Bafut, Cameroon

Bafut
Bafut
	View over Bafut Commune
	Bafut Location in Cameroon
	Coordinates: 6°05′N10°06′E / 6.083°N 10.100°E
Country	Cameroon
Province	Northwest Province
Department	Mezam
Government
• Type	Local Government (traditional democracy)
• Mayor	Queen Y
Population (2001)
• Total	80,305
Website	www.bafut.council.org

Last updated January 11, 2024

Bafut is a town located in a modern commune in Cameroon, it is also a traditional fondom. It is located in the Mezam Department, which in turn is located in the Northwest Province.

History

The Bafut tradition traces its dynastic origins to the Ndobo or Tikari areas. From the reign of Firloo, the first Fon of Bafut, it has operated as a fondom or kingdom, using traditional power structures. Upon their arrival from Tikari at least 400 years ago, the Bafut people built the current "old palace" of Mbebeli, also known as Ntoh Firloo. It still contains the tombs of the first three Bafut kings Firloo, Nebasi Suh and Ambebi.

The Fon's palace, and thus the centre of Bafut's traditional power, was later moved to its current location, and by the time of the German colonisation of the Cameroons in the late 19th century, Bafut had roughly assumed its present make-up.

The Bafut Wars and German colonisation

The Bafut Wars resulted from German colonial intrusion into the Bafut fondom.

The German explorer Dr Eugen Zintgraff visited Bafut in 1889. He had earlier stopped in Bali Nyonga where he had received a warm welcome from Galega, the Fon of Bali Nyonga. However the Bafut Fon, Abumbi, received him with circumspection since Bafut was not on good terms with Bali Nyonga. Zintgraff is said to have committed two breaches of etiquette. He seized the drinking cup from the Fon's hand and drank from it and he insisted on calling Abumbi by his princely name 'Gualem'. This open display of disrespect was interpreted in Bafut as a deliberate attempt to belittle the Fon and it was assumed that Galega of Bali Nyonga was behind this.

Relations between Bafut and the Germans subsequently deteriorated to the point of armed conflict. In 1891 Bafut went to the aid of its neighbour and ally Mankon which had been attacked by a German-led Bali Nyonga force en route to Bafut. This force had been sent to avenge the death of two of Zintgraff's messengers sent to Bafut to demand ivory. On 31 January 1891 it attacked Mankon and burnt the town. As the attacking force retired, Mankon warriors, assisted now by their allies from Bafut, counter-attacked and inflicted heavy losses on their enemies. Ten years later the Germans, under Pavel, returned in full force. Bafut suffered a series of punitive raids in 1901, 1904–05 and 1907, at the end of which the Fon was arrested and exiled to Douala for a year.

In the meantime a military station had been established at Bamenda which served as the administrative headquarters of the district until the Germans were expelled during the World War of 1914–1918. The Bamenda garrison fell in October 1915.

British and French colonisation

After a brief period of joint administration Britain and France provisionally partitioned the territory and this, with only minor adjustments, was confirmed by the Milner–Simon agreement of July 1919. Bafut fell into the British sector which was constituted into the Cameroons Province and attached to the Southern Provinces of British Nigeria for administrative purposes. At least one Fon of Bafut, Achirimbi II maintained friendly ties with the British. When the British left part of Cameroon in 1961, the region had a choice of joining either the newly formed Cameroon or Nigeria. The Fon Achirimbi II is famously said to have remarked that it was a choice between the "Fire and the Deep Sea".

Post-colonial history

On 1 January 1960, French Cameroun gained independence from France, and on 1 October 1961, the formerly British Southern Cameroons (including Bafut) united with French Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

The Bafut Council was created by a presidential decree on 23 November 1993 to promote local development and improve the living conditions of the region's inhabitants. The local government began operation in 1996, following municipal elections.

Since 2017, Bafut has become of battleground of the Anglophone Crisis, with an Ambazonian separatist militia known as Seven Karta setting up bases in the area. Operation Free Bafut in April 2020 saw heavy fighting in and around the village.

Geography and demographics

Bafut had a population of 80,305 in 2005, but is now estimated to have over 100,000 inhabitants. It is primarily an agrarian region.

Bafut is situated about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northwest of Bamenda, in the Mezam Division, and covers an area of roughly 340 km².

It is located in the Western Grassfields geographic region, which includes Cameroon's Northwest Province and surrounding grassland areas. Bafut is the most powerful of the traditional kingdoms of the Grassfields, now divided into 26 wards along a 10-kilometre stretch of the "Ring Road" that trails along a ridge above the Menchum Valley. The population is settled in three main zones:

At the centre are the people of Mumala'a (heart of the country) clustered around the Fon's palace who refer to themselves as the real Bafut (Bufu). This name can be applied to the whole chiefdom.
To the south is the Ntare (ridge area) .
To the north is the Mbunti (lower) which descends abruptly to the Menchum river valley.

