bakwerirama

THE MBANDO

The Mbando was created by our ancestors a long time ago as a place where the villagers or designated elders could come to call unto "The gods" for guidance and support in times of crises such as: famine, war, diseases and unexplained deaths, and even in joyous occasions such as the "wesuwa"(wrestling), the "male"(elelphant dance) "the liwangi la fako (mountain race). It is generally located in a strategic area of the village, but does not neccessarily look like a shrine, thus one may pass by and not even notice.

In Buea Town For instance, the Mbando which serves its environs as well, is located at the "yombomba tree" (not sure of its name in English) in "Wonya-emongo", just south of the wrestling field.

This is a very simple explanation intended to create awareness regarding the significance of the Mbando. Mola Mbua Ndoko, should be able to fill in any gaps.

An African Explains Witchcraft: Bakwiri, British Cameroons

Information from A. S. Njoh (In Africa, Vol. 8 no. 4 of October 1935; 547-48.)

Witches are people believed to possess invisible powers, that nobody can explain, to do harm to others. This power is said to be in the heart of one so accused and it is not quite certain whether he knows of it himself. To prove that one is a witch or wizard the root of a certain herb (pwave) is mixed with water in a bowl and given to one to drink it. If he does not vomit he is said to be a witch, but if he does he is not a witch.

It is believed that the witches go about looking at all men in the town, and those they think will rise above them they try to find a way to quarrel with so that can destroy either them or their property

Man, Mouse, Ape and Water Spirit

Culled from “Belief and the Problem of Women” by Edwin Ardener (1975)

According to the Bakweri of Cameroon (in a male rescension): “MOTO, EWAKI and MOJILI were always quarrelling and agreed to decide by a test which of them was to remain in the town and which should go to the bush. All were to light fires in their houses in the morning and the person whose fire was still burning on their return from the farms in the evening was to be the favored one.

Moto, being more cunning than the others built a fire with big sticks properly arranged, whereas they only built with small dry sticks, and so his was the only fire that was still alight on their return in the evening. Thus Moto remained in the town and became Man. Ewaki and Eto went into the bush and became Ape and Mouse. Mojili was driven into the water and became a water spirit (This version was given in 1929 by Charles Steane, a Bakweri scholar to B. G. Stone).

The Spider as a Seer

By Lyombe Eko (originally published on Fakonet in 2001)

Mbosi o no titowe
Mbo mbosi mbo
Mbosi o no titowe
Mbo mbosi mbo
Ekuku lu'uwa
Mbo, Mboszi mbo

This chant is part of Mokpe folklore and philosophy. It is the chant that a sick person or a person who needs help has to chant before he or she is seen by the doctor or soothsayer. In Mokpe folklore, the seer or soothsayer is the spider.

Philosophical Basis for Bakweri Mysticism

By Magnus P. Mukoko-Mokeba

Culled from ABBIA, Vol. 3 (September 1963): 39-44.

Bakweris inhabit the south-western portion of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. They are part of what sociologist E. W. Ardener has described as "Coastal Bantus". In this article, we shall endeavour to examine and describe some of their philosophical concepts in order to understand the basis of their spiritual life.

Usage has rendered a number of words ambiguous and vague: This is particularly true of words such as "democracy", "communism" and "justice". Definitions of such words are apt to be arbitrary and my definition of philosophy claims no exception to arbitrariness. For the purpose of this article we shall define philosophy as the critical reflection on the justification of basic human beliefs and analysis of basic concepts in terms of which such beliefs are expressed.

Bakwerirama Seeks Artistic Representation of Efasamoto

Bakwerirama seeks artists to make an inspired conception of Efasamoto (Ephasa Mote), the spirit or God of Mt Fako and the ethical guide of the Bakweri people. Artists do not need to be native to Fako, but any skilled person who is awed and inspired by the idea of a powerful being, half human and half rock; generous and bountiful but severe to transgressors who are greedy and inconsiderate of the environment. There are a few references in this website to this God.

THE BAKWERI: NYONGO WITCHCRAFT AND THE "BANANA BOOM” OF THE 1950s

By Cyprian F. Fisiy & Peter Geshiere
(Translated from French by Dibussi Tande)

The classic study on the relationship between economic development and witchcraft in Cameroon is by [Edwin] Ardener, which analyzes how the Bakweri broke free from the Nyongo terror in the 1950s, thus benefiting from the Banana-boom.

The Bakweri are a small group of about 16000 people [pre-independence statistics ed.] who live on the steep but fertile slopes of Mount Cameroon, close to Cameroon's southwestern coast.

Before the beginning of colonial conquest in the early 1880s, the Bakweri constituted a very fragmentary society dominated by an egalitarian ideology-- it is not even certain that there was ever a real chieftaincy position at the village level. Ardener however emphasizes that there was a strong tendency among the Bakweri to accumulate wealth, particularly, goats, pigs and short cows. It was through accumulation that individuals increased their prestige in the villages.

Bakweri Religious views and Conceptions

By CARL J. BENDER*

Culled from Religious and Ethical Beliefs of African Negroes: Duala and Wakweliland. Kansas: Halderman-Julius Company, 1925]

The Wakweli, like the Duala and other African Negro tribes, are a religious people. The more one makes himself acquainted with their religious beliefs, customs and usages, the more he realizes how much the individual as well as the collective body of the people are dominated by, and kept in the ban of, religion.