Kfaang and its technologies : towards a social history of mobility in Kom, Cameroon, 1928-1998

Kfaang and its technologies : towards a social history of mobility in Kom, Cameroon, 1928-1998

Nkwi, W.G.

Citation

Nkwi, W. G. (2011, May 24). Kfaang and its technologies : towards a social history of mobility in Kom, Cameroon, 1928-1998. African studies collection. Retrieved from

https://hdl.handle.net/1887/17674

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Kfaang and its technologies

Towards a social history of mobility in Kom, Cameroon, 1928-1998

Proefschrift

ter verkrijging van

de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden,

op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof. mr. P.F. van der Heijden, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties

te verdedigen op dinsdag 24 mei 2011 klokke 16.15 uur

door

Walter Gam Nkwi

in 1967

Promotiecommissie:

Promotor: Prof. dr. M.E. de Bruijn (University of Leiden)

Prof. dr. F.B. Nyamnjoh (University of Cape Town)

Overige leden: Prof. dr. R.J. Ross (University of Leiden)

Dr. P. Konings (Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden)

Prof. dr. M. Rowlands (University College, London)

African Studies Centre

African Studies Collection, vol. 30

Kfaang and its technologies

Towards a social history of mobility in Kom, Cameroon, 1928-1998

Walter Gam Nkwi

African Studies Centre P.O. Box 9555

2300 RB Leiden The Netherlands asc@ascleiden.nl http://www.ascleiden.nl

Cover design: Heike Slingerland

Cover photo: “The reading ‘drama’ of the kfaang men”

[The Parish archives, Njinikom. Photo taken by Rev. Fr. Leonard Jacobs]

Printed by Ipskamp Drukkers, Enschede ISSN 1876-018X

ISBN 978-90-5448-101-0

© Walter Gam Nkwi, 2011

v

Contents

Photos, maps and tables

Acknowledgements

1. I

: T

Tradition and modernity in kfaang

Information communication technology (ICT)

Mobility

The ‘construction of society’

Structure of the thesis

2. B

Introduction

Proposed history writing

A brief description of the fieldwork region

Kom in the history and historiography of the Bamenda Grasslands

Fieldwork: The archives in Cameroon and Europe

Fieldwork: Oral traditions in Kom

Fieldwork: Talking and interacting with people - Towards a historical ethnography

Conclusion

3. K

,

. 1928 -

. 1998

Introduction

The creation and expansion of Kom

Political leadership in Kom

The dynamics of geographical mobility

Indigenous industry and the colonial situation

Geography and mobility

Trade and mobility

The British period (tu ingris), c. 1920s - 1961

The post colonial period, 1961-1998

Conclusion

vi

4. R

,

,

. 1928 - 1998

Introduction

Colonialism and road construction

Bamenda-Njinikom road, c. 1928 - c. 1954

The Fon and the road construction

Njinikom-Fundong road, 1955-1959

Ngwaah-Abuh-Fujua-Fundong road, 1959-1960

Anyajua-Babungo-Belo road, 1955-1961

Mbueni-Njinikom road, 1959-1979

The second phase of Bamenda-Kom road, 1993-1998

The road and consequences

The Congo Bar

Conclusion

5. M

(

)

Introduction

The motor vehicle in Kom

The vehicle and photo

The ‘domestication’ of newness (technology, kfaang)

Sitting arrangements and running commentaries

The motor vehicle in society

Motor vehicles and social status

Conclusion

6. C

, C

K

(NDO

)

Introduction

Reforms and reformers, c. 1926 – c. 1966

Christians on the move

The birth of ‘new men’

The catechist school and ‘important new men’

Female Christians in the limelight seek happiness

Other women on the move

Juliana Ekfwi Chiambong and the Credit Union in Kom

How transformed were those who appropriated the church and Christianity

Conclusion

vii

7. S

,

(

),

1928

. 1980

Introduction

Education on the colonial and missionary agenda

St. Anthony’s school, Njinikom, Kom, 1928

Women, schooling and mobility

Biographical sketches

Chief Anyway Ndichia Timti: A new model

Conclusion

8. M

Introduction

Kom-Bamenda encounter: Kubou’s compound (a beikubou), old town

Journey from Kom to old town (Bamenda), 1928 - c. 1970s

Kubou’s compound in Cameroon politics

The significance of Kubou’s compound for the creation of ‘Komness’

Nkongsamba or ‘Nkong’, 1922-1961: Mobility and coffee

Going to the coast (Itini kfaang), 1928 – c. 1960s

The purveyors of kfaang and sharing kfaang things

The Kom-Yola connection

Dept and durability of kfaang

Conclusion

9. C

: K

,

The relationship between technology, society and social hierarchies

Kfaang and its purveyors 174

Technologies and identity construction

Social change and continuity

‘The Kom identity’ or just ‘Kom identity’