The major languages are the Bafut language and Cameroonian Pidgin English, though Mundum, Mbuhnti and French are also spoken. The Bafut language is classed within the Mbam-Nkam section of the central branch of the Niger-Congo family along with other nearby languages such as Bali Nyonga, Bamum and Pinyin

Side entrance of the Palace
Home corner of the Palace
Women houses in the Palace
Interior place of the Palace

Local government

Traditional power structures

Bafut is one of the two regions in Cameroon (the other being Bali, Cameroon), where traditional power structures are still in place. Bafut is a chiefdom or fondom. It was long the centre of the local kingdom of the Tikar people (originally from the Northern regions of Lake Chad), and is presently administered by the Fon of Bafut.

The Fon of Bafut was, and to some extent still is, the paramount Fon of the region, with all other Fons pledging allegiance to him.

The Fon shared power with a council of elders or "Kwifor". Membership was restricted to commoners who had attained the rank of Bukum (sing. Nkum). The strength of Kwifor lay in its role as a council of kingmakers and was thus a check on royal power.

Bafut Council

The Bafut Council was created by a presidential decree on 23 November 1993 to promote local development and improve the living conditions of the region's inhabitants.

The local government began operation in 1996, following municipal elections. The council, situated at Njinteh Bafut, is intended to be a meeting point of modern local democratic governance and traditional customs. It is made up of the Bafut first class Fondom and the Mundum’s I and II autonomous second class Fondoms who share powers with the council.

Since its creation, the Bafut council has been concentrating its efforts on the provision of water to the surrounding villages, improving the roads and infrastructure that connect the farmlands to the village markets, planting a council forest and improving local health centres. The national government of Cameroon has worked towards transferring some responsibilities and local resources to the country's councils, making the region's councils a focal point for orientation and management of local development. However, the council personnel have suffered from deficient capacities for the appropriate functioning of council institutions.

The Bafut council has just completed a community-driven sustainable development plan with qualitative and quantitative needs of the villages within the council, that would facilitate the proper orientation and management of the development of the council area. Very aware of the limitations in its resources, the Council has been working to build public–private partnerships to be better able to use its resources for local development of the council area in an environmentally sustainable way.^[1] In its sustainable development work, the council has strongly partnered with an indigenous Cameroonian NGO, BetterWorld Cameroon (BWC).^[2]

Mayor

Mayor Ngwasoh Abel Langsi, originally a trained educationalist and a science teacher, was elected in July 2007 along with 4 deputy mayors and 35 councillors. His term of office runs up until 2014.

The Mayor has demonstrated an interest in pursuing sustainable development in Bafut, working on empowering local Cameroonian youth through the creation of Green Jobs and developing projects such as the Bafut Ecovillage project and the Green Heart of Bafut conceived with Ecovillage Designer Joshua Konkankoh. The latter programme (through its extensive reforestation projects, especially on the upper mountain slopes) has intended to combat severe soil erosion and re-establish degraded water catchments, and thus to protect the huge farmlands located in the lower valleys of Bafut. The newly established council industrial nursery employs local youth to reforest the mountaintops, water catchments, and town streets, additionally aiming to fight the spread of malaria and cholera, as well as to serve as a template for similar projects in the neighbouring communes. Together with Better World Cameroon NGO he also established a climate change and agricultural research unit within the council, to educate farmers and local youth on the most productive and sustainable modern farming techniques. Through Ndanifor Permaculture Demonstration Land Trust in Bawum he is working with Better World Cameroon in using permaculture to develop the future of agriculture in Cameroon into a more constructive, modern, creative and rewarding sector by 2035. He has subsequently joined the World Mayors Council on Climate Change, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and been hailed by the Cameroon government as a "national green hero".^[3]

The Bafut Ecovillage Project

The Bafut Ecovillage Project was designed by Konkankoh Joshua in Sieben Linden Germany in 2013 as an indigenous framework for regenerative education. Over the years, it has become a signature program of the Bafut Council and Bafut Palace. Its Ndanifor Permaculture & Ecotourism Demonstration site in Alegnwi Bawum has become a blueprint in sub-Saharan Africa for making informal education the catalyst for economic and community development. https://www.betterworld-cameroon.com It has been designed on the UN SDGs implementation platform and Global Ecovillage Network GEN Africa to host a sustainable technologies park and cross-cultural education hub for local and international volunteers promoting youth engagement in climate justice/the implementation of the UN Agenda 2030 in Africa. 'Its bioregional Ecovillage Design Education Courses and International Youth camp have created young social entrepreneurs making a great impact in Biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation, climate farmer's approach to restoring cultural diversity, and the creation of a green economy in Bafut. The project won the Gaia Trust Excellence as the most inspiring project in Africa providing training for environmental technicians with the knowledge and skills to develop and execute strategies for achieving sustainability, within the framework of the sustainable development goals at scale and enterprise business models. The project fosters South-North Partnerships by sowing seeds of reconciliation and helping international organizations understand African cultural identities away from a colonial mindset and the sacredness of the natural world and the need for conscious food systems.

