Saga: Mbongo, Mbedi and their Descendants

The setting of this story is the Cameroon coast. The people in question occupy the mouths of rivers like the Sanaga, Dibamba, Wouri, Mungo and Rio Del Rey. These relative newcomers to the Cameroon coast swiftly gained predominance over the Bassa and Bakoko people already there, while completely displacing Efik-speaking peoples from the area around the Wouri and Mount Fako.

The story begins with a man named Mbongo. Location; the Congo most probably. There is no evidence that Mbongo ever stepped foot in Cameroon at all. What is known is that he was leading his nomadic family.

Some historians such as Edwin and Shirley Ardener have gone so far as to question Mbongo’s existence, dubbing him a shadowy figure. Nothing is known about his life except that he was the father of Mbed’a Mbongo.

Mbedi’s migration took him to Piti along the Dibamba river. The Bakoko and the Bassa had coexisted peacefully in the area for generations. Mbedi married a Bakoko woman and the marriage was fruitful in a history altering way.

While Mbongo has been described as a shadowy and almost mythical figure, Mbedi’s existence is not in doubt. The fact that his story lacks the legendary and heroic aspects of many origin stories lends credence to his existence. Mbedi was an ordinary, albeit remarkable man. He had no magical powers and he did not talk to animals.

It is also important to note that all the descendants of Mbongo claim to descend from him through Mbedi. This suggests that Mbedi may have been an only son. In any case, it increases the mystery surrounding Mbongo.

Mbedi appears to have fallen out with his numerous sons. Some sources suggest that the dispute was related to European cloth while other sources claim Mbedi was against his sons’ desire to move closer to the Wouri River (known to Europeans at the time as Rio Camarones).

Mbedi’s sons wanted to trade directly with the Europeans. Mbedi may have opposed the idea out of a desire to not alienate the Bakoko, Bassa and possibly Efik-speaking people already there. As newcomers, the position of the Mbedine family was still somewhat precarious.

Led by the eponymous founder of Douala Ewale (he was also called Duala), the sons of Mbedi moved away from Piti to the Wouri Estuary and quickly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Within a generation they were the preeminent ethnic group in the area.

European sources such as O. Dapper and Samuel Blommaert mention Molub’Ewale, the son of Ewale and the grandson of Mbedi as the leader of the people occupying the Wouri Estuary as early as the 1650s. They referred to him as Monneba and his village as depicted on Dutch maps is almost certainly modern day Bonanjo.

At this time Molube appeared to be inferior in status to Samson, an Efik chieftain further West. Later Dutch traders found Molube far more prominent while Samson had been displaced by Molube’s kinsmen.

Another of Mbedi’s sons was Dibongo. He migrated East from the Wouri towards the Sanaga. Thereafter a man named Illimbe appears. He may have been a son of Dibongo. Dibongo’s descendants, call themselves ILimba Mbed’a Mbongo. Variants of Illimbe such as Elimbi and Illimbi can be found among people all over the coast. They are more commonly known as the Malimba people.

They now occupy the mouths of the Sanaga and Dibamba rivers and have a presence on the island of Manoka in present day Wouri Divison. They are also native to the Edea, Dibamba and Dizangue subdivisions of the Sanaga-Maritime Division.

A famous Malimba chief, Moukoko Manyanye, called Pass All by Europeans launched the scramble for Cameroon when he signed a series of controversial treaties with the French.

Moukoko Manyanye

The Mungo people live on both sides of the Mungo river. Their territory was divided by the partition of Cameroon following the First World War. As such, they are found in the Mungo Division of the Littoral region as well as Fako Division of the South West. They claim ancestry from yet another son of Mbedi, Mo’ongo.

The Mungo have generally been under the dominance of the Duala and their language is much closer to Duala as compared to other Sawa people.

Yet another son of Mbedi, Kwedi opted to travel West towards the heights of the Mount Fako. According to Duala oral tradition, Kwed’a Mbedi, also known as Mokuri travelled to Mount Fako to hunt and decided to stay there with his descendants.

Bakweri oral history place their origins from the West side of the mountain in what is now the West Coast District. They spread from this area which they call Mboko to the Atlantic coast, the Eastern and Southern slopes of Mount Fako as well as the area around the Mungo River.

These oral histories can easily be reconciled if the assumption is made that Kwed’a Mbedi travelled along the coast to the area around Idenau where Mboko is located. His descendants then spread throughout Fako division.

The Bakweri call themselves Vakpe (singular Mokpe). On the other hand, the Duala refer to them as Bakwedi (descendants of Kwedi). Given that d and r are interchangeable in Duala, the leap from Vakpe to Bakweri is not far off.

The kinship between the Duala and the Bakweri is also illustrated by the full honorific title for a person of the Bakweri tribe. Mokpel’anembongo directly translates to free born and descended from Mbongo.

The oral history of the Isubu people trace their origins to Mboko. This would suggest the Isubu are also descended from Kwed’a Mbedi. This would make Isuw’a Monanga a descendant of Kwedi and by extension Mbedi and Mbongo.

An early chieftain, Mbimbi established the kingdom of Bimbia, a preeminent slave trading entity. The Isuwu occupy Limbe 3 subdivision which is still called Bimbia.