Dynamism of Kom identity

The confluence between history and anthropology

The intended contribution of this work

References

Summary

Samenvatting (Dutch summary)

viii

Photos, maps and tables

Photos

2.1 Destroyed files in the Buea archives 26

2.2 Bales of papers in the Bamenda provincial archives 26

3.1 A Kom carrier with his luggage en route to Northern Nigeria in 1940 48 4.1 People constructing the road 60

4.2 Michael Mbeng with his new bicycle 67 4.3 The Congo Bar in its old state 70

4.4 The Congo Bar almost beyond recognition 70 5.1 The vehicle 77

5.2 The vehicle owner and his ‘family’ 78

6.1 The Njinikom church building which was demolished in 1936 96 6.2 The church and the priest’s residence 99

6.3 The church compound which included the school, cemetery and the catechumenate 99 6.4 Carriers resting near River Nyong 100

6.5 The Christians and missionaries returning from Bali, 1907 100 6.6 Transportation of a missionary’s child in his baby cot 101

6.7 Christians carrying the goods of the priests to Njinikom from Victoria 101 6.8 Christians carrying the goods of their priests going on outstations 102 6.9 Rev. Fr, Leo Onderwater with his mission boy 103

6.10 The photo of mission girls with their master 104

6.11 Carrier, carrying a Rev. Fr. on his way to an outstation 107

6.12 The reading ‘drama’ and the audience watching from behind and admiring the kfaang men 108

6.13 Juliana Chiambong’s certificate of recognition as one of the first members of the Credit Union 113

6.14 Old Credit Union building, Atuilah, Njinikom 113 6.15 Juliana Ekfwi Chiambong 114

6.16 The certificate of Baptism of Chiambong 114 7.1 Two teachers in their official outfit in the 1940s 130

7.2 Chief Anyway Ndichia Timti, the person who championed kfaang 136 8.1 Kubou’s compound in November 2008 146

8.2 The Fon’s arrival in bamenda 148

8.3 A partial view of Kom people in their official traditional outfit receiving their Fon in Bamenda 149

8.4 The Fon’s entourage 149

8.5 The introduction of a chindo to the nkwifon bench 150

8.6 The partial view of the building of the Cooperative Union 156

8.7 Young men displaying kfaang both in sitting style, clothes and materiality 165 8.8 A kfaang man displaying his ilung-i-kfaang radio 165

8.9 Kfaang youths with new postures while seated, and their new hair styles too 166 8.10 Two women of kfaang display their kfaang-ness 166

8.11 New ways of exhibiting kfaang 167

8.12 The picture of a young Kom man in Victoria in 1957 169

ix

Maps

2.1 The position of Kom in the Bamenda Grasslands of Cameroon 19 2.2 Kom Fondom showing its villages and sub-chiefdoms 20

2.3 Migratory routes of Kom people to their present site 21 3.1 Relief map of Kom 43

3.2 The Bamenda Grasslands showing trade routes used by Kom traders 45 4.1 Road communication network in Kom 66

8.1 Some of the mobility patterns generated by Kom people between 1928 and 1998 140

Tables

3.1 Population figures of Kom between 1928 and 1968 41 3.2 Farmers and traders in eight Kom settlements in 1927 44

7.1 Names and years of headmasters of St. Anthony’s primary school 123 7.2 The first eight girls at St. Anthony’s school, Njinikom 124

7.3 The number of girls at St. Marie Goretti’s primary school between 1959 and 1980 127 8.1 List of Presidents of Kom Area Cooperative Union Limited 155

x

Acknowledgements

According to Achebe (1987: 122), ’the cock that crows in the morning belongs to one household but his voice is the property of the neighbourhood’. In other words, although I might have written this work, many people and institutions contributed directly or in- directly to its realisation. Given the limitations of space, only a few of these people and institutions can be acknowledged here and it is a pleasure to do so.

From September 2007 to September 2010, the unwavering commitment of the Afrika- Studiecentrum, (ASC) Leiden, The Netherlands, and The University of Buea, Cameroon, made it possible for me to realise this project. These institutions provided the means needed. In addition, the ASC provided me generous stipends to facilitate my stay in The Netherlands and to pursue fieldwork both in Europe and in Cameroon. I also benefitted immensely from research groups which were based at the ASC. For instance, study groups such as Mobile Africa Revisited: A comparative study of the relationship between new communication technologies and social spaces and Connections and Transformations were very instrumental in shaping and sharpening my views. During presentations in these groups I received insightful comments from Professors Robert Ross and Mirjam de Bruijn, Dr Rijk van Dijk, Dr Jan-Bart Gewald, Dr Inge Brinkman and Dr Neil Parsons. Those seminars articulated my perceptions about mobility and technologies in the social history of Africa.

