POPULATIONS' RESPONSE TO THE MODERNIZATION OF THE CHIEFTAINCY INSTITUTION AMONG THE BAFOW IN THE KUMBA-MUNICIPALITY (SOUTH-WEST CAMEROON

Abstract

The study aims to examine the feedback of Modernization of the Chieftaincy Institution among the Bafow and to present the interactions between traditional Rulers and their populationsin Kumba Municipality in South- West Cameroon. This study also expects to raise the awareness of the Government and Chiefs on the consequences of the evolution of the Chieftaincy among Bafow people in Kumba Municipality, for them to reassess their attitudes toward the population. The research is qualitative and Data collection was both primary and Secondary. Primary data was gathered through in-depth interviews, and direct Observations. Secondary data come from Documentary research. The Content analysis consisted of comment, explainations and comparison of informations. Modernization and Cultural dynamism theories were considered to understand facts.  The Modernization Theory was used, because it looks at the internal factors of changein a society. So, less Industrialized countries can be brought to evolution in the same manner more “Developed” Countries have been. According to the theory of cultural dynamism, no culture is static. Every culture changes. The change can derive from inside or from outside the Society. The speed of evolution depends on each society. It may be harmful or peaceful, favourable or not favourable. Main findings of the research reveal that, in the pre-colonial era, Chiefs exercised a lot of powers which were focused toward improving on the livelihood of their populations. The traditional Leaders were reduced to government auxiliaries during the Colonization and even after the Independence of the Southern Cameroon, as the result of Indirect Rule. According to this study, the Bafow People contest the Traditional Authority because Chiefs belong to the Ruling Political Party, the Cameroon’s Peoples Democratic Movement. Chiefs, according to the populations, are supposed to be apolitical and neutral, since some members of the Communities belong to other political parties. Also, there are some “fake” villages and illegitimate Chiefs which the government through the Senior Division Officer and Governor are trying to protect.  Some Chiefs monopolize the Bafow ancestral Land and sell it off for their own profit. According to this research, populations do not want their Chiefs to be Paid by the Government, it makes them to be depraved, partial and less answerable to their Communities than to the State which pays them; the population also want the Authority to be given back to the traditional Custodians who should be looking for the Revival of their Cultural Heritage. They should also be implicated into the Social Control; for they did it successfully before the Colonization without any sophisticated Army, Police nor Gendarme by the fact that they carried spiritual power which can be used to prevent insecurity better than “modern” Weapons.