We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one.
Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we've heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.
Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way
But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:
"People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters....And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about...memories that all people might study and cherish - and with which we could start to rebuild."
That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.
Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments - meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today's urban and rural communities.
A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.
This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.
But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it - those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations - those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.
And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.
In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.
Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns - this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.
This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
But I have asserted a firm conviction - a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people - that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances - for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives - by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.
Ironically, this quintessentially American - and yes, conservative - notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen - is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation - the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.
There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today - a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."
"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
General characteristics and evolution of chieftaincy in the North-West Province
The institution of the chief, commonly termed Fon in the NWP, derives its legitimacy from a myth of origin that confers temporal power on those repositories of traditional authority. Myth and ritual orderings give a spiritual content to the exercise of the authority of the Fon. Although the person of the Fon is seen as 'sacred', the sacredness stems from the royalty itself as epitomized by the royal regalia. Homage is paid to this regalia even when the person of the Fon himself is absent.
The mythic construction of power has the further advantage that rulers could dispense with any socio-political negotiation of meaning. What in other circumstances would appear as ordinary discourse, open to negotiation, is simply abstracted from the arena of daily interaction and endowed with a transcendence that emanates from the primordial past. Endowed with such mythic qualities, the authority of the Fon is not contested. No ordinary individual, no matter how wealthy, can become Fon.
The chiefs do not derive their authority solely from a material base but rather from ritual and moral authority supported and enhanced by a regulatory society. The latter, a male secret society, exercises multiple functions and is termed Kwifoyn in Kom, Kwifo' in Bafut, Ngumba in Bali, or Ngwerong in Nso'. Any violation of the sacred norms of the land, whether by junior or senior members of the chiefdom, could wrack havoc as the 'earth may pass judgment'. The threat of ritual sanctions constituted an effective safeguard against abuses of power. These various strands of authority gave meaning to the institution of chieftaincy and other traditional repositories of power.
The relationship between the Fon and his subjects may be characterized as one of interdependence. It is said that the Fon is only treated as such because he has people to rule. Kaberry (1950: 379) summarized this relationship as 'The Fon often says: 'what is Fon without people? I am in the hands of my people'; and the Nso' have two sayings that epitomize the conceptions of chieftainship : 'The Fon has everything; the Fon is a poor man' and 'the Fon rules the people, but the people hold the Fon'.' This relationship of interdependence has been much eroded as alternative sources of authority, both internal and external, compete for the regulation of community issues.
The internal challenge comes from the elite sons of the land who wish to have a greater say in local affairs. The old institutional framework that was built on hereditary titles has been considered by some as not responding to the changing power differentials in society.
Yet, a closer look reveals that beneath a rigid formal framework, local authorities have shown flexibility by creating non-hereditary titles based on merit that seek to co-opt rival sources of power. By so doing, some of the educated elite, holding office in public and corporate institutions, have been integrated into the local institutional framework. The elasticity of such recruitment (even sons of former slaves can be honoured with non-hereditary titles) is the price the traditional power brokers have paid to retain command over local affairs.
A second and more invidious challenge comes from the State and its bureaucratic elite. By Decree No. 77/245 of 15 July 1977, all 'traditional chiefs' have been turned into auxiliaries of the administration, and are therefore accountable to the Senior Divisional Officer of their area of jurisdiction. This statutory provision which enshrines the pre-eminence of the Senior Divisional Officer over the local chiefs has been strongly resisted. In a recent conflict between the Senior Divisional Officer of Bui Division and the paramount chief of Nso', the Senior Divisional Officer, issued the following order:
Art. 1 : That His Royal Highness the Fon of Nso ... is with effect from the date of signature of this order prohibited from entering the office and residence of the Senior Divisional Officer for Bui Division for continuous disrespect of the Senior Prefect of Bui since his assumption of duty at the Head of the Bui Administration on May 7th 1986.
Art. 2 : That His Royal Highness the Fon of Nso should with effect from the date of this order report all his administrative problems to his immediate boss, the Divisional Officer for Kumbo Central Sub-Division for appropriate solutions.
Art. 3 : That any violation of this Prefectorial Order by the Fon of Nso shall lead to serious administrative sanctions against him.' (Prefectorial Order No E26/78/RPB/RS/89 of 1/6/1989)
This order, shocking as it appears, did not even provoke the population to rise spontaneously to the defense of their ruler. In the late 1940s and 1950s, when Kaberry undertook fieldwork in Nso', such a move by the Senior Divisional Officer was unthinkable and could have sparked off immense civil unrest or rioting. The population would have risen as one in support of the Fon. As late as 1969, there were great riots in Nso' because a prince had been locked up by the police for social deviance.
