Boundary disputes sweep away Mezam SDO

Mankons celebrate his disgraceful departure, say it’s a warning sign to his successor not to dabble with colonial boundaries in Bamenda

From Nfor Adamu in Bamenda

News of the transfer of former Mezam SDO, Mache Njouonwet Joseph Bertrand to Menoua; in the West region; has been greeted with celebrations in the Mankon fondom in particular and Mezam division in general.

Many Mankon elite see Mache’s transfer from a division that hosts a regional capital as punitive and a dirty slap on his face for attempting to disrupt public peace by creating illegal boundaries between Mankon village and the neighbouring villages of Nsongwa and Bamendankwe.

It should be recalled that Mache Njouonwet burnt his fingers when he, for selfish gains, undertook to put to question the official boundary between Mankon and Bamendankwe villages that were surveyed and demarcated in 1938 by the British administration; headed by D.O Schofield. The demarcation, it should be stated, was done in the presence and common agreement of the fons of Mankon and Bamendankwe.

Tempers flared when the former Mezam SDO’s so-called technical sub committee not only violated the presidential decree and the authentic administrative boundary of 1967 but attempted to transfer a large portion of Mankon and Nkwen land to Bamendankwe.

SDO Mache’s transparent administrative style was again put to question when he attempted to create a “new” administrative boundary between the villages of Mankon and Nsongwa; even though the official administrative boundary between the two villages was confirmed in 1998 by the British administrator, D.O Schofield.

But for their peace-loving nature, Mankon people would have gone to war with Nsongwa when they (Nsongwa people) invaded Nkura quarters in Mankon and destroyed crops; evaluated at over 25 MFCFA.

Following the destruction, the MINATD boss ordered a retracing of the 1938 boundary. The decision was implemented and 13 beacons planted to differentiate the boundary separating the two villages.

But in 2009, the Nsongwa people encroached into the said portion of Mankon land and began partitioning and selling. They equally removed and destroyed 12 of the 13 boundary beacons that were planted.

Being as law-abiding as usual, the fon of Mankon did not ask his people to go to war with Nsongwa but rather, he wrote to the Mezam SDO; seeking his intervention in order to end the dispute peacefully.

SDO Mache went, saw the beacons destroyed but to the surprise of even the Nsongwa people did not open any investigation. Instead, Mache Njouonwet created the so-called technical committee and empowered them to create an illegal boundary which if was implemented,would have seen a large portion of Mankon land, ceded, illegally to Nsongwa.

In a strongly-worded petition to North West governor against the Mezam SDO, the fon of Mankon wrote “The present SDO (Mache) is not seeking to solve problems based on facts and the evidence at his disposal. His action is a clear demonstration that he is out to create and fan inter-village boundary conflicts… Is it because money changed hands? Mankon people are aware and are tired of administrators fanning land disputes for selfish gains…”

Apart from being accused of attempting to illegally cede their land to Nsongwa and Bamendakwe villages, Mache Njounwet was also in the bad books of Mankon people for what they qualified as his suspicious and provocative silence over attempts to deform the history, identity and dignity of Mankon people and erode their image from the Bamenda city and the national map. They sited the change of name from the Mankon Main Market to the Bamenda city Main Market without the required deliberation and resolution by the city councilors as required by law and the appellation “Bafut Airport”.

It is widely-suspected that the above administrative blunders of Mache Njouonwet not with standing, what might have caused his disgraceful transfer from Mezam division was his undermining of the authority of the highly-respected fon of Mankon, Fon Angwafor III S.A.N, who doubles as the 1^st vice national president of the ruling CPDM party.

In the build up to his arrogance and lack of respect for North West traditional authorities and institutions, Mache Njouonwet once referred to the venerated Fon Angwafor as “a certain fon in Mezam division”. Any surprise therefore that he had to be sent packing in such a disgraceful manner?