bakwerirama

War and Conflict Resolution in Pre-Colonial Fako

By Monono Absalom Woloa

The purpose of this write up is to analyse the nature of wars, as well as the organisation and methods of conflict resolution among the Bakweris. It also examines the extent to which colonial administrative policies, along with Christianity, education, end of slave trade and the advent of modern civilization have reduced the probability of wars in Fako Division.

The cause of wars among most traditional societies in Africa have been centered on vengeance and competition for special resources such as farming lands, labour (slaves) hunting grounds, women and mineral wealth such as gold, and more or less with the sophistication of political organisation. Among the Bakweris, the main causes of wars (Njuma as they are known) are generally linked to:

THE "REPUBLIC OF VICTORIA" IN THE 1870S; AN EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT

Here is a very rare 126 year-old document-- an except from the memoirs of George Thomson, a Baptist missionary from Scotland, who arrived the Cameroon coast in 1871-- that tells us a lot about Victoria, its people and their diverse origins.

Thompson ultimately settled in what was then known as the "Republic of Victoria" and later became the chief magistrate of the Republic's Supreme Court. In a letter to his wife dated 16th Dec. 1873, he describes the ethnological makeup of Victoria...

Movie Trailer - Kuva Likenye and the Bakweri Armed Resistance to German Colonization

AFRICAphonie (with an OSIWA support) Presents Kuva Likenye, a historical Documentary. Directed by Kome Epule Mathias. Editor: Njukeng George Njukeng. Script Consultant: Dibussi Tande. Narrator Muema Meombo. Executive Producer: George Ngwane.

For details on how to obtain a copy of the documentary, contact:

George Ngwane
Executive Director
AFRICAphonie
Tel: 77 66 84 79
E-mail: gngwane@ yahoo.com or Africaphonie2000@ yahoo.co.uk

AFRICAphonie Produces Historical Documentary on Kuva Likenye and the Bakweri-German Wars of the 1890s

AFRICAphonie (with an OSIWA support) Presents Kuva Likenye, a historical Documentary. Directed by Kome Epule Mathias. Editor: Njukeng George Njukeng. Script Consultant: Dibussi Tande. Narrator Muema Meombo. Executive Producer: George Ngwane.

A new Cameroonian documentary film titled “Kuva Likenye” has been produced. “Kuva Likenye” is a 30 minute documentary that profiles the heroic exploits of a mountain King called Kuva Likenye who mobilised an ill-trained ragtag army to stand up in arms against German exploitation of the Bakweri people culminating in the Bakweri-German wars of 1891 and 1894.

Bakweri Industry and Handicraft in the Early 1900s

By CARL JACOB BENDER (Culled from Twenty Years Among African Negroes (Halderman-Julius Company, 1925)

The following excerpt is from one of the numerous publications on the Bakweri by Carl Bender, a German Missionary who settled on the Cameroon coast toward the end of the 19th century, and lived among the Bakweri for about 25 years. One cannot help but sadly agree with Mr. Bender’s century-old observation that pre-colonial Bakweri culture was dealt a fatal blow when it came in contact with European “civilization”. Read on:

The Early Times in Victoria (Limbe)

By Joe Burnley (Originally published on the Hard Times Blog)

The city of Victoria was the solution to the vexing problem of Spanish harassment at Fernando Po. The Baptist missionaries who resided in this small island using it as a hub for their work there, and in the Cameroons, had finally lost patience with the Spanish authorities. The British had used Clarence as a base for their naval squadron from where their man o' wars patrolled the gulf of Guinea to disrupt the trade in human slavery, which had been abolished in England, but was still the main trade in that area at that time. They tried to encourage the more legitimate trade in palm oil. This occupation led to the creation of a Creole society at Fernando Po.

Letter to the Contestants for the Royal Stool of Victoria (Limbe)

By Mola Njoh Litumbe, Bakweri Notable

There has been lately some discussion in the press pertaining to the succession to the vacant royal stool of Victoria, following the death of HRH Chief Ferguson Billa Manga-Wiiliams.  As potential aspirants gird their loins for the contest, they would do well to have the benefit of history, as it relates to  royal succession in the city of Victoria.

August 21, 1858: Deed of Purchase of Victoria District, West Africa

An extract of Deed of Purchase of Victoria District, West Africa reads as follows:

"I William, Chief and known King of Isubu, and sole and lawful owner of a district contiguous to Isubu and known as War Bay and Amboise Bay and Islands belonging thereto, and known to natives as Foo Bay and [blank] Bay - and Islands Mondori, Ndami and Bobia.