This prefectorial order is clear evidence that the powers of the Fon are waning. The State is whittling down the powers of local chiefs. For example, officers from those regions where chieftaincies were a colonial creation are sent to administer local communities with well-established customary chiefs. For example, the Senior Divisional Officer who signed the Order intended to discipline the Fon of Nso' came from the Centre Province where most of the local chiefs were creations of the French colonial administration for fiscal collection and for the forced recruitment of labour under the indigènat system. Administrators from these areas are noted for their disrespect for local chiefs.
The marginalization of traditional authority has had a profound impact on the abilities of the Fon to claim ownership of all land under his jurisdiction. Since such claims were based on his political dominance, is he still justified in claiming that 'all this is my land'? In the large chiefdoms, those who exercised daily administration at the local level were the sub-chiefs and other title holders with powers delegated from the Fon. Are they still loyal and accountable to the Fon? The resurgent question is: who rules the land now?
As paramount, the Fon could exact from his subjects allegiance and tribute as a sign of their submission to him. This submission was clearly manifested by the payment of a tribute of allegiance (Aletum and Fisiy 1989) that included surrendering all 'royal game', such as python, leopard, and buffalo to the Fon. Also, as a sign of submission, local notables were expected to drink the Fon's wine of allegiance. All these practices are now on the decline. The Fon can be a very lonely person in his palace since it has ceased to be the main locus of politics and diplomacy.
Although Decree No 77/245 of 15 July 1977 provides a framework for the recognition of genuine sources of 'traditional rule', the law has tended to demystify the sacred nature of royalty by turning Fons into mere auxiliaries of the administration. Fons have now been rendered fully accountable to the administration at the Divisional level and this has reduced to their former 'despotic' powers. A Fon's installation now has to be ratified by an express note of administrative recognition before he can officially exercise any active role as an auxiliary of the administration. It is clear from this that the chieftaincy has been bureaucratized and reduced to the lower ranks of the administrative ladder. As subordinates in a hierarchical bureaucracy, Fons might suffer disciplinary sanction from low level bureaucrats (as in the case of Nso' quoted above), some of whom might be their own sons or daughters.
The 1977 Decree reveals the State's hegemonic project to co-opt traditional rule into an already burdensome bureaucracy. Subsequent classificatory decrees recognized five First Class Chiefdoms in the North-West Province - Bafut, Bali, Kom, Nso' and Mankon. Most other chiefs have been classified as Second Class or Third Class. Chiefs receive a monthly salary from the state in addition to a small commission from tax collections. This appears to be their primary source of income as tribute from their subjects is now rare.
Furthermore, in order to raise money, chiefs have been very willing to confer non-hereditary titles on businessmen and civil servants. This trend clearly signals the commodification of cultural symbols and artifacts. Formerly, these were accorded mythic and ritual connotations, but have now been transformed into commodities and circulate in a broader social context. The angry comments of one educated chief shed some light on the ambivalent expectations of the rulers. In response to the question as to why chiefs participated in partisan politics, he retorted by asking whether we (the elite sons of the land) expected them 'to sit in their palaces and dance to all visiting tourists and bureaucrats'? Additional factors have been significant in transforming the chieftaincy. In the colonial period, the selection of chiefs laid emphasis on time-tested initiation rites and cultural values of the people and did not emphasize knowledge of Western education. This changed in the 1970s and 1980s when it became fashionable to install well-educated princes who, it was believed, could blend the 'whiteman's way of life' with the local culture. Chiefs had to be literate in order to better perform the bureaucratic tasks expected of them.
This marked a turning point in the evolution of customary law. No longer adhered to conservatively, long-standing customary tenets were subjected to strict scrutiny and eventually modified. However, the dual requirements of maintaining 'tradition' and, at the same time, adapting customary rules to the changing social environment, have sent conflicting messages to the local community. The contemporary janus-faced ruler has to satisfy the cultural aspirations of his people while charting a new socio-political path for himself and his community. Some chiefs have sought to define a separate ritual space for dealing with communal interests, especially those associated with land tenure, while adopting an entirely different approach in dealings with the state.
Source: http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Chilver/Paideuma/paideuma-General.html
The mythic construction of power has the further advantage that rulers could dispense with any socio-political negotiation of meaning. What in other circumstances would appear as ordinary discourse, open to negotiation, is simply abstracted from the arena of daily interaction and endowed with a transcendence that emanates from the primordial past. Endowed with such mythic qualities, the authority of the Fon is not contested. No ordinary individual, no matter how wealthy, can become Fon.
The chiefs do not derive their authority solely from a material base but rather from ritual and moral authority supported and enhanced by a regulatory society. The latter, a male secret society, exercises multiple functions and is termed Kwifoyn in Kom, Kwifo' in Bafut, Ngumba in Bali, or Ngwerong in Nso'. Any violation of the sacred norms of the land, whether by junior or senior members of the chiefdom, could wrack havoc as the 'earth may pass judgment'. The threat of ritual sanctions constituted an effective safeguard against abuses of power. These various strands of authority gave meaning to the institution of chieftaincy and other traditional repositories of power.
