the traditional institutions in he “Grassfiled” (today’s Northwest Region), that they decided to create a “House of Chiefs’ for traditional rulers. “When the British colonialists in particular, came into former Southern Cameroons, they were positively struck by the ingenuity of the concept, structure and understanding of the Fon in the Grassfield in particular. That is why they exploited it and created the famous “House of Chiefs”, styled after the rural structure in England, in which the Fons could come together and discuss issues of society, and offer their wisdom to the British colonial master”, Tatah Mbuy said.
He asserted that in the past, a traditional ruler was not an individual, but an integration of all the people. The Fon was a real institution. But today, the traditional rulers or Fons, have unfortunately become something else, as their authority keeps ebbing away. “Put it bluntly, an uncomfortable scenario is slowly unfolding, where we find some traditional rulers in open conflict, ironically being accused by their subjects of being the source of division , hatred and violence in contemporary rural community”, Tatah Mbuy cried out in his paper.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that The Mentor News has decided to publish the article of Dr Rev Father Tatah Mbuy in Part 1 and 2, for sake of convenience. The research work by the anthropologist is not just a document to read, but a document to preserve as well. It should be noted as well that the Cultural Anthropologist (PhD) , Tatah Mbuy, is a member of the World Council of Urgent Anthropologists, as well as member of the Pan African Association of Anthropologists. He is as well a Founding Member of the Kabery Research Centre Bamenda, Cameroon. He is as well a Communication Researcher (M.Sc).
BELOW IN ITS ENTITETY IS PART 1 OF THE PAPER THAT DR REV FATHER HUMPHREY TATAH MBUY, PRESENTED AT THE APIRL 10, 2026 WORKSHOP:
Part 1: TRADITIONAL RULERS AS GUARANTORS OF JUSTICE, PEACE AND RECONCILIATION IN RURAL CAMEROON.
Examining A Tragic Failure In Contemporary “Anglophone Cameroon”
Traditional rulers in Cameroon always played an indispensable and pivotal rule as guarantors of justice, peace and reconciliation in the society. In fact, for years, they were primarily chosen and installed as hereditary high priests of their respective ethnic groups. According to the reputed Kenyan anthropologist, John S, Mbiti (1974), a traditional ruler has the sole responsibility to mediate between the ancestors, the “living dead” and the existing community. In other words, everyone recognized and respected traditional rulers in rural Cameroon as guarantors of justice, peace and reconciliation. These rulers played an indispensable role in promoting social cohesion and harmony.
However, since the 1974 Law ended the special status of traditional rulers in local government in West Cameroon, and since the 1977 Law reorganized and reorganized and categorized these rulers into “chiefs” divided into 3 groups, a lot has changed, unfortunately for the worse. Not only do we have a disturbing nomenclatural problem, but an equally worrisome decline in the authority and influence of traditional rulers. Put it more bluntly, an uncomfortable scenario is slowly unfolding where we find some traditional rulers in open conflict, ironically being accused by their subjects of being the source of division, hatred and violence in contemporary rural community.
This paper examines the general situation in contemporary former “Southern Cameroons” (hereafter referred to in this work “Anglophone Cameroon”), and uses this as a stereotype of how the waning authority of traditional rulers can, and has led to tragic failure. This study uses the anthropological quantitative, participant – observer method to build on the major premises that whenever there was conflict in rural Anglophone Cameroon, the traditional ruler was the immediate recourse, and in most instances, he succeeded in managing and resolving the conflict. Today, in the heat of the ongoing armed conflict in the same region, the absence of traditional authority is one of the main reasons for the nightmare. Our interest in the situation, far from being that of lamentations, is driven by the belief that the ebbing authority of the traditional ruler in rural Anglophone Cameroon could be both a calculated political construction, ironically with an apparent suicidal submission by the rulers themselves. Albeit, the situation can, and must be retrieve for the common good, and as part of our major contribution to modern geopolitics in an emerging society.
The ethical implication of what is happening can leave no one indifferent, because, it was the Medieval English Poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, who in his classic text, The Canterbury Tales, asked a rather teasing but rhetorical question: “If gold would rust, what will iron do?” The ancient Romans put it in a more straightforward language: “The worst corruption is corruption of the best” (Corruptio optimi est pessima). Hence, lest our ancestors curse all of us for having remained silence while their much cherished legacy was being deliberately destroyed, this study intends to be anthropologically clinical, politically neutral but factual, and ethically uncompromising, while remaining sympathetic to individual sentiments.
Our discourse has four assumptions. First, that we all understand the concept of “traditional ruler” as conceived and cherished in the rural community in Anglophone Cameroon. Second, that we are all conversant and fully understand the implications of the Law now transforming these rulers into “Chiefs” and “Auxiliaries of the Administration “. Third, that we are honest enough to accept the glaring fact that since the politicization of the “chiefs”, the situation in rural Cameroon has gotten worse. Fourth, there is therefore, an urgent need to re – instate, and revalorize, the status of the traditional ruler in rural Anglophone Cameroon now going through a changing socio – political atmosphere .The reasons for, and the challenges to traditional authorities and rural society: Traditional Rulers in an evolving geopolitical Cameroon. A Dialogue of Culture and Identity in contemporary Cameroon.