The Bafut Eco-village reconstruction devastated by the war is the most pressing sustainable development challenge facing the Bafut community and its South-North Partnerships strategy is building capacity by linking with Global Ecovillage Network GENAfrica, Gaia Education, ICLEI, and UNDP/other international organizations in developing educational and public awareness programs with respect to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity The project in its sudden success and expansion internationally dispels the myth about the ineffectiveness of African systems and is contributing to the UN's essential approaches to sustainable development intimately connected with the Internal Development Goals enhancing equity.

Bafut Ecovillage has subsequently established a new mission statement and Sustainable Development Plan that better encompasses the new Ecovillage vision of transitioning African villages to resilience and specifies what the community wishes to achieve through it https:www.spiritofndanifor.com

Bafut in popular culture

Bafut is famous for

Being the venue of the Annual Dance of the Fon (local chieftain) or the Abin e Mfor.
Front view of Bafut Museum
The location of the palace of the Fon of Bafut, the residential dwelling of the Fon and his wives and counsel which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Centre and houses a museum (see Fon of Bafut for a section on the Palace of the Fon)
Better World Cameroon's Ndanifor Permaculture Ecovillage Demonstration Land Trust in Bawum is a major contributor to the operations of the Bafut Ecovillage Vision 2020 working with the aim of reconnecting Bafut Youth to their cultural heritage, and with the goal of striking a balance between economic, social and environmental needs.
Bafut Council-Better World Cameroon joined Action in Ecovillage Vision 2020 is to actively promote culture, indigenous knowledge systems related to soil fertility, providing rehabilitation and long-term care to plants and animals through a climate campaign. Better World Cameroon works closely with the Cameroon government and Global Ecovillage Network Africa to protect natural heritage sites through Permaculture Education and Social support. Since 2000 Better World Cameroon has adopted Bafut and devoted to transitioning it to resilience. Bafut Permaculture Ecovillage as support structure for implementing Bafut Ecovision 2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals in Cameroon envisions Bafut as a centre for international partnerships.
The nearby location of the botanical garden of Savanna Botanic Gardens, which noted naturalist Ngwa Che Francis helped plan, is located near the town.
The presence of the Bafut market, which is a very vibrant one in the area, occurring every eight days, selling fruits, spices, vegetables, meat and animals.

The town of Bafut is probably best remembered as the place where the famous naturalist Gerald Durrell came on two animal-collecting expeditions in 1949 and 1957. Durrell wrote two accounts – The Bafut Beagles and A Zoo in My Luggage – on his travels in Bafut, and created a mini-TV series, To Bafut with Beagles.

Related Research Articles

An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community with the goal of becoming more socially, culturally, economically, and/or ecologically sustainable. An ecovillage strives to produce the least possible negative impact on the natural environment through intentional physical design and resident behavior choices. It is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes to regenerate and restore its social and natural environments. Most range from a population of 50 to 250 individuals, although some are smaller, and traditional ecovillages are often much larger. Larger ecovillages often exist as networks of smaller sub-communities. Some ecovillages have grown through like-minded individuals, families, or other small groups—who are not members, at least at the outset—settling on the ecovillage's periphery and participating de facto in the community. There are currently more than 10,000 ecovillages around the world.

Bamenda, also known as Abakwa and Mankon Town, is a city in northwestern Cameroon and capital of the Northwest Region. The city has a population of about 2 million people and is located 366 km (227 mi) north-west of the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé. Bamenda is known for its cool climate and scenic hilly location.

Articles related to Cameroon include:

Mankon is a geo-historic community constituting a large part of Bamenda in Cameroon, formed as an amalgamation of about five different ethnic groups. The Mankon fondom (kingdom) represents one of the oldest monarchies of the grassfield people of the Northwest Province. The fondom is ruled by a fon (king) with rights to kinghood acquired by birth. The crowned fon is usually a designated son of the deceased king, a child who was born only during his reign.

The Fon of Bafut is the fon or Mfor of the town of Bafut and its adjoining areas in the Northwest Province, Cameroon, which comprise the erstwhile Fondom of Bafut. At present, the Fon of Bafut is still a local ruler, but under the jurisdiction of the Government of Cameroon, and a board of Fons. Bafut is one of the largest villages in the North West Province.

The Bafut Wars were a series of wars fought in the early 20th century between the troops of the Fon of Bafut and German-backed troops of neighbouring fondoms and German troops. The wars ultimately led to a defeat for the Fon of Bafut, forcing him into exile, and making the Fondom of Bafut part of the German protectorate of Kamerun.