The relationship between the Fon and his subjects may be characterized as one of interdependence. It is said that the Fon is only treated as such because he has people to rule. Kaberry (1950: 379) summarized this relationship as 'The Fon often says: 'what is Fon without people? I am in the hands of my people'; and the Nso' have two sayings that epitomize the conceptions of chieftainship : 'The Fon has everything; the Fon is a poor man' and 'the Fon rules the people, but the people hold the Fon'.' This relationship of interdependence has been much eroded as alternative sources of authority, both internal and external, compete for the regulation of community issues.
The internal challenge comes from the elite sons of the land who wish to have a greater say in local affairs. The old institutional framework that was built on hereditary titles has been considered by some as not responding to the changing power differentials in society.
Yet, a closer look reveals that beneath a rigid formal framework, local authorities have shown flexibility by creating non-hereditary titles based on merit that seek to co-opt rival sources of power. By so doing, some of the educated elite, holding office in public and corporate institutions, have been integrated into the local institutional framework. The elasticity of such recruitment (even sons of former slaves can be honoured with non-hereditary titles) is the price the traditional power brokers have paid to retain command over local affairs.
A second and more invidious challenge comes from the State and its bureaucratic elite. By Decree No. 77/245 of 15 July 1977, all 'traditional chiefs' have been turned into auxiliaries of the administration, and are therefore accountable to the Senior Divisional Officer of their area of jurisdiction. This statutory provision which enshrines the pre-eminence of the Senior Divisional Officer over the local chiefs has been strongly resisted. In a recent conflict between the Senior Divisional Officer of Bui Division and the paramount chief of Nso', the Senior Divisional Officer, issued the following order:
Art. 1 : That His Royal Highness the Fon of Nso ... is with effect from the date of signature of this order prohibited from entering the office and residence of the Senior Divisional Officer for Bui Division for continuous disrespect of the Senior Prefect of Bui since his assumption of duty at the Head of the Bui Administration on May 7th 1986.
Art. 2 : That His Royal Highness the Fon of Nso should with effect from the date of this order report all his administrative problems to his immediate boss, the Divisional Officer for Kumbo Central Sub-Division for appropriate solutions.
Art. 3 : That any violation of this Prefectorial Order by the Fon of Nso shall lead to serious administrative sanctions against him.' (Prefectorial Order No E26/78/RPB/RS/89 of 1/6/1989)
This order, shocking as it appears, did not even provoke the population to rise spontaneously to the defense of their ruler. In the late 1940s and 1950s, when Kaberry undertook fieldwork in Nso', such a move by the Senior Divisional Officer was unthinkable and could have sparked off immense civil unrest or rioting. The population would have risen as one in support of the Fon. As late as 1969, there were great riots in Nso' because a prince had been locked up by the police for social deviance.
This prefectorial order is clear evidence that the powers of the Fon are waning. The State is whittling down the powers of local chiefs. For example, officers from those regions where chieftaincies were a colonial creation are sent to administer local communities with well-established customary chiefs. For example, the Senior Divisional Officer who signed the Order intended to discipline the Fon of Nso' came from the Centre Province where most of the local chiefs were creations of the French colonial administration for fiscal collection and for the forced recruitment of labour under the indigènat system. Administrators from these areas are noted for their disrespect for local chiefs.
The marginalization of traditional authority has had a profound impact on the abilities of the Fon to claim ownership of all land under his jurisdiction. Since such claims were based on his political dominance, is he still justified in claiming that 'all this is my land'? In the large chiefdoms, those who exercised daily administration at the local level were the sub-chiefs and other title holders with powers delegated from the Fon. Are they still loyal and accountable to the Fon? The resurgent question is: who rules the land now?
As paramount, the Fon could exact from his subjects allegiance and tribute as a sign of their submission to him. This submission was clearly manifested by the payment of a tribute of allegiance (Aletum and Fisiy 1989) that included surrendering all 'royal game', such as python, leopard, and buffalo to the Fon. Also, as a sign of submission, local notables were expected to drink the Fon's wine of allegiance. All these practices are now on the decline. The Fon can be a very lonely person in his palace since it has ceased to be the main locus of politics and diplomacy.
Although Decree No 77/245 of 15 July 1977 provides a framework for the recognition of genuine sources of 'traditional rule', the law has tended to demystify the sacred nature of royalty by turning Fons into mere auxiliaries of the administration. Fons have now been rendered fully accountable to the administration at the Divisional level and this has reduced to their former 'despotic' powers. A Fon's installation now has to be ratified by an express note of administrative recognition before he can officially exercise any active role as an auxiliary of the administration. It is clear from this that the chieftaincy has been bureaucratized and reduced to the lower ranks of the administrative ladder. As subordinates in a hierarchical bureaucracy, Fons might suffer disciplinary sanction from low level bureaucrats (as in the case of Nso' quoted above), some of whom might be their own sons or daughters.