Isubu funeral attended by Joseph Merrick

A prominent Isubu family, the Manga Williams are the ruling family of Limbe. They are descended from Manga Bile of Bonabile, a prominent trader. The British traders called him Bill, which became Williams and as such Manga Bile became Manga Williams. He began styling himself king in spite of opposition from Dick Merchant of Dikolo. Manga Williams prevailed.

The Wovea are neighbours of the Isubu. According to oral history, they are descended from a Bubi man from the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea who washed ashore at Mboko. He married a local woman and moved with his family to Man’o’War Bay.

This would make the Wovea partly descended from Kwed’a Mbedi. The Wovea are great fishermen and sailors. Whale hinting equipment is preserved at Wovea village but unfortunately the expertise for whale hunting has been lost.

While the Wovea refer to themselves as Wovea, they are more commonly known as Bota. This is due to the fact that the Bakweri call them Ewota which is translated to Duala as Bota.

16th century Portuguese explorers such as Pacheco make reference to a Bota which could have been a mountain range or a people. However it is unlikely that they were referring to the Wovea people. The timeline of the Mbedine events place the Wovea people at their present location a century after the Portuguese visits.

The Bomboko people occupy the Mboko area prominent in Wovea, Isubu and Bakweri oral history. Some historians suggest that the Bomboko were already in the area before the arrival of Kwed’a Mbedi. They are largely assimilated into the Bakweri who consider the Bomboko as the purest of Bakweris.

North of the Bomboko in present day Bamusso subdivision of Ndian division are the Bakolle. They are descended from yet another son of Mbedi, Kole. As of 1982, there were only 300 full blooded Bakolle people and this group is on the verge of extinction.

Given the fact that they sometimes refer to themselves as the lineage of Kol’a Mbongo, it is thought that they were the mysterious Kalbongos of Dapper and Bardot’s writings in the 17th century.

Apart from the common decent from Mbongo and Mbedi, the common origins of the groups discussed above are evident in names that are common to all groups. Place names also illustrate this. Batoke is a Bakweri village of the descendants of Toko. Toko is not a Bakweri name but is common among the Duala: Karl Toko Ekambi.

On the basis of his name alone, Moukoko Manyanye, the Malimba chief during the scramble for Cameroon could easily belong to each of these groups.

The are other Sawa ethnic groups not discussed here. According to anthropologists, while they all claim descent from Mbedi, this is not supported by history.

Sawa tradition strongly disputes this and considers all the coastal people of Cameroon as descended from Mbongo. Mbedi had other sons such as Eponge (Pongo), Mudibe (Ewoudi), Ma’ale (Jebale, Bodiman), Ngunge (Bankon, Abo Nord) and Ekankanga (Bojongo).

Other descendants of Mbedi include Tanga (Batanga), Esoje (Balondo) Lombi (Barombi, Abo Sud, Bakundu), Nfo (Bafaw), Longo (Balong and Upper Balong) and Ngoh (Mbo, Bakossi, Bassosi), Eshira Eyangi (Bayangi) and Mbongo Kenguè (Bonkeng).

Sawa oral history therefore suggests that the entire coast of Cameroon, from Campo to the Akwayafe River is inhabited by the same ethnic group. This means the entire region of Littoral (with the exception of the Baneng, the Bassa and the Bakoko), as well as the South West (with the exception of Lebialem) is inhabited by the same ethnic group.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾

Cameroonian Elders Do Not Plant Trees

“Blessed are those who plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.” The origins of this proverb are disputed. Some have attributed it to the Indians and others to the Greeks. Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman statesman gets the credit in some quarters. No one ever has attributed this proverb to Africans, certainly not to Cameroonians.

A cursory glance at the state of Cameroon today perfectly illustrates why. In other climes, elders see it as their duty to pave the way for those who come after them. Elders make sacrifices today so that future generations can be better off.

Every single developed country in the world utilizes this practice. Gratification is deferred so that future generations can be better off. Sacrifices are made in the form of investment in health, education and manufacturing that do not necessarily benefit the investors.

In Cameroon the opposite is true. Older generations find a perverse pleasure in making things as hard as possible for subsequent generations. This is very apparent in the educational milieu.

It is commonplace to hear of university lecturers whose courses are virtually impossible to validate. The excuse is that since in his day it was not easy, he has a duty to make things as hard as possible for current students.

It is almost a morbid desire to belittle and minimize the younger generations. The goal appears to be to place as many obstacles as possible on their path to success and then make mockery of them when they fall prey to these obstacles.

Boarding schools are almost exclusively the preserve of the elites. Tuition fees are astronomical for the average Cameroonian. Yet not so shocking reports always emerge of subpar food served to the students. Beans with weevils, decomposing meat etc. Students in these schools are easily more malnourished than the poorest Cameroonian children.

Hazing is also a big issue in these boarding schools. Student deaths have been attributed to hazing. As with the subpar food, the excuse is that every single batch goes through the same thing so the only ones complaining are weaklings.

One of the grievances of secondary school teachers in the recent Craie Morte movement was the long delays relative to integration into the civil service. This is not something that should be an issue. It is a ridiculous absurdity that the civil service takes years to fully integrate people it says it needs.

Another grievance was related to the fact a large number of teachers have to work for long periods (sometimes years) before they can have access to their salaries. Again this is something that should be automatic.

