Nfon Mukete urged to hands-off Balong territory

According to the chairman of Mukonje traditional Council, Chief Otto Abange, no parts of the villages that constitute Balong clan fall within the territory that make up the Bafaw clan, not even Malende-Kumba. Otto Abange says the Balongs are a separate people ruled by a paramount ruler, Nfon Ebanja

The Chairman of the Mukonje Traditional Council, Chief Otto Abange Alexander, has fired strong that Mukonje and Malende are not part of Bafaw territory and the Balongs will never allow any parts of their territory to be controlled by the paramount ruler of the Bafaws, HRM Senator Nfon Victor Esseminsongo Mukete.

Chief Otto Abange made it clear that the Balong clan has its own chiefdoms all of which fall under the jurisdiction of the paramount ruler of the Balongs, Chief Ebanja. Chief Otto Abange has therefore called on the paramount ruler of the Bafaws, Nfon Victor Essemisongo Mukete to hands-off Balong territory.

He was speaking to the press recently after a meeting convened by the Divisional Officer of Kumba III Subdivision, Guibai Gilbert Baldena, to clear the air on who controls the five villages that make up the Mukonje chiefdom.

It was in light of this that Chief Otto Abange Alexander, also pointed out that Mukonje and Malende constitute one and the same people.

“Whether they call themselves Malende-Kumba or Malende-Mukonje they are one people. The people of Malende and Mukonje are descendants of the same root and form one family. Our forefathers lived together as one. They were only later separated because of quarrels over land between Malende-Mukonje and Mukonje itself,” Chief Otto recounted.

He recalled that the current chief of Malende HRH Esami Ngoh left the country to seek greener pasture abroad when he was still very young, and because of that he could not be well versed in the history and customs of his clan.

Chief Otto Abange remarks that it was necessary for the Divisional Officer of Kumba III to call a meeting to clarify public opinion in Meme about who truly deserves to lord over the five villages that constitute Mukonje.

He regretted that Chief Esami Ngoh still claims that he shares boundary with the Bafaw people of Kumba and that the Dschang quarter is part of Malende. But Otto Abange however notes that after an investigation by the DO of Kumba 111 it emerged that Malende does not share any boundary with Bafaw territory but rather with Mukonje.

“It is regrettable that Chief Esami Ngoh also claimed that the CDC camps of Laduma, Ndipanda, and Balabongo are within his territory, even when documented evidence reveals that CDC got the lands for those plantations from Mukonje and that all the CDC camps are controlled by a Camp Committee under the leadership of the Estate manager. After the meeting with the DO, it was pointed out to Chief Esami Ngoh that Malende shares no boundary with Bafaw territory and that his accusations about the sale of land in Malende were baseless especially because he could not present enough documented evidence.

“It is sad and disappointing that Chief Esami Ngoh cannot lead his own people and has sold out himself to the Bafaws, claiming that he has a boundary with them, of which there is no such boundary. But he should be reminded that traditionally, the entire Balong clan does not recognize him as a chief. The chief that we recognize comes from the Mbange Makia family,” Otto Abange said, noting further that Malende is a quarter in Mukonje and not a village by itself; and that was why the Mukonje people refused to crown Chief Esami Ngoh as the chief of Malende.

“Even though we attended his coronation we went simply only as on-lookers. Chief Esami Ngoh was installed by Chief Atem Ebako of Talangaye in Nguti Subdivision, who is not even a Balong.

The family of Mbange Makia protested the designation of Esami Ngoh but the administration still went ahead and installed him as Chief,” Otto Abange noted, adding that after the meeting with the DO it is now clear that the chief of Mukonje does not control all the five villages that make up Mukonje; some are controlled by him and others by the CDC. Meanwhile Malende does not control any of these villages.

Otto Abange however notes that the wrangling notwithstanding, Mukonje is still ready to welcome Chief Esami Ngoh as their son because “we know that he was misled by the Bafaw people.”

Chief Otto also regretted that despite the fact that Mukonje is a vast and an aged old chiefdom, the government has not uplifted it to a first class chiefdom; and that is why it is still a third class chiefdom. The former chief of Mukonje was known as Nfon Samuel Anoke Ebanja. He was also the paramount ruler of central Balong.