The 1977 Decree reveals the State's hegemonic project to co-opt traditional rule into an already burdensome bureaucracy. Subsequent classificatory decrees recognized five First Class Chiefdoms in the North-West Province - Bafut, Bali, Kom, Nso' and Mankon. Most other chiefs have been classified as Second Class or Third Class. Chiefs receive a monthly salary from the state in addition to a small commission from tax collections. This appears to be their primary source of income as tribute from their subjects is now rare.
Furthermore, in order to raise money, chiefs have been very willing to confer non-hereditary titles on businessmen and civil servants. This trend clearly signals the commodification of cultural symbols and artifacts. Formerly, these were accorded mythic and ritual connotations, but have now been transformed into commodities and circulate in a broader social context. The angry comments of one educated chief shed some light on the ambivalent expectations of the rulers. In response to the question as to why chiefs participated in partisan politics, he retorted by asking whether we (the elite sons of the land) expected them 'to sit in their palaces and dance to all visiting tourists and bureaucrats'? Additional factors have been significant in transforming the chieftaincy. In the colonial period, the selection of chiefs laid emphasis on time-tested initiation rites and cultural values of the people and did not emphasize knowledge of Western education. This changed in the 1970s and 1980s when it became fashionable to install well-educated princes who, it was believed, could blend the 'whiteman's way of life' with the local culture. Chiefs had to be literate in order to better perform the bureaucratic tasks expected of them.
This marked a turning point in the evolution of customary law. No longer adhered to conservatively, long-standing customary tenets were subjected to strict scrutiny and eventually modified. However, the dual requirements of maintaining 'tradition' and, at the same time, adapting customary rules to the changing social environment, have sent conflicting messages to the local community. The contemporary janus-faced ruler has to satisfy the cultural aspirations of his people while charting a new socio-political path for himself and his community. Some chiefs have sought to define a separate ritual space for dealing with communal interests, especially those associated with land tenure, while adopting an entirely different approach in dealings with the state.
Source: http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Chilver/Paideuma/paideuma-General.html
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Re: [bonbani] forwarding a press release from communication unit of BRC
NI George
I could not go through your comments on the BRC projects when i read the section which reads ".....thank God we have the right person at the helm" Im sure it was just an aspect of humour you to spice your article .CPMDM ??? ahahahah. People who have taken out their own umbrella when "the rain" is over to talk development in their own village .We should not fail to understand that the pocket is never full of money no matter the the amount that is found in the source where it is being taken to fill the pocket . so let the 16million to construct twoclassrooms not suprise us.Well lets wait and see the quality of the classrooms
Clerkson.
Gebdinga George Waima wrote:
Mfed-Mfed
Looking at the projects many must have doubt because it's not the first.We all know.We have always remain to thrust but things still have divert courses.This is the right time to talk not to wait when the projects have a wrong then still us start pointing fingers and laying acusations.Good that we have the right person at the helm to pilot this through.
We should all have flash back on Koplap water project.How far did that go within the estimated time.Even now I'm still doubting it effectiveness. Many contributed financially, physically with tears and pain to meet it realization but many ills happened on the project.All tilting to mismanagement and squandering of fund.Some even lost their lives.The main initiator of the project being shifted aside.Thank God for that, else we would have missed him by now.
Notwithstanding, this is beneficial of the national cake.I hope and believe the project will go through without people knocking their heads becoming doubting Thomas.Money use judiciously too that's where the issue has questions.What have we, when we crook,swindle, deceive others to enrich ourselves for God's sake.Only an individual and perhaps GOD can give the best answer.If 2 classrooms or others cost 16m,then we expect to have a magnificient structure not the case of Koplap water project that cheap I mean cheap pipe water were bought.Every day water flow through the pipe line because of disjoin and explosion of pipes.Who is to lose,Bali neighbours?NO! Still us but we don't learn from our mistake.One saying goes"You do good you do for yourself,do bad you do for yourself" Everything on the said project is good let it be well implemented. We will have but Bali City nomore Bali Village. God being our helper.
Georgedobgima george taka wrote:
HI ALL
Just a few quick comments about the publication of budget estimates and expenditures for the Bali Nyonga rural council
My first observation is that one of the historic regions of our village has been left out of this development efforts of the mayor .I mean NGWATKAN .Hoping that we all know its geo strategic position within the municipality i want to observe that it has been neglected unfairly in the past and even now .It neither has a budget head nor is included in the contact tour organised my the mayor.I think that NGWATKAN needs a little bit of attention especially if we must develop a sustainable border town policy
Second,i think it is the inalienable right of the people to question things they can,t understand.It is no priviledge done to anybody by a simple act of publishing budgets and expenditures. I think it is an obligation and the mayor has simply done what is to be done .What is left to be questioned will be the realisation of these paper work on the ground
We seem to be overtaken by the notion of CAMEROON doing things its own way.If it is the right way or the wrong way ,sooner or later we will all know.We should stop hiding behind notions like that to do things the wrong way.One has the right to question how 2 classrooms in bali should cost that much.How large and with what kind of imported marble are these classrooms going to be constructed. ? We need some imagination and less logic here i think
STAY BLESSEDFomantum Eric wrote:
Mbonbani .