What is the response of the older generation to this? “We all went through this and we did not die, you are not too good to face these same challenges.”

This appears to be a convenient excuse for backwardness and incompetence. And this situation is not limited to teachers. The vast majority of state employees suffer from these unnecessary and sadistic circumstances.

From all appearances, the older generations have abdicated their duties of leading the country to a better place. The only way the youths can face the same challenges as their parents is if the country is in a standstill. The older generations can accept all praises for the stagnation of the country.

Look at the corruption that is rife in the country. Instead of making investments that could lead Cameroon to the path of emergence, the governing elites have opted for indiscriminate looting of the treasury.

Resources that could be used to develop the country sustainably for the benefit of future generations are misappropriated and diverted into private coffers. There actually seems to be a contempt for younger generations, which leads to the destruction of the country, so that they too can taste suffering.

This was not always the case. Up until the 1980s, the Cameroon government used to sponsor the studies of Cameroonian tertiary education students abroad. University students at the then sole University of Yaoundé received stipends.

In a macabre and sordid twist, once the beneficiaries of these schemes obtained control of the state apparatus, this largesse ended. This is a case of enjoying the shade of tree planted by elders only to chop down the tree for kindling so as to deprive younger generations.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾

Greenwashing

New York, 1986. Environmentalist Jay Westerveld came to a stunning conclusion. Hotels in and around the city, in an effort to appear environmentally friendly, left notes in rooms urging the reuse of towels. Ostensibly, this would reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emission.

Upon further investigation however, Westerveld understood that the main purpose of this policy was to save up on laundry costs. It was not environmentally friendly but rather profit seeking. He coined the term greenwashing to define the phenomenon.

In effect, greenwashing refers to the practice by businesses to deceptively use green PR and green marketing to persuade consumers that their products, aims and policies are environmentally friendly. The main aim of greenwashing is not environmental protection but rather the improvement of the public’s perception of a product or business entity.

For decades now, the environment has been a major concern for humans. Climate change and its mitigation have dominated conversation. Sustainable development has been identified as the way forward and everyone is expected to make their contribution to the cause.

In the light of this, businesses have a choice to make. Adopting eco-friendly policies will go a long way in developing good will but in every likelihood will lead to increased costs and less profits. On the other hand a ruthless pursuit of profit will disgust consumers as well as probably lead to worse economic prospects.

As expected from soulless and faceless corporations, they choose the path which could lead to them ruthlessly chasing profits while appearing to be environmentally responsible. Greenwashing.

This practice is characterized by hidden tradeoffs where a business entity shifts attention to an unreasonably narrow set of attributes while ignoring other environmental issues. In this way, the mind of public is diverted to where the company is eco-friendly so as to try attention away from more important lapses.

Companies sometimes make claims that are impossible to verify by neutral third parties. There is no way for the public to know if these claims are actually true. Of course in extreme cases, businesses tell outright lies, secure in the knowledge that the average consumer has no means to verify these claims.

Sometimes greenwashing consists of claims that are so vague, poorly defined or broad that consumers easily misunderstand the intentions behind said claims. Terms like organic, all-natural, bio and green are frequently used to this end.

Take the example of green teas. Tea leaves are green so the label is a tautology. However, adding green to it gives the impression production has been environmentally friendly as well as devoid of any additional chemical substances. In reality, in many cases, these green teas do not contain tea at all.

Another tactic used by business to greenwash is to make irrelevant claims. Such claims might be truthful but are not relevant to the protection of the environment. The whole point is to hope that consumers take their claims at face value and make no further investigations.

Businesses have been known to dedicate more resources to advertising campaigns that make them appear green than to actual eco-friendly practices. Business spend fabulous sums to rebrand themselves as environmentally responsible. Actual green policies only receive a tiny fraction of these amounts.

The colour green has long been associated with a healthy environment and as such several companies have gone as far as to include green in their logos.

This was the case of multinational petroleum behemoth British Petroleum at the turn of the century. They renamed themselves Beyond Petroleum and added green to their logo. This did not deter them from continuing their participation in an industry that is considered one of the biggest challenges to a sustainable environment.

In 2009, giant multinational fast food chain MacDonald’s changed its European logos from red and yellow to green and yellow. The intention was to demonstrate a commitment to the preservation of natural resources. There is no evidence of a change in the policy of the company vis-a-vis the environment.

Another increasingly pervasive form of greenwashing is that practised by the nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). These countries have successfully reduced their greenhouse gas emissions and are the most vocal advocates of eco-friendly actions.

What is less known is the fact the only reason the OECD countries have been able to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions is because they have outsourced their manufacturing to Third World countries such as China, India, Mexico and Vietnam. There has been no change in their consumption habits and the overall effect in the planet is identical.

As is often the case, the main supporters of unprofitable altruistic actions themselves fail to even perform these actions in perfunctory manner. They paper over the cracks and add a green sheen to everything. It is all about appearance over substance.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾

The Yellow Curse

On the 14th of July 2022, the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon crashed out of the CAF 2022 Women’s Nations Cup, losing to Nigeria by a solitary goal. The taste of disappointment was made even more bitter by the fact that Cameroon played in yellow.

Cameroon’s away colours have been yellow jerseys for at least 40 years. In recent times, it has come to be associated with failure, disappointment and bad luck. Every new defeat in the away kit leads to more recrimination.