The materials for this thesis came from interviews, library resources and archives.

Amongst these, perhaps the greatest in terms of secondary sources were from the library of ASC and especially its inter-library loan service which made many more books available to me than would otherwise have been possible. From time to time that library continued to deliver to me important, obscure but relevant works through Ella Verkaik. I am also grate- ful to the library of the University of Basel, Switzerland, and especially the Department of Social Anthropology where I borrowed some books from May to June 2008. To all those scholars whose books I consulted I am deeply grateful.

The archives in Europe and in Cameroon provided me with abundant material. In Europe, I remain grateful to the Public Records Office (PRO) Archive, Kew Gardens, London, where I worked from November to December 2007. I am also grateful to the Mission21 archives in Basel, Switzerland, which provided me much photographic material, including maps which greatly enriched the work.

In Cameroon, I visited the National Archives, Buea (NAB), where I read many files with the help of the staff, especially the late Prince Henry Mbain and Primus Forgwe. The Bamenda Provincial Archives, although very dilapidated, supplied me with some useful files. Perpetua Waindim, the Headmistress of St. Anthony’s Primary School, provided me access to the archives of that school.

Oral informants were very important to the success of this work. They willingly and generously provided the relevant information. To all of them I remain deeply grateful.

xi

To complete this work, I was mentored and supervised by two persons who must be mentioned: Professors Francis B. Nyamnjoh and Mirjam de Bruijn. They were blessed with endless patience, and they needed just that as they tutored this wayward amateur. Professor Mirjam de Bruijn initiated me to the trans-disciplinary methods of fieldwork. She also gave me access to her library and made me a family and academic friend. Together with Professor Francis B. Nyamnjoh they taught me that research could be fun. While in the University of Cape Town, Professor Nyamnjoh provided me with literature which revolu- tionised my thinking that has contributed to some of the conclusions of this thesis. To all of them, I am eternally thankful.

In Basel, I was sometimes helped out by individuals at repositories in a very special way. In this connection I would like to thank Claudia Wirthlin and Thomas Guy who helped me to translate some German. My stay in that archive was made comfortable by the financial help of the Director of Mission21, Madeleine Strub-Jaccoud, to whom I had been introduced to by Thomas Guy. Thomas was important because he even made it possible for me to travel to Switzerland. Divine Fuh took me to the mountains and some historic sites, such as the old Roman ruins of Augusta Raurica. Thanks for the cooking to Timothy Mbuagbor. I had useful discussions with Professors Achim von Oppen and Kai Kreese. To all of them I am grateful.

My classmates, especially Samuel Ntewusu, helped in reading some of my draft chap- ters. Mary Davies read the introduction of this thesis and made helpful comments. Thanks also to Jonna Both, Lotte Pelckmans, Jill Alpse, Linda van de Kamp and Margot Leeg- water, Doreen, Gitty and Maaike for their concern and moral support. My sincere thanks to Jeff Lever who copy-edited this thesis, and my cartographers, Nel de Vink and Cletus Nforba who helped to plot the maps.

In Cameroon, many friends, professors and research houses were helpful. Professor Emeritus Lovett Zephaniah Elango, who recommended me to the admission board of the University of Leiden meticulously read through the work and made very insightful com- ments and corrections. Flavius Mokake read Chapter Five while Dr. Martin Sango together with Henry Kam Kah and Neba Ayu’nwi read the conclusion and made helpful comments.

Caroline Authaler of the University of Heidelberg was also helpful in reading Chapters Five and Six. Dr. Richard Talla Tanto readily accepted the last proof-reading. To all, I remain grateful. Professors Victor Julius Ngoh and Anthony Ndi continuously encouraged me morally and financially. The entire staff of the Department of History put their hands on deck to see me through in this project. They readily taught my courses and supervised students assigned to me when I was on leave of absence. The Langaa Research Common Initiative Publishing Group (RCIP) house in Bamenda was also helpful in accommodating me. The house help, Ernest Yuh, provided me with the basic needs in that house.

Last but not least, I am grateful to my wife, sons, parents, brothers, in-laws and extended family. Despite my several absences from home, they continued to hold the fort, and for their loving support I owe them eternal gratitude which words can never express. For the errors of fact or interpretation which must have eluded all efforts to keep them out, I alone am responsible.