Kombone chieftaincy dispute goes deadly

The tussle over who becomes chief of Kombone Bakundu village, Mbonge Subdivision, Meme in Southwest Region, has taken a different twist amidst death threats, The Post has learnt.

In the early hours of Monday, August 11, a group of irate villagers set fire on the compound of one of the contenders to the throne, before seeking the service of the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, for Meme, David Koulbout Aman. In the meantime, the Meme administration is at cross-roads over the way forward for who takes command in the village.

Kombone has been without a chief following the demise of Chief Daniel Sakwe, but the problem of getting the rightful heir to the throne between the son of the deceased, Eric Sakwe, and another contender, Kingsley Mesue, is what has been a melo-drama for months now, for the Divisional Officer, Simon Sombe.

A series of consultative talks carried out by the DO for Mbonge have ended in a deadlock. The last of such talks recorded 16 votes for Mesue against 11 for Sakwe, from kingmakers. But Sakwe has refused to let go the throne claiming that it is his birthright.

Sombe, on his part, has told reporters that no matter the level of confusion, the law would be the defining instrument to designate who eventually becomes chief.

The administrator said, according to the 1972 chieftaincy law, anybody aspiring to the position of a chief must come from the royal family, and as the situation remains dicey, he said that peace and the eventual implementation of the law remain his watch words.

The Post gathered that, the issue of getting a generally-accepted choice is splitting the administrative machinery of the Division, following influence peddling from some political barons of the Biya regime in the Division.

The Post learnt that late Chief Daniel Sakwe, who was once a Deputy Mayor to the Mbonge Council, before his demise was a close friend to Mesue who is now equally laying claim to the throne. Mesue himself is now a Councillor of the Mbonge Council.

By press time, no official statement had been made pertaining to the developments in Kombone, given that the administration was still sorting out the dicey twists and turns in the village.