Cameroonians dread watching any of the national teams playing in yellow. Yellow is said to be cursed. Does the evidence support this? Let us investigate.

In June 2019, the Indomitable Lions were eliminated from the CAF 2019 Africa Cup of Nations at the hands of Nigeria at the round of 16. You guessed it, the Lions played in yellow. This defeat was even more galling because the Lions had been wasteful, throwing away a lead to lose 3-2.

The legendary Cameroonian team of the 1990 FIFA World Cup also suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the group stage. On this occasion as well, the Lions played in yellow.

The above is ample evidence that the Lions have struggled in yellow in the past. This is exacerbated by the fact most of the successes on living memory have come with Lions and Lionesses playing in the mythical green home colours.

En route to the AFCON wins of 2000, 2002 and 2017, the Lions wore the green, red and yellow home kit in all their games. Other iconic results such as the 3-2 win at Abidjan and the 2-1 win at Blida against Algeria came in the green jersey. Likewise, Cameroon won Olympic gold at Sydney 2000 wearing green.

As for the women’s team, the green jersey was ever-present during that iconic run at FIFA Women’s World Cup at Canada in 2015. That is still the most glorious hour as far as the Indomitable Lionesses are concerned.

Even Cameroonian authorities seem to believe in the yellow curse. At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Cameroon wore a white kit against the Republic of Ireland. The game was a disappointing draw. Honestly, the colour of the kit was not its most noticeable feature. This was the era of Puma’s short-lived sleeveless experiment.

At the 2003 Confederations Cup, Cameroon appeared for the semifinals against Colombia wearing white shorts and socks. They took it a step further in the finals, showing up in all white. Given the tragic events associated with that tournament, white is an even deadlier curse for Cameroon.

Concepts have been proposed for a black kit as an alternative to the yellow away kit. In this era of Black Pride, perhaps this is the solution. Aesthetically, black would be absolutely fire on the Lions.

Cameroon has also worn red at least once before. There is a famous picture of Jean-Pierre Tokoto and Roger Milla in red. The Lions have not used red since at least 1990.

Back to the subject of the day. Is the yellow kit really cursed?

The evidence begs to differ. Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, April 1984. Cameroon versus Nigeria for the AFCON trophy. Cameroon wore yellow shirts, red shorts and green socks. It was a convincing 3-1 win for the Lions. This was our first continental triumph. Surely such a milestone would not come while wearing a cursed colour no?

The Cameroonian team that beat Nigeria was without doubt the best African team of its time, arguably the greatest of all time. This team had returned unbeaten from the 1982 World Cup where they held their own against eventual champions Italy.

This was the team of Abega Théophile, Emmanuel Kunde, Grégoire Mbida Arantes, Joseph Antoine Bell, François Ndoumbe Léa, Ernest Ebongue, Aoudou Ibrahim, Ndjeya René, Djonkep Bonaventure and Roger Milla. This team was so stacked that former African Player of the Year, acrobat and cat, Thomas Nkono had to content himself with a place on the bench.

Think about it. Someone who is arguably the greatest African keeper of all time could not even get a starting berth. That was the level of quality in that side.

Cameroon also wore yellow during the run to the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations trophy in Morocco. As expected, this was another world class team. Stalwarts Milla, Kunde, Bell and Nkono had been joined by young guns such as Makanaky Cyrille, François Omam Biyik, André Kana Biyik, a wall known as Stephen Tataw, Louis-Paul Mfede and Mbouh Emile.

Long story short, when the team is top quality, the colour of the kit does not matter. The yellow curse has been conspicuously absent whenever Cameroon has assembled an unstoppable squad.

It is worth noting both the female team of 2022 and the male team of 2019 had struggled to get out of relatively weak groups before losing to Nigeria.

Furthermore, the Lions have only beaten Nigeria once in open play since 1989 while the women have only ever won twice against Nigeria. Perhaps Nigeria is something of a boogeyman to us?

Finally, if we are going to be superstitious about this then let us go all the way down the rabbit hole. As noted above, the proper yellow jersey etiquette is yellow shirts, red shorts and green socks. In 2019, the lions wore red socks and in 2022 the Lionesses wore yellow socks.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾

Unraveling the Mysterious Origins of the Bamileke People

The Bamileke people have a plurality among ethnic groups in Cameroon. They occupy the volcanic Grassfields of what is now the West Region of the country. They are famous for their economic dynamism, tenacity as well the fierce guerilla warfare they waged against the French empire from 1955 to 1971.

The origins of this remarkable people is still something of a mystery. Several theories have been postulated as to their origins. Some of them are exotic while others are prosaic but none of these theories have led to a conclusive consensus.

According to Dieudonné Toukam, the Bamileke people originated from Upper Egypt (Upper Egypt refers to the Upper Nile which is actually Southern Egypt),where they were the part of the Baladi people. The Baladi are widely accepted as the ancestors of the present day Fellaheen and Coptic peoples of Egypt.

Toukam posits that the Bamileke left Upper Egypt around the 9th century AD to avoid forced conversion to Islam and traveled South and West. They eventually settled in what is now the Mbam-et-Kim and Mbam-et-Inoubou divisions of the Centre region of Cameroon sometime around the 11th century AD. They were later joined here by the Tikar people.

