Bafut

Bafut is a town, a traditional fondom or kingdom or chiefdom and a modern community in Cameroon. It is located in the Mezam Department, which in turn is located in the Northwest Province.

Bafut is famous for having preserved its structure as a traditional kingdom (or "Fondom”), under the leadership of the Chief of Bafut. Its traditional power still operates in harmony with its modern local government council, which aims to turn Bafut into an Economic-city.

The Bafut tradition traces its dynastic origins to the Ndobo or Tikari areas. From the reign of Firloo, the first Chief of Bafut, it has operated as a fondom or kingdom, using traditional power system. Upon their arrival from Tikari at least 400 years ago, the Bafut people built what is currently known as the "old palace" of Mbebli, also called as Ntoh Firloo. This town still houses the tombs of the first three Bafut kings Firloo, Nebasi Suh and Ambebi.

The Chief's palace, and thus the centre of Bafut's traditional power, was later moved to its current location. By the time of the German invasion in the late 19^th century, Bafut had roughly assumed its present make-up.

The Bafut Wars resulted from German colonial intrusion into the Bafut fondom.

The German explorer, Dr Eugen Zintgraff, visited Bafut in 1889. He had earlier stopped in Bali Nyonga where he had received a warm welcome from Galega, the Chief or King of Bali Nyonga. However the Bafut Chief, Abumbi, received him with circumspection since Bafut was not on good terms with Bali Nyonga. Zintgraff is said to have committed two breaches of etiquette on arrival at Bafut. History has it that, he seized the drinking cup from the King’s hand and drank from it and he insisted on calling Abumbi by his princely name 'Gualem'. This open display of disrespect was interpreted in Bafut as a deliberate attempt to belittle the Chief or King and it was assumed that Galega of Bali Nyonga was behind it.

Relations between Bafut and the Germans subsequently deteriorated to the point that it led to armed conflict. In 1891 Bafut went to the find support from its neighbour and ally Mankon which had been attacked by a German-led Bali Nyonga’s force through to Bafut. This force had been sent to avenge the death of two of Zintgraff's messengers sent to Bafut to demand ivory. On the 31^st of January 1891 it attacked Mankon and burnt down the town. As the launched attack force retired, Mankon warriors, assisted now by their allies from Bafut, counter-attacked to avenge their enemies leaving the Germans run down. Ten years later the Germans, under Pavel, returned in full force. Bafut suffered a series of punitive raids in 1901, 1904-5 and 1907, at the end of which the Chief or King was arrested and exiled to Douala for a year.

In the meantime, a military station had been situated at Bamenda to serve as the administrative headquarters of the district until the Germans were expelled during the World War 1 (1914-1918) whenBamenda Garrison died in October 1915.

After a brief period of joint administration, Britain and France conditionally divided the territory. This partition confirmed by the Milner-Simon agreement of July 1919 made Bafut a British protectorate which was constituted into the Cameroons Province and attached to the Southern Provinces of British Nigeria for administrative purposes. It has been recorded that at least one Chief of Bafut, Achirimbi II maintained friendly ties with the British. When the British left Cameroon in 1961, the region had a choice of joining either the newly formed Cameroon or Nigeria. The Chief Achirimbi II is famous for his quote in relation to this ideology that he remarked on his choice as being between the "Fire and the Deep Sea".

On 1^st January 1960, French Cameroun gained independence from France, and subsequently on 1^st October 1961, the formerly British Southern Cameroons (including Bafut) united with French Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

The Bafut Council was created by a presidential decree on 23^rd November, 1993 to promote local development and improve the living conditions of the region's inhabitants. The local government began operation in 1996, following municipal elections. It had a population of 80,305 in 2005, but is now estimated to have over 100,000 inhabitants. It is primarily an agrarian region. Bafut is situated about twenty kilometres northwest of Bamenda, in the Mezam Division, and covers an area of nearly 340 km2.

Bafut is located in the Western Grassfields geographical region - which includes Cameroon's Northwest Province and surrounding grassland areas. Bafut is the most powerful of the traditional kingdoms of the Grassfields, now divided into 26 wards along a 10 kilometre stretch of the "Ring Road" that trails along a ridge above the Menchum Valley. The population is settled in three main zones.

• At the heart of the country are the people of Mumala'a clustered around the Chief's palace. These people refer to themselves as the real Bafut (Bufu). This name can be applied to the whole chiefdom.

• To the south is the Ntare (ridge area)

• To the north is the Mbunti (lower) which descends abruptly to the Menchum river valley

The major languages spoken by them are the Bafut language and Pidgin English, though they also speak Mundum, Mbuhnti and French. The Bafut language is classed within the Mbam-Nkam section of the central branch of the Niger-Congo family along with other nearby languages such as Bali Nyonga, Bamum and Pinyin

Bafut is one of the two regions in Cameroon (the other being Bali, Cameroon), where traditional power systems are still in place. Bafut is a kingdom or Fondom. It was along the centre of the local kingdom of the Tikar people, originally from the Northern regions of Lake Chad, and is presently administered by the Chief of Bafut.