A Fon is a chieftain or king of a region of Cameroon, especially among the Ngie, Widikum, Tikar, and Bamiléké peoples of the Bamenda grass fields and the Lebialem of the South West Region. Following the defeat of Germany in World War I, the Fons of British Cameroon came under British rule, and the Fons of French Cameroon came under French rule. Since Cameroon's independence in 1961, the Fons are under the jurisdiction of the Government of Cameroon. However, they maintain semi-autonomous union councils and jurisdiction over their hereditary land.

The Fondom of Bafut political system centred on the Fon or Mfor who was the fount of the political and religious life of the people.

Founded in 1800, the Kom are one of the 250 ethnic groups that are located in the grasslands of Cameroon within the Boyo Division of Africa. Kom includes most of Boyo division, including such towns as Fundong, Belo, Njinikom and Mbingo. The area can be reached from Bamenda on the so-called Ring Road.

The Nso people are from the Bamenda grass fields Northwest Region of Cameroon. Their traditional language is Lamnso and their capital is Kumbo – where the Palace of the Fon is found.

Bambui is an emerging township in northwestern Cameroon. With a population of about 35,000 people, it is located at an elevation of about 1350 metres above sea level. Administratively, Bambui is the headquarters of Tubah Sub-Division in the North West Region of Cameroon. Popularly known to its inhabitants as “abeh-mbeuh,” Bambui is one of the Bamenda grassfield communities of Cameroon, and is known for its mix of modern and indigenous African life. With its lush, rolling, and fertile plains, a mild tropical climate, and an extremely industrious farming community, Bambui is the bread basket of the North West Region in particular and of Cameroon in general. Lying snug in the immense arms of the Sabga hill, Bambui is situated between Sabga and the undulating foothills that separate it with its neighbors, virtually in the shape of a bowl. Bambui is located at the cross-roads that lead to some of the North West Region's major towns of Bamenda, Ndop, Kumbo, Fundong and Nkambé.

The Bafut Subdivision or the Kingdom/Chiefdom/Fondom of Bafut is a commune in the Mezam Department of Northwest Province, Cameroon. It is located in the Western Grassfields region - a name for the Northwest Province and surrounding grassland areas. Bafut is the most powerful of the traditional kingdoms of the Grassfields, now divided into 26 wards along a 10 kilometre stretch of the "Ring Road" that trails along a ridge above the Menchum Valley.

Fon R.A.M. Tebo II of Batibo ascended the throne upon the death of his father HRH G.T.T. Mba II in 2005 amidst great political, cultural and economic anxiety in the Batibo Fondom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donga-Mantung</span> Department in Northwest Region, Cameroon

Donga-Mantung (Mantungia) is a division of the Northwest Region of Cameroon. The division covers an area of 4279 km² and as of 2001 had a total population of 337,533. The capital city of the division is Nkambe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menchum</span> Department in Northwest Province, Cameroon

Menchum is a department of Northwest Province in Cameroon. The department covers an area of 4469 km² and as of 2005 had a total population of 161,998. The capital of the department lies at Wum. The Menchum River drains this area, flowing westward into Nigeria to join the Benue River.

The Widikum people are an ethnic group of Cameroon and are one of the largest ethnic groups of the North-West Region of Cameroon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guneku</span>

Guneku is one of the villages in Momo Division located in the Northwest region of Cameroon, Central Africa. It has a tropical climate with 2 main seasons; the rainy and dry seasons with a population of approximately 15 000 inhabitants. The main occupations of the inhabitants are subsistence farming, and cattle rearing. Guneku has a lot of touristic sites such as the palace, caves, mountains, waterfalls, hills and valleys, rivers and springs. Guneku is one of the 31 communities that make up the Meta clan sharing boundaries with Mbemi, Nyen, Tugi, Zang-Tembeng, Oshie, Mundum and Bafut. The Bantous and Mbororos are the two tribes that cohabit peacefully in the community.

Balikumbat is a village located in Balikumbat Sub Division, Ngoketunjia Division of the North West Region, Cameroon. Balikumbat is the Sub Divisional Headquarter of Balikumbat Sub Division and located about 20.9 km from Ndop town.

Operation Free Bafut was a week-long Cameroonian military operation against the Seven Karta militia in and around Bafut that resulted in the deaths of two separatist generals.

Bafutpeople, also known as Fut or Bufu people are a Grassfields ethnic group located in the Bafut Subdivision of the North West Province, Cameroon.

References

↑ "BETTER WORLD - BAFUT MUNICIPAL COUNCIL PARTNERSHIP ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION & MITIGATION - Open World Community". Archived from the original on 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
↑ "WELCOME TO A BETTER WORLD - Better World Cameroon".
↑ "ICLEI Africa - Member of the Month: Bafut". Archived from the original on 2013-01-04. Retrieved 2013-01-16.