This theory is contested by the majority of anthropologists and linguists who hold that the Bantoid people, just like the Bantu people originated in or near Cameroon at least 2,500 years ago or even as early as 5,000 years ago. The Bantu people now occupy almost the entirety of Africa South and East of Cameroon.

It is suggested that the Bamileke may have participated in the migrations of the Bantu people to the East and the South of Cameroon before somehow working their way back to the Adamawa Plateau and the Mbam region.

According to Molefi Kete’s Encyclopedia of African Religion, the Bamileke originally referred to themselves as Baliku. The term Bamileke is a colonial corruption of this name.

Following the death of Ndeh, the king of the grassfield peoples in the Mbam region in 1357, his eldest son and successor Yende renounced the throne and crossed the Noun river. Yende is the founder of Bafoussam, the original Bamileke settlement across the Noun.

There is some confusion about the events surrounding this schism among the grassfield people. Other accounts place this schism in 1387 and the dead king was Tinki. His successor Mveing proceeded to liquidate his siblings, potential rivals to the throne. This caused some of them including Yende, Ngonnso, Nchare Yen and Morunta to migrate.

Both versions of this story acknowledge that the aforementioned Yende, Nchare Yen and Morunta were brothers and Ngonnso was their sister. Yende crossed the Noun and became the forebearer of the Bamileke. Nchare Yen founded the Bamoum dynasty while Morunta’s descendants are still in the Mbam. The Nso people are descended from Ngonnso.

From Bafoussam, the Bamileke spread into dozens of towns with their own distinct dialects. The names of most of these Bamileke towns begin with the Bantu prefix Ba. The most notable include Bandjoun, Baham, Batié, Bangam, Bayangam, Batoufam, Bafang, Bana, Bandja, Bansoa, Bangou, Banganté, Bazou, Bamendjou and Balengou.

However, a few of the major Bamilike towns do not have the Ba prefix. These include Dschang, Mbouda, Tonga and Penka-Michel. Each of these towns is ruled by an all-powerful Fon or Feu.

While contemporary Bamileke people are overwhelmingly Christian, vestiges of traditional religious beliefs persist. It would be fair to say even today the Bamileke venerate their dead ancestors.

The Bamileke believe that the spirits of their ancestors are present in their skulls. As such, the skulls of both male and female ancestors are exhumed and kept in a special dwelling within the family compound built for this purpose. The head of each family is the custodian of the skulls.

Succession in Bamileke land is patrilineal, with one of the sons of the patriarch (usually but not always the oldest son) designated as his successor. This means the other sons are under pressure to find their place in the world. This has triggered a lot of Bamileke emigration out of the Western Highlands.

Indeed while the Bamileke are the largest ethnic group in Cameroon, their homeland is in the smallest region. Within the West Region, the Bamileke live West of the Noun and the area they occupy is smaller than the Noun division occupied by the Bamoum.

As such the Bamileke have a strong presence around the nation. The Mungo and Wouri divisions of the Littoral Region as well as the Fako, Meme and Kupe-Manenguba divisions in the South West have large Bamileke populations. The Bamileke also have a presence in the Center and South regions.

The Bamileke were also forced to migrate out of the Western highlands due to their fierce resistance to French rule. The bloody and undocumented Civil War was rife with atrocities and genocide and lasted from 1955 to 1971. The Bamileke and the Bassa bore the brunt of this.

The Bamileke have established themselves throughout the national territory as artisans, farmers, petty traders, intellectuals and industrialists. Their adaptability and frugality has seen them succeed under trying circumstances.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾

Random Thoughts on Democracy III: Mobocracy

Between 1692 and 1693, 19 people were executed in Salem, Massachusetts in colonial America. Their crime? Witchcraft. In a society that was fairly democratic for its era, people were executed due to uncorroborated accusations of witchcraft.

This was not the work of a nefarious and all powerful oligarchy acting against the will of the people. The executions were enthusiastically supported by the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts.

Those executed were mostly women; 15 out of 19. Most of them did not conform to the strict Puritan views on how life should be lived. These were unmarried and childless women. They were different and they paid for it with their lives.

This is the danger of ochlocracy, which is the rule of government by a hysterical mob characterized by the intimidation of legitimate authorities. In an ochlocracy, the will of the people, no matter how irrational prevails. Violence is but a means to an end.

While the will of the majority sounds good on paper, what happens when the will of the majority is that childless and unmarried women are responsible for all the plagues afflicting their community or country?

What becomes of religious minorities when the will of the majority is that heresy, apostasy and blasphemy are punishable by death? What if the majority decides the rule of law and due process are unnecessary formalities?

During the Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution, Jacobins such as Georges Danton and Maximillien Robespierre led or were led by a frenzied mob to make the guillotine a permanent fixture of the Paris skyline.

Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were among the earliest victims of this new method of execution. The crowd wanted more blood and the Jacobins happily obliged them. Noblemen, government officials, peasants, random nobodies; no one was safe.

The bloodlust of the mob was relentless and Danton was eventually guillotined at the behest of the more radical Robespierre. The latter himself was later on guillotined and finally the fevered heat of the mob passed.

This illustrates the danger of mobocracy. The passions of the majority can easily overwhelm cooler heads. Those who mention due process and the rule of law become enemies of the people.