The Chief of Bafut was, and to some extent still is, the paramount Chief of the region, with all other Chiefs pledging allegiance to him.

The Chief shared power with a council of elders or "Kwifor". Membership was restricted to commoners who had attained the rank of a council of kingmakers - Bukum (sing. Nkum). The strength of Kwifor lay in its role as a council of kingmakers and was thus a check on royal power.

The Bafut council was created by a presidential decree on 23^rd November, 1993 to promote local development and improve the living conditions of the region's inhabitants. The local government began operation in 1996, following municipal elections. The council, situated at Njinteh Bafut, was intended to be a meeting point of modern local democratic governance and traditional customs. It is made up of the Bafut first class Fondom and the Mundum’s I and II autonomous second class Fondoms who share powers with the council.

Since its creation, the Bafut council has been concentrating its efforts on the provision of water to the surrounding villages, improving the roads and infrastructure that connect farmlands to the village markets, planting a council forest reserve and improving local health centers. The national government of Cameroon has worked towards transferring some responsibilities and local resources to the country's Councils: making them a focal point for orientation and management of local development. However, the council personnel have suffered from deficient capacities for the appropriate functioning of council institutions.

Other efforts by the Bafut council include the completion of community driven sustainable development plan with qualitative and quantitative needs of the villages within the council, which would facilitate the proper orientation and management of the development of the council area. Even in the face of challenges in its resources, the Council has been working to build public-private partnerships to better utilize its resources for local development in an environmentally sustainable way.

In its sustainable development work, the council has strongly synergized with an indigenous Cameroonian NGO, Better World Cameroon (BWC) to realize their goals.

Mayor Ngwasoh Abel Langsi, originally a trained educationalist and a science teacher, was elected in July 2007 along with 4 deputy mayors and 35 councillors; his term of office runs up to 2014.

The Mayor has demonstrated an interest in pursuing sustainable development in Bafut, working on empowering local Cameroonian youth through the creation of Green Jobs and developing projects such as the Bafut Council Eco-city project and the Green Heart of Bafut. The latter programme, through its extensive reforestation projects, especially on the upper mountain slopes, was intended to combat severe soil erosion and re-establish degraded water catchments to protect the huge farmlands located in the lower valleys of Bafut. The newly established council industrial nursery employs local youth to reforest the mountaintops, water catchments, and town streets. Furthermore, it aimed at fighting the spread of Malaria and Cholera, and also served as a template for similar projects in the neighbouring communities. He set-up a climate change and agricultural research unit within the council, to educate farmers and local youth on the most productive and sustainable modern farming techniques. He has subsequently joined the World Mayors Council on Climate Change, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, and has been hailed by the Cameroon government as a "national green hero".

The Bafut Council Eco-City Project has become a signature programme of the council. The project has been designed to host a Sustainable Technologies Park and Cross-Cultural Education Hub for local and international volunteers. This Non-Formal Youth Education Programme will create young Social Entrepreneurs and Young Farmers Clubs, consisting of trained environmental technicians with the knowledge and skills to develop and execute strategies for achieving sustainability, within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at scale and enterprise business models.

The Bafut Council Eco-City 2020 Project is the most urgent sustainable development challenge facing the Bafut municipality. It’s lack of capacity to link with World Mayors Council on Climate Change (WMCCC), International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and other international organisations in developing educational and public awareness programmes with respect to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity has being the major setback.

Bafut Council has subsequently established a new mission statement and Council Sustainable Development Plan that better encompasses the new Eco City Vision and specifies what the Council wishes to achieve through this vision.

Bafut is famous for the following tourist attractions:

• The venue of the Annual Dance of the Chief (local chieftain) or the Abin e Mfor.

• The location of the palace of the Chief of Bafut, which covers the residential dwelling of the Chief and his wives, counsel which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Centre and houses a museum.

• The nearby location of the botanical garden of Savanna Botanic Gardens, which is noted as naturalist Gerald Durrell help plan, is also located near the town.

• The presence of the Bafut market, which is very vibrant in the area; occurring every eight days to trade in fruits, spices, vegetables, meat and animals.

The town of Bafut is probably best remembered as the place where the famous naturalist Gerald Durrell came on two animal-collecting expeditions in 1949 and 1957. Durrell wrote two accounts. One being ‘The Bafut Beagles’ and ‘A Zoo in My Luggage’ - on his travels to Bafut, and created a mini-TV series, bades on ‘Bafut with Beagles’.

A view of Bafut

Location on the Map