1)THE REASONS FOR THE CHALLENGES TO TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY IN RURAL SOCIETY
Every human society needs some authority to supervise and organize social order among members of the community. This, is because, each human being is unique, different and have varying needs, some which may go against the common good. Authority guarantees order and safety for everyone by coordinating and dialoguing differing interests. In fact, without proper authority, society easily falls into dysfunction, being dominated by selfish, rather than common interests. In traditional Africa in general, and in rural Cameroon in particular, authority in society was primarily the ethnic paramount ruler. Each ethic group is defined and understood as a community in relationship with the gods, the ancestors, the living dead and all who are still physically alive. Hence, the traditional ruler was that authority capable of coordinating and maintaining this relationship. That explained why in the Bamenda Grasslands of the present Northwest Region of Cameroon, before a new “fon” is enthroned, he spends some time alone in the ancestral shrine, the hope being that the individual in question, will receive the necessary assistance and inspiration from the gods and from his ancestors. This moment is understood as a sacred time in consecration and dedication of the designated traditional ruler during which he receives necessary mystical powers.
In the words of Mbiti (1974) resonated by most African anthropologists, the communion of the designated “fon” with his ancestors, is the sign of his consecration as the ethnic “high priest”. The Ooni of Ife among the Yorubas as well as the Oba of Benin, all in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are known and respected as supreme spiritual leaders among their people. Among the Bassa of the Littoral the Mbombog is almost exclusively understood as the custodian of the spiritual powers of the ancestors. That explains why in the present Southwest Region, whether one is among the Bayangis of Manyu, the Bakweri of Fako, the Bakossis of Kupe Muanenguba , or the Orokos of Ndian, the most important traditional authority is in the hands the leader the ‘Nyamkwe”, the “Obasinjom”, the “Abone”, and the “Ekpe” Secret Societies respectively. The belief of the people is that the traditional ruler is one whose major role is to ascertain their spiritual wellbeing and good relationship with the gods and the ancestors. So in rural Cameroon, especially in areas where traditional rulership was cultural, the ruler was primarily seen by the people as the traditional high priest of the land. Only by derivation did such a high priest exercise Devine Kingship over the land and over the people.
Furthermore, a traditional ruler was not a particular individual, but an integration of all the people, hence from the moment, of his enthronement, he, lost his personal name and was never called by that name until he “got missing”. As a sign of his new “identity”, the traditional ruler in rural Cameroon was always addressed in the “majestic plural”, never in singular, “have they come?”, “I saw them at the market square”, an indication that in the mind of the people, the traditional ruler, especially the “Fon:, was considered an “institution” , not a person. Therefore, the “Fon of Bafut” is so to speak, the embodiment of the Bafut people, same as the “Foyn” in Laikom is the encapsulation of the Kom People.
This understanding is shared by all the Tikar, perhaps all the people of the Western Grassfields of Cameroon, which include the Northwest, part of the Grassland Southwest, and all the present Western Region. An attack on the “fon” in any of these places is seen as an attack on the people from the area. Hence, what happened to the “fon” had a profound impact on the people of his ethnic group. As long as the people identified with their “fon”, the people of rural areas of Anglophone Cameroon , were prepared to sacrifice anything, and everything to ensure the security and viability of the traditional ruler. People went on special hunting expeditions to ensure that meat was never lacking in the palace: wine- tappers ensured a steady flow of “mimbo” in the palace, and women came from all corners to work, and harvest in the “palace farm” to ensure that there was always food in the palace. As an institution, although an individual was enthroned as “fon”, he could never rule as an individual. Each ruler had a Council of Elders to advise him, a Regulatory, almost military force, to ensure security and to put checks and balances on the “personal” actions of the fon. There were in some cases, a well – structured body that could act as an instant supreme judiciary. That made the “fon” strong, but contained and controlled by structures that were inbuilt in traditional society.
Much more traditional authority in rural Cameroon was not something people could openly contest or fight for. Even those who were culturally qualified for the post, had to be discrete, and would never openly display their ambition. In fact, while the “fon” was on the throne, especially during his lee days, he would discretely indicate to very trusted kingmakers, the prince, he thought would be his successor. This knowledge was kept in embargo by those charged with palace secrets. So succession was not a time to fight or canvas for support. The moral, biological and cultural requirements of anyone who was to inherit traditional authority were well known. This was very important because in rural Cameroon, the people expected their “fon” to be a good person with dignity and integrity, a person who is naturally just, fair, and ready to sacrifice for the people. The “fon” was the highest power to who the people submitted their worries and concerns: their conflicts and misunderstandings. And once the “fon” spoke, almost in conformity with the saying of St Augustine. Roma locuta causa finite (once Rome speaks, the matter is closed). An indeed, no one was ever mad enough, to call on himself ancestral anger, by challenging the “fon”.
We can therefore say that in rural Anglophone Cameroon, traditional authority in general, but the authority of the ‘Fon” in particular, was indispensable , primarily that of a traditional high priest to mediate between the people and their ancestors, but the ruler was considered as an institution, never an individual who was free to act as he chose. Inheritance was considered almost divine choice of the best candidate, and that made the traditional ruler both a moral and supreme spiritual leader. There were, and there have gradually been increasing challenges to the “institution” of Fon, the main challenge being the evolving geopolitical landscape, which has infiltrated even into rural Anglophone Cameroon.