I believe that what we need to do is first to appreciate the fact that for the first time we are being inform of what is going on in the village in terms of development plans and expenditure. The Mayor has a good plan for the village. It is time we join hands with him to bring about positive ideas on how to develop the village rather than questioning about the cost of building a classroom. I will personally not be bothered about how much it cost to bring electricity to Naka, but I will be bothered that the people of this village had gone for centuries without lights and thanks to someone's inititiave Lighting is on the way. Looking at the details, nighty gritty of everything will only give room for more criticism and less work. I will like to mention here that most of the money from the Public Investment Budget has only become a reality because of the Mayor's efforts and connections. There is nothing wrong in providing for contingency plan in budgeting. To be honest , though I do not belong to the ruling party, the Mayor is achieving a lot for the village. His plans are endless. Questions like these will only go against the detriment of the Bali People as a whole. What I expect from us are proposals on projects in Bali and not cost details. We have been backward for too long. Let's move on.
Ba Fomantum.
TITASAMA DOH wrote:
It is really a wonderful and transparent initiative from the communication Unit of the BRC to make public its budget. Howvever when one goes through the public Investment budget of about 225.9 million and how this money will be spent it calls for alot of questions how camerooun budget is spent. It is very alarming to realise 2 classroom in GS Beisen will cost 16 millions frs CFA, the same goes for GTC Bali and you name the rest. We all know that will not cost more than 5 million to build two classroom in Bali. Only God knows where the rest of the money goes to. This is exactly how the development of Cameroon is being postponed to 100 years from now. Imagine this happening in all the subdivisions in cameroon. How many schools and roads would have been constructed if transparent and objective budgeting was but in place.
It is high time the people who execute these projects begin raising objections to this kind of budgeting.
It is good to know that this how our country in govern. 'Le cameroun c'est le cameroun'
Thank you Ni Edwin for sharing this with us.
Tita Sama
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -------
PUBLIC INVESTMENT BUDGET
1) Mantum Electricity project 30 million
2) Njap Fotoh electricity project 35 million
3) Njap Fotoh water project 45 million
4) Support to agro/pastoral/ craft show 2 million
5) Workshop for GTC Bali 25 million
6) Two classrooms for GTC 18 million
7) Renovation works GNS Bali 10 million
8) Two classrooms for GS Beisen 16 million
9) Two classrooms for GS Kutadshi 16 million
10) Toilets for GS Fotoh/Mantum 3.5 million
11) Toilets GS Bali group 1?2 3.5 million
12) 60 desks for GS Naka 1.8 million
13) Two classrooms for GS Naka 16 million
14) 50 desks for GS Fotoh/Mantum 1.6 million
15) Staff room GS Fotoh/Mantum 2.5 million
Total 225.9 million
I could not go through your comments on the BRC projects when i read the section which reads ".....thank God we have the right person at the helm" Im sure it was just an aspect of humour you to spice your article .CPMDM ??? ahahahah. People who have taken out their own umbrella when "the rain" is over to talk development in their own village .We should not fail to understand that the pocket is never full of money no matter the the amount that is found in the source where it is being taken to fill the pocket . so let the 16million to construct twoclassrooms not suprise us.Well lets wait and see the quality of the classrooms
Clerkson.
Gebdinga George Waima
Mfed-Mfed
Looking at the projects many must have doubt because it's not the first.We all know.We have always remain to thrust but things still have divert courses.This is the right time to talk not to wait when the projects have a wrong then still us start pointing fingers and laying acusations.Good that we have the right person at the helm to pilot this through.
We should all have flash back on Koplap water project.How far did that go within the estimated time.Even now I'm still doubting it effectiveness. Many contributed financially, physically with tears and pain to meet it realization but many ills happened on the project.All tilting to mismanagement and squandering of fund.Some even lost their lives.The main initiator of the project being shifted aside.Thank God for that, else we would have missed him by now.
Notwithstanding, this is beneficial of the national cake.I hope and believe the project will go through without people knocking their heads becoming doubting Thomas.Money use judiciously too that's where the issue has questions.What have we, when we crook,swindle, deceive others to enrich ourselves for God's sake.Only an individual and perhaps GOD can give the best answer.If 2 classrooms or others cost 16m,then we expect to have a magnificient structure not the case of Koplap water project that cheap I mean cheap pipe water were bought.Every day water flow through the pipe line because of disjoin and explosion of pipes.Who is to lose,Bali neighbours?NO! Still us but we don't learn from our mistake.One saying goes"You do good you do for yourself,do bad you do for yourself" Everything on the said project is good let it be well implemented. We will have but Bali City nomore Bali Village. God being our helper.
Georgedobgima george taka
HI ALL
Just a few quick comments about the publication of budget estimates and expenditures for the Bali Nyonga rural council
My first observation is that one of the historic regions of our village has been left out of this development efforts of the mayor .I mean NGWATKAN .Hoping that we all know its geo strategic position within the municipality i want to observe that it has been neglected unfairly in the past and even now .It neither has a budget head nor is included in the contact tour organised my the mayor.I think that NGWATKAN needs a little bit of attention especially if we must develop a sustainable border town policy
Second,i think it is the inalienable right of the people to question things they can,t understand.It is no priviledge done to anybody by a simple act of publishing budgets and expenditures. I think it is an obligation and the mayor has simply done what is to be done .What is left to be questioned will be the realisation of these paper work on the ground
We seem to be overtaken by the notion of CAMEROON doing things its own way.If it is the right way or the wrong way ,sooner or later we will all know.We should stop hiding behind notions like that to do things the wrong way.One has the right to question how 2 classrooms in bali should cost that much.How large and with what kind of imported marble are these classrooms going to be constructed. ? We need some imagination and less logic here i think
STAY BLESSEDFomantum Eric
Mbonbani
I believe that what we need to do is first to appreciate the fact that for the first time we are being inform of what is going on in the village in terms of development plans and expenditure. The Mayor has a good plan for the village. It is time we join hands with him to bring about positive ideas on how to develop the village rather than questioning about the cost of building a classroom. I will personally not be bothered about how much it cost to bring electricity to Naka, but I will be bothered that the people of this village had gone for centuries without lights and thanks to someone's inititiave Lighting is on the way. Looking at the details, nighty gritty of everything will only give room for more criticism and less work. I will like to mention here that most of the money from the Public Investment Budget has only become a reality because of the Mayor's efforts and connections. There is nothing wrong in providing for contingency plan in budgeting. To be honest , though I do not belong to the ruling party, the Mayor is achieving a lot for the village. His plans are endless. Questions like these will only go against the detriment of the Bali People as a whole. What I expect from us are proposals on projects in Bali and not cost details. We have been backward for too long. Let's move on.
Ba Fomantum.
TITASAMA DOH
It is really a wonderful and transparent initiative from the communication Unit of the BRC to make public its budget. Howvever when one goes through the public Investment budget of about 225.9 million and how this money will be spent it calls for alot of questions how camerooun budget is spent. It is very alarming to realise 2 classroom in GS Beisen will cost 16 millions frs CFA, the same goes for GTC Bali and you name the rest. We all know that will not cost more than 5 million to build two classroom in Bali. Only God knows where the rest of the money goes to. This is exactly how the development of Cameroon is being postponed to 100 years from now. Imagine this happening in all the subdivisions in cameroon. How many schools and roads would have been constructed if transparent and objective budgeting was but in place.
It is high time the people who execute these projects begin raising objections to this kind of budgeting.
It is good to know that this how our country in govern. 'Le cameroun c'est le cameroun'
Thank you Ni Edwin for sharing this with us.
Tita Sama
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -------
PUBLIC INVESTMENT BUDGET
1) Mantum Electricity project 30 million
2) Njap Fotoh electricity project 35 million
3) Njap Fotoh water project 45 million
4) Support to agro/pastoral/ craft show 2 million
5) Workshop for GTC Bali 25 million
6) Two classrooms for GTC 18 million
7) Renovation works GNS Bali 10 million
8) Two classrooms for GS Beisen 16 million
9) Two classrooms for GS Kutadshi 16 million
10) Toilets for GS Fotoh/Mantum 3.5 million
11) Toilets GS Bali group 1?2 3.5 million
12) 60 desks for GS Naka 1.8 million
13) Two classrooms for GS Naka 16 million
14) 50 desks for GS Fotoh/Mantum 1.6 million
15) Staff room GS Fotoh/Mantum 2.5 million
Total 225.9 million
RE-NAKA VILLAGE ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT FUND RAISING
Think about it l am sure the street lights were hung on existing poles if that was the case, then parts of Bali\pple going without electricity might be because the whole infrastructure has to be built from the ground up. This requires a process so l do not think comparing street lights and people going without light makes a good argument.What is being done now is part of that process. Stay blessed. NibabsDohmusi Fidelis Gana wrote:
Ni Goddy,We are thinking in the same direction. What I meant was that I have a problem with lighting the streets when other parts like Naka and even parts of Nsang and Etoma are begging for electricity extensions.GanaGoddy Fofang wrote:
Ni Gana,Our basic need is electricity and water and a motor able road. The majority of Bali Population is moving towards Naka though settled around Worsing. We now have a good road going through, and when you bring Electricity and Water more people will build in that area. We are not talking of lighting the highway which I don't have a problem with that either. We are talking of expansion of Electricity and water. Have you thought that River Naka could supply water to that area? Let's try to be positive here. Before any neighborhood is developed here, Water, Electricity and sewage comes first, why not Bali? You need to give Ba Fomantum kudos. NI Goddy
To: mbonbani@yahoogroup s.comFrom: dohmusi06@yahoo. comDate: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:01:10 -0700Subject: RE: [bonbani] NAKA VILLAGE -BALI SUBDIVISION LAUNCHES FUND RAISING TO ELECTRIFY VILLAGE
Ni Goddy,With the coming of the new mayor, someone proudly announced an achievement which was the lighting of the highway from T-junction to Ntan Ko'o. In response, I wondered aloud while the Highway should be lighted when many people in some parts of the sub-division lacked the opportunity to light their homes for kids to at least do their homework. Ba Fomantum's initiative highlights the bases of my worries. Such an initiative will make him forever remembered by the people of Naka. Its success is my wish.GanaGoddy Fofang wrote:
Ba Fomantum,I salute you for your endeavors to modernize Bali Nyonga. You have taken us up for a challenge that will make a blind man see. When the current Mayor took office , there was an outburst of cries for help from this group and we had to wait for him to saddle on. I wonder what his plans for Bali -Nyonga is, now that the horse is galloping smoothly, if this is the right time to ask?I read your mail with keen interest and it touched my heart that we as sons of Bali may not understand your vision. For those who have a foresight, please read ba Fomantum's message and think twice. We are the ones who own land between Njenka Hausa and chomba and this area is where the Bali Nyonga city is expanding to. I suggested a few months ago that those who own land from T-Junction should be the touch bearers to push for Electricity and Water to be brought to that area. Little did I know what was in the oven. If Bali-Nyonga becomes a Full Division, Worsing will be a sub-division, since there is no land in Bali central for businesses to build or grow. Why don't we act now? In the name of development, we can join Ba Fomantum to make this dream come true.Ni Goddy fofang
To: mbonbani@yahoogroup s.comFrom: evotmia@yahoo. comDate: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:57:38 -0700Subject: [bonbani] NAKA VILLAGE -BALI SUBDIVISION LAUNCHES FUND RAISING TO ELECTRIFY VILLAGE
Ba Mbonbani,
On April 25th 2008, the population of Naka Village in the Bali Nyonga Subdivision will be launching a Special Fund Raising for the electrification of the Village.
This call for support comes in the wake of recent development projects in Bali Nyonga as a whole, an initiative fueled by the World Bank Sponsored project through an NGO called GP DERUDEP. However for any village to benefit from the grant, they must in addition of the submission of a viable project, contribute 10% of the value of the project. We of Naka have already contributed 1.300,000 FCFA and wish to raise this amount to 3,000,000 frs in order to electrify the entire Naka Village. The estimated value of our project is 30,000,000 frs CFA. For our project to be accepted, we need the sum of 1,700,000 FCFA to make up the difference. It is in this light that we are calling on all the sons and daughters of Bali Nyonga as well as friends and sympathisers to come to our support.
Naka village is one of the only villages in the Bali Nyonga Subdivision without electricity, portable water and health care facilities. The entire village with a population of about 3,500 people is made up of the following quarters: Ngwatkan, Titam (Mile 88 ), Mali (Mile 86) and Nsang (Mile 8). Naka is only about 5 Minutes drive from Bamenda and 8 minutes drive from Ntafoang-Bali, yet it is one of the least developed in the area. Despite the tarred road that passes through Naka, it has not caught the eyes of people to invest or build beautiful houses in this area because of lack of basic necessities.
Naka is the most strategic village in the whole of Bali subdivisions for the following reasons:
1. It is the gateway to the Bali Nyonga subdivision. You can not enter Bali without passing through Naka except through Mbengwi or Mamfe.
2. As a border village that has witnessed invasion in the past from neibouring villages like Chomba, more people need to live in this area as soon as possible. More people can only do so with the presence of electricity, portable water and health facilities.
3. Naka is a major farming area that produces most of the food that feeds the population of Bali and Bamenda, yet it is paid the least attention. You need to see the number of people that leaves from Bamenda to Naka everyday to carry out farming. However serious agricultural projects cannot take place in this village because of the absence of electricity. Naka has the largest portion of fertile soil in the Bali Nyonga subdivision and could provide a source of wealth to many.
4. Living in Naka, is like Living in Bamenda. It takes less time to leave Naka to Bamenda, than it takes to live Nkwen or the Station Hill to Bamenda. Developing Naka will mean bridging the gap between Bali and Bamenda. In order to earn a division in Bali, small strategic villages like Naka need to be empowered and endowered with basic facilities. Uplifting this area may significantly contribute to the granting of a subdivision in Bali Nyonga.
It is within this framework of social development, that the people of Naka are soliciting your assistance for Fund Raising. Your generous donation, in cash or Kind will be highly welcome. What ever you contribute, God will refill your pockets tenfold.
Ba Tadoh Fomantum
On Behalf of the Naka Community
Ni Goddy,We are thinking in the same direction. What I meant was that I have a problem with lighting the streets when other parts like Naka and even parts of Nsang and Etoma are begging for electricity extensions.GanaGoddy Fofang
Ni Gana,Our basic need is electricity and water and a motor able road. The majority of Bali Population is moving towards Naka though settled around Worsing. We now have a good road going through, and when you bring Electricity and Water more people will build in that area. We are not talking of lighting the highway which I don't have a problem with that either. We are talking of expansion of Electricity and water. Have you thought that River Naka could supply water to that area? Let's try to be positive here. Before any neighborhood is developed here, Water, Electricity and sewage comes first, why not Bali? You need to give Ba Fomantum kudos. NI Goddy
To: mbonbani@yahoogroup s.comFrom: dohmusi06@yahoo. comDate: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:01:10 -0700Subject: RE: [bonbani] NAKA VILLAGE -BALI SUBDIVISION LAUNCHES FUND RAISING TO ELECTRIFY VILLAGE
Ni Goddy,With the coming of the new mayor, someone proudly announced an achievement which was the lighting of the highway from T-junction to Ntan Ko'o. In response, I wondered aloud while the Highway should be lighted when many people in some parts of the sub-division lacked the opportunity to light their homes for kids to at least do their homework. Ba Fomantum's initiative highlights the bases of my worries. Such an initiative will make him forever remembered by the people of Naka. Its success is my wish.GanaGoddy Fofang
Ba Fomantum,I salute you for your endeavors to modernize Bali Nyonga. You have taken us up for a challenge that will make a blind man see. When the current Mayor took office , there was an outburst of cries for help from this group and we had to wait for him to saddle on. I wonder what his plans for Bali -Nyonga is, now that the horse is galloping smoothly, if this is the right time to ask?I read your mail with keen interest and it touched my heart that we as sons of Bali may not understand your vision. For those who have a foresight, please read ba Fomantum's message and think twice. We are the ones who own land between Njenka Hausa and chomba and this area is where the Bali Nyonga city is expanding to. I suggested a few months ago that those who own land from T-Junction should be the touch bearers to push for Electricity and Water to be brought to that area. Little did I know what was in the oven. If Bali-Nyonga becomes a Full Division, Worsing will be a sub-division, since there is no land in Bali central for businesses to build or grow. Why don't we act now? In the name of development, we can join Ba Fomantum to make this dream come true.Ni Goddy fofang
To: mbonbani@yahoogroup s.comFrom: evotmia@yahoo. comDate: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:57:38 -0700Subject: [bonbani] NAKA VILLAGE -BALI SUBDIVISION LAUNCHES FUND RAISING TO ELECTRIFY VILLAGE
Ba Mbonbani,
On April 25th 2008, the population of Naka Village in the Bali Nyonga Subdivision will be launching a Special Fund Raising for the electrification of the Village.
This call for support comes in the wake of recent development projects in Bali Nyonga as a whole, an initiative fueled by the World Bank Sponsored project through an NGO called GP DERUDEP. However for any village to benefit from the grant, they must in addition of the submission of a viable project, contribute 10% of the value of the project. We of Naka have already contributed 1.300,000 FCFA and wish to raise this amount to 3,000,000 frs in order to electrify the entire Naka Village. The estimated value of our project is 30,000,000 frs CFA. For our project to be accepted, we need the sum of 1,700,000 FCFA to make up the difference. It is in this light that we are calling on all the sons and daughters of Bali Nyonga as well as friends and sympathisers to come to our support.
Naka village is one of the only villages in the Bali Nyonga Subdivision without electricity, portable water and health care facilities. The entire village with a population of about 3,500 people is made up of the following quarters: Ngwatkan, Titam (Mile 88 ), Mali (Mile 86) and Nsang (Mile 8). Naka is only about 5 Minutes drive from Bamenda and 8 minutes drive from Ntafoang-Bali, yet it is one of the least developed in the area. Despite the tarred road that passes through Naka, it has not caught the eyes of people to invest or build beautiful houses in this area because of lack of basic necessities.
Naka is the most strategic village in the whole of Bali subdivisions for the following reasons:
1. It is the gateway to the Bali Nyonga subdivision. You can not enter Bali without passing through Naka except through Mbengwi or Mamfe.
2. As a border village that has witnessed invasion in the past from neibouring villages like Chomba, more people need to live in this area as soon as possible. More people can only do so with the presence of electricity, portable water and health facilities.
3. Naka is a major farming area that produces most of the food that feeds the population of Bali and Bamenda, yet it is paid the least attention. You need to see the number of people that leaves from Bamenda to