Buea’s historical importance Rrvisited

A new book authored by researcher Churchill Ewumbue-Monono depicts the South West Regional capital as the symbol of the nation and reunification.

Buea, Cameroon’s mythical mountain-side town, has not ceased to release the treasures of its rich historical past. Another book titled “Buea: Capital of the Cameroons,” written by researcher Churchill Ewumbue-Monono, has just been published by the Buea-based Center for Research on Democracy and Development in Africa (CEREDDA).

Going back to the start of German colonial administration, the author notes that it was on July 3, 1885, that Julius von Soden was sent as Governor of Kamerun. On January 12, 1886, the then German Chancellor, Otto Von Bismarck, proposed a constitutional foundation for the territory as a German protectorate. However, the existing Treaty of July 12, 1884 between the German Consul, Edward Schimdt and the Chiefs of Cameroon, ended at River Mungo. But this meant nothing to most of the people of the Buea Mountain region who still had relations with the midget British colony in the then Victoria.

In prelude to the signing of the Anglo-German Agreement in 1890 that extended German occupation to the Cameroon coast west of the Mungo, Governor Von Soden had purchased 212 hectares in the Mountain region on February 14, 1887 from the natives of Buea. However, attempts to effectively control the town started in 1891 when the Germans launched an attack on the mountain settlement, meeting stiff resistance from Buea people led by their war leader, Kuve Likenye. Another German attack in 1894 led to the effective occupation of the area and its integration into the German Protectorate.

Buea hosted a German Mountain Station in 1895 and knew social, economic and infrastructural development until the Germans moved the capital to Douala in 1909 following an earthquake on Mount Cameroon. Thus, with over 120 years of modern administration, the author, a son of the soil, states that Buea is unquestionably one of the oldest urban settlements in Cameroon, having served as a capital town for government at all levels, various religious bodies, centre for higher learning, a diplomatic and consular centre and a melting pot of the various tribes of the country. In three parts, his study not only puts Buea in its historical perspective, but it equally situates its significance in the building of the Cameroon nation.

Beyond the German era, the study shows the development of the town under British rule between 1916 and 1961, highlighting its contribution as a symbol of the reunification movement, before it became the seat of the West Cameroon Government between 1961 and 1972. The study further highlights the demise of Buea as a capital city between 1972 and 1982 and its renaissance since 1982 under President Paul Biya.

In the preface of the 305-page publication, Churchill Ewumbue-Monono expresses hope that the book will be useful to tourists, students of history and Political Science as well as curious readers wishing to uncover the myths and marvels of Buea; a town “where the German, English, French, Nigerian and the local Bakweri cultures have been cohabiting peacefully with people from other parts of the country.”