Global Journal of Human Social Science, D: History, Archaeology and Anthroplogy, Volume 23 Issue 3

In 1951, Achirimbi sued Talah. In 1961 (the year of Southern Cameroons release from colonial rule), the ruler of the Bawum chiefdom, Ntoh, sued Achirimbi for appropriating Bawum land (Abumbi II, 1995). At the time Achirimbi died in 1968, the conflict with Bawum chiefdom over land in Bafut has not yet been resolved. The conflict was further aggravated by petty skirmishes and personality conflict between the Fon and the chief of Bawum. A local market problem was the last straw that kept Ntoh and Achirimbi at reasonable distance apart in their relations. Besides, when the British authorities carved out their first inter-tribal boundaries in the Southern Cameroons, these groups were recognised as entities within the Bafut fon dom. We refer to in this work as ‘states within a state’. These states within Bafut, were placed under the authority of the Fon. The Bawum, Banji, Obang, Mambu and Mankahnikong leaders were eventually made subaltern leaders under the Fon of Bafut. They also retained their original royal titles called Ntoh, Talah, Nanoh, Wanki and Muwah respectively. The ancestors of most of these chiefs migrated into the area today called Bafut with the aforementioned royal titles brought from their different places of origin. They installed their ruling houses in the various sites they occupied in the area and have maintained their hereditary titles up till date. Recently, some of these chiefs (as explained in the chieftaincy decree earlier) have been classified as “second-class chiefs” ruling “second-class chiefdoms” within the Bafut fon dom (Aletum, 1974: 55-7). Fortunately or unfortunately, the generations of chiefs from these chiefdoms have been in conflict with the Fon and the central authorities in the Bafut palace. Sporadic tensions flare up each time the opportunity occurs. The time and nature of the conflict is not determined but what is evident is that it imposes the need for peace, in this way state and non-state institutions are bound to engage peace ventures and efforts to calm down the situation. The dynamics of the conflict and its impact on the community are examined below. V. D ynamics of the C onflict in P resent D ay We asked the question as to why this conflict has continued in Bafut to recent times. What are the factors that sustain this conflict till present? The dynamics of the political conflict among the Bafut traditional rulers, which this paper examines, has been analysed by many scholars over the years. However the issue is not limited to the Bafut fon dom. It touches a good number of the great fon doms of the Bamenda Grassfields. It also concerns a wide range of African traditional societies especially in states where British and French colonialism was established. The conflict deals mainly with history, traditions and practices that acted as sources or causes of secession tendencies among traditional rulers in Bafut and the Bamenda Grassfields’ fon doms as a whole. In this article and alongside other researchers on Bafut, we discovered an entangled and complex web of relations and issues amongst the rulers and people. A number of concepts and practices imbued in the Bafut political system are not working well as to shelve conflict in favour of peace in the fon dom in present day. To begin with, the name ‘Bafut’ was first mentioned in any historical document in modern times by Dr. Eugen Zintgraff in one of his works which recorded his passage through Bafut in 1889. Here, Zintgraff’s view about the Fon of Bafut on his first encounter with Abumbi I is highlighted. Zintfraff described the Fon of Bafut, Abumbi I, as an African despot such as he had not seen before or was he ever to see again (Zintgraff, 1895:16). In fact the Bafut worshiped their fon as a demi-god and even whites who came to Bafut joined the people to perform traditional rites that honoured the Fon (see fig. 7). Source: Author’s Collection Fig. 7: Bafut Men and a whiteman performing Honours to Fon © 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue III Version I 15 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 D The Concept of ‘States within a State’ Amidst Conflict and Peace Building Ventures in Bafut, Cameroon