Bamenda grassfields chieftaincy in modern governance, CA 1800-1996.

Abstract

This study is about Bamenda Grassfields chieftaincy in modern governance. It examines the transition from traditional governance which predated the advent of colonial and post independence in Cameroon. Bamenda Grassfields States as socio political entities locally called Fondoms were structured and efficiently governed polities under the authority of local kings (locally referred to as Fons) and assisted by other Fondoms institutions such as the traditional council, the regulatory society and many other specialized bodies that had the task of ensuring the management of the Fondom. The advent of colonial rule and the post independent state in Cameroon experienced the minimization of other institutions which constituted traditional governance by upholding just the Fon as an individual than the institution he incarnated. The central question posed in this study is to examine the contributing factors of transhumance of the Bamenda Grassfields chieftaincy institution into modern governance and the impacts it has created both for the traditional and modern administration. The study poses the question of the complementarity∕ incompatibility of traditional and modern governance existing alongside Cameroon. This thesis finds that despite the infeudation and instrumentalization of traditional governance, first by the colonial rule and by the post independent state, traditional governance remains an efficient governance system if rationally exploited, then politicized as it has been the case since independence, it will potentially contribute to the effective establishment of administrative fabrics to development in Cameroon, especially in a context where modern governance is confronted with systematic grassroots and national challenges. To better appreciate the main problem posed, we adopted the historic deductive method that consists of a critical review of primary and secondary as well as oral sources. This embodied the identification of new sources in the form of books, articles, journals, oral traditions, and information. Which had a bearing on some of the aspects of the work. This study is an addition to the rich historiography on traditional authorities in Cameroon and contributes towards understanding how Fons rational implications in modern governance in Cameroon can effectively mediate between the people and the state in enhancing government developmental policies and provide an institutional safety valve for the often-inefficient state bureaucracies.