Sometimes it is a case of the majority deciding that the protections provided to minorities by the law do not reflect their views and as the majority it is only rightful to strip the minorities of this protection.

This was the case in the Southern States of the US during the Jim Crow era. Following the end of Reconstruction in 1877, the former Confederates returned to power in the South. While they could not repeal the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution that abolished slavery, they did everything they could to keep the black freedmen down.

While paramilitary terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan intimidated blacks to keep them away from the polls, white majorities overwhelmingly elected state legislators who promoted segregation. Yes, segregation lasted till 1965 and was the will of the mob. In this case the mob hijacked the political process and used it to serve their own ends.

That is why a strong and independent judiciary is an imperative condition for a democracy. Voters have been known to be susceptible to demagoguery and mass panic, leading to disastrous consequences. A judiciary that does not depend on the mob can provide checks and balances to this.

Obviously such a judiciary will be unpopular but that is the point. It is their duty to put the brakes on the irrational impulses of the mob. An unchecked mob is the worst entity to be in control of a state or community.

A hysterical mob has a veneer of legitimacy that an unelected autocrat does not have but it can be every bit as tyrannical and even more difficult to dislodge than a solitary tyrant.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾

Sportswashing: A Legitimate Concern? Or the “Green-Eyed Monster” at Work?

Manchester City FC of England and Paris Saint Germain of France are probably the most criticized clubs in contemporary football. The clubs are seen as vehicles for sportswashing on behalf of the countries their owners hail from; the United Arab Emirates for Man City and Qatar for PSG.

What is sportswashing? It can be defined as an individual, corporation or government using to sports to improve their tarnished reputation. The methods used include hosting of sporting events, sponsorship of sporting events and teams, and purchase of sporting teams.

The idea it to divert attention away from the entities flaws which might include human rights abuses, corporate malpractice and scandals as well as all kinds of vices.

The hosting of the 1936 Sunmer Olympic Games in Berlin and the Winter Olympics of the same year in Garmisch-Partenkirchen by Nazi Germany are widely regarded as early examples of sportswashing.

Obviously things like human rights abuses and corporate malpractice are serious issues that require focus and attention. These are issues that need to be addressed. On the other hand should a people be deprived from participating or hosting sporting events because of the outside perception of their nation?

It is important to note that perception is very subjective. While the 1934 FIFA World Cup hosted by Italy under Benito Mussolini’s Fascist regime, the next World Cup was held in France.

In 1938, France had dozens of colonies scattered around the world and slavery (corvée) widely practiced. Unfortunately, the 1938 World Cup is not widely considered as an example of sportswashing.

This gives the impression that the whole concept of sportswashing has less to do with the supposed vices of an organization and more to do with the identity of the organization.

As such Western Europe and the North America, the self proclaimed paragons of virtue get to decide who can engage in sportswashing. Their own flaws are conveniently forgotten.

Going back to the case of Manchester City, they are seen by a sportswashing enterprise due to the fact that they are owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, a member of the ruling family in Abu Dhabi and by extension the UAE.

The UAE has been accused of human rights violations but these accusations often lack conviction. For one thing, the country is overwhelmingly Muslim and applies Islamic law in many circumstances. Surely the people of the country have a right to apply the laws that benefit them.

Two-time Your de France champion and current maillot jaune holder Tadej Pogacar rides for Team UAE. Apparently since the gulf nation is not a “traditional” cycling nation, this is sportswashing. This implies that only the right nations have a right to participate in certain sporting disciplines.

The fact that the UAE, just like Qatar takes a draconian approach to crime is not necessarily evidence of human rights violations. The fact that some actions that qualify as crimes in the middle are not penalized in Europe is irrelevant. Their country their rules.

The same can be said of Qatar. PSG is owned by the Qatar Sports Group and apparently this is not okay. The designation of Qatar as the hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup is also viewed as a case of sportswashing.

The fact that Qatar will not allow alcohol in the stadiums for instance does not make them human rights violators. The fact that Qatar is a monarchy is not in itself a cause for concern. The United Nations Charter is clear in its Article 2 on the principle of non- interference in the internal affairs of nations.

Another point worth mentioning is the fact while Man City is criticized for its Emirati ownership, at least 4 other big clubs in England have American ownership: Manchester United by the Glazier family, Liverpool FC by the FSG group, Arsenal by Stan Kroenke and Chelsea by Todd Boehly.

It would take an encyclopedia to list the crimes of the US. This is the same country where in 2020 a policeman murdered a man on video by kneeling on the back of his neck for over 8 minutes.

This is the same country that tacitly sponsored the coup d’état against the democratically elected President of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi in 2013. These are just two examples of the US’s reckless and dangerous behaviour.

The 1980 Summer Olympic Games were hosted by the Soviet Union at Moscow. It is widely regarded as an example of sportswashing, mostly because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. No one bothers to mention that the Soviet Union was granted the right to host the tournament long before the invasion.

The 1984 Summer Olympics were held at Los Angeles in the US. In spite of the fact the US was actively subverting the legitimate Sandinista government of Nicaragua by sponsoring the Contras who were terrorists (yes, they murdered judges and public officials), no one accused the US of sportswashing.

The Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour is seen as an example of sportswashing by Westerners. No one mentions that Saudi Arabia is the recipient of arms sales on the part of the US and the UK. Weapons which have been used to provoke a grave humanitarian situation in Yemen.

It is clear that the term sportswashing is made up nonsense by Western nations to discredit every government that does not toe the line. Actual conduct does not matter, the transgressions of the country are irrelevant. As long as a country does not serve Western interests, they can be accused of sportswashing.

Obviously since it is made up, Western countries themselves cannot be accused of sportswashing. They make the rules and they are exempted from adhering to these rules. As such they can engage in the most egregious forms of misbehaviour without any accusations.

No one has also explained how excluding nations from hosting or participating in sporting events will help in curbing human rights violations. If anything, giving a nation pariah status might cause them to be more deeply entrenched in their ways.

Also, the fact that countries have different cultures is not a reason for some countries to be maligned by others. People are free to govern themselves as they please and all external intervention is wrong.

The biggest criminals cannot declare themselves law enforcement and decide who is guilty or not. At a time when native Americans still live on reservations, countries like the UAE and Qatar cannot be accused of sportswashing while the US escapes scrutiny.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾

Selective Outrage and its Pitfalls

In the past weeks, the N word has been used to refer to two highly successful black men. In both cases the culprits are white. It is utterly deplorable that in 2022 we still have to deal with this kind of bigotry. It is also remarkable that responses of the mainstream media to both instances have been wildly disparate.

In the first situation, Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court was part of the majority that overturned Roe v Wade on the 24th June. In reversing a precedent dating back almost 50 years, this decision basically leaves abortion to the discretion of the states.

Abortion is a very polarizing issue in the US and has been at the centre of political debate for 5 decades. Without getting into the merits of the decision, abortion is also a deeply emotional issue in the US.

In the wake of this judicial decision, emotions were deeply contrasting. Conservatives celebrated the triumph of their prolife movement while Liberals were left in the throes of despair and outrage. As expected, the 6 judges who voted to overturn were widely condemned.

What was unexpected was the fact that on social media, Justice Thomas was singled out for special attention because of the colour of his skin. White Liberals, the so-called allies to the black cause of racial equality called him derogatory epithets including and not limited to coon, Uncle Tom and the N word.

The response from the mainstream media has been nonexistent. There have been no panels condemning the fact that in 2022 racism is alive and well. There have been few editorials lamenting “White Supremacy”. One might even say there has been tacit approval of these racist attacks.

Strangely enough, the majority of black people in the US seem rather unconcerned by the attacks on Clarence Thomas. Perhaps this is because black people are mostly liberal while he is conservative. Or maybe racism just does not bother black people that much any more.

A few days after Roe v Wade was overturned, video footage emerged of former Formula One driver and 3-time champion, Brazilian Nelson Piquet referring to current driver Lewis Hamilton as a neguinho. This came in the course of a generally ranting anti Hamilton diatribe.

Given the subtle differences between English and Portuguese, neguinho is not quite the exact equivalent of the N word. Brazilians use it as a slang to refer to people of all races.

However, as regards the use of this word in Brazilian Portuguese, context matters. Thus the word can be racist and the general consensus in Brazil is that Piquet’s use of it was derogatory.

For one thing, he referred to all other drivers by name except Hamilton. The other drivers were portrayed as individuals while Hamilton was reduced to his race. Secondly, Piquet’s daughter is the partner of current Formula One champion Max Verstappen. Given the controversy between Verstappen and Hamilton at the final Formula One Grand Prix last season, Piquet’s position is untenable.

Furthermore, while the term neguinho can be used in a friendly context as slang in Brazil, Piquet and Hamilton are certainly not friends. If Piquet’s intentions to refer to Hamilton as a black guy, he could just as easily have used the word negro which is literally black.

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the Formula One governing body has responded decisively. After a rather lukewarm condemnation of bigotry that made no mention of Piquet, the organisation has handed him a lifetime ban from the Formula One paddocks.

The FIA was prompted to act because there was a resounding outcry from the media as well as from prominent black voices. The lukewarmness of their initial response was condemned and they were forced to take action.

This is the correct response to racism. Unequivocal, decisive and direct condemnation. Punishment should be swift and unyielding. And this reaction should also be uniform regardless of the identity of the victim or the offender.

That is the problem with these two situations. The difference in the response to these two attacks shows that racism is alive and well. We have just been looking in the wrong places. The actual racists get to pick and choose who can be subjected to racist abuse while claiming to be allies.

Clarence Thomas failed to stay in the place these racist white people have reserved for one of his ilk and as such he can be racially abused with impunity. Lewis Hamilton on the other hand, is not uppity and generally supports liberal causes. This earns him protection from bigotry.

Even more disappointing is the reaction of black people worldwide. Black celebrities like Samuel L Jackson actually joined in the racist attacks against Justice Thomas. Less than a week later these same people were deploring Piquet’s utterances.

The N word has long been established as racist when uttered by a white person. This is tied to its widespread use during slavery and colonialism. If we pick and choose when to be outraged on its use, we are basically normalizing it.

If black people give white people a pass on calling blacks we disagree with the N word, we cannot cry foul when it happens to a black person we like. Anti-black racism dishonours the entire black race and we need to decide if the N word is racist or not.

Given that black people have adopted the word as a symbol of defiance, the word is not going anywhere any time soon. This does not mean white people get to use it. As such, the identity of the white person using is irrelevant. Joe Rogan cannot be racist when he uses it on his podcast unless Joe Biden’s use of the the word on the Senate floor is also racist.

The identity of the black victim is also irrelevant. The whole idea of a white person using the N word is to suggest blacks are inferior to whites. Therefore, all black people are victims whenever it is used. Selective condemnation is encouragement to the actual racists.

These are the ones black people should be wary of. The ones who only see black people as equals when we stay in the position they have designated for us. Random racists like the KKK are too few, powerless and insignificant to worry about. These wolves in sheep clothing are the real enemy.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾

The Bassa People and their Foreign Kinfolk

These are a remarkable people who form a majority or a significant minority in Liberia’s Grand Bassa, Rivercess, Margibi and Montserrado counties. In the capital Monrovia, they are the largest ethnic group.

These people have an overall population of about 570,000 and they are the second largest ethnic group in Liberia making up 13.4% of the total population after the Kpelle people who account for 20.3%.

They speak a Kru language that belongs to the Niger-Congo family of languages. They developed their own pictographic writing system but unfortunately it went out of use in the 19th century.

This script was rediscovered among the slaves of Brazil and the West Indies in 1890s, leading to its reconstruction in early 1900s by Thomas Flo Darvin Lewis. This signs-based script is known as Ehni Ka Se.

Cameroonian readers might probably be wondering if this is approaching a point. Well the name of this praiseworthy ethnic group is Bassa or Bassa’a. This name is familiar as this is the name of one the most prominent ethnic groups in Cameroon.

The Bassa people are said to be originally from Western Sudan. Centuries of migration took them to coastal West and Central Africa including Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo Nigeria and Senegal.

The Bassa of Ouesso and the Bassa la Mpasu, are based in the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo respectively. The Bassa-Ngê found in the area surrounding the confluence of the rivers Benue and Niger. Other Bassa groups are also present in Nigeria most notably the Bassa-Nkomo and the Bassa-Kaduna.

The branch of this ethnic group described above is also present in Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo, as well as the aforementioned Liberia and is known as the Bassa-Ri.

The Cameroonian branch is by far the most populous Bassa group in the world numbering about 2 million persons and they are the focus of this write up.

The etymology of the name Bassa is somewhat disputed. Linguistic evidence and oral traditions of this geographically diverse and significant group suggests that their name Bassa may be related to Bassa Sooh Nyombe which means “Father Stone’s people”.

Early European traders, typically, had trouble pronouncing the entire phrase, and the shorter form Bassa has been used in Western literature and by their Cameroonian compatriots ever since.

Another school of thought traces the origins of the word “Bassa” as deriving its singular form from “Nsa“, meaning retribution or sharing. Acccroding to this strain of thought, Bassa are descended from a single ancestor named Mban.

Yet another school of thought traces the name to a quarrel between Mban’s sons over the sharing out of a snake brought back from hunting. Somehow this led to the people being given the name “Bassa”which loosely translates to “the kidnappers.” Not very flattering.

The Bassa people of Cameroon inhabit the Nyong-et-Kellé division of the Center region as well as parts of the Sanaga-Maritime, Nkam and Wouri divisions in the Littoral region.

They can be loosely divided into three sub-groups: the Babimbi, the Likol and the Bikok. The Babimbi did not take part in the crossing of the River Sanaga. The mythical cave known as Ngog Lituba (the Open Stone), is a natural relic and the spiritual shrine of the Bassa people and is found in their territory.

The Likol, also known as the No–nlon (translation: those who are upstream) are located in the Nyong-Et-Kellé division. The Bikok settled in the Sanaga-Maritime, between the Babimbi and the Likol.

Prior the colonial era, the Bassa had largely been displaced from the banks of the Wouri by the Duala who were relative newcomers to the region. They share a close similarity to the Bakoko, with whom they lived side by side before the appearance of the Duala.

The colonial powers were extremely harsh on the Bassa people. The location of their lands between the German capital of Jaunde (Yaoundé) and the seaport of Douala meant that they had to bear the brunt of the forced labour involved in the construction of the Mittel Kamerun railway.

The French administration of Cameroon as part of the League of Nations mandate and United Nations trusteeship was no better than the Germans. The Bassa were subjected to the dehumanizing and cruel form of slavery known as corvée.

The Bassa however, managed to take advantage of the presence of Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries to become one of the most literate tribes of colonial Cameroon.

It is therefore not surprising that the Bassa were vocally anti-colonial and the Union des Populations du Cameroun had its fief in Bassa land. Many of the leaders of this anti-colonial party were also Bassa including the legendary Ruben Um Nyobé.

Bassa villages were decimated by the French forces and their African allies during the guerilla war that preceded French Cameroun’s independence. This culminated in Um Nyobe’s murder in 1958 and led to widespread emigration of Bassa people to Southern Cameroons where they maintain a strong presence to this day.

The Bassa are also formidable athletes and former Indomitable Lions captains François Omam Biyik, Jacques Songo’o, Rigobert Song Bahanag and Samuel Eto’o are from this ethnic group. Other notable players include Pierre Womé Nlend, Alexandre Song, Makanaky Cyrille, André Kana Biyik, Benjamin Massing, Patrick Mboma and Joseph Désiré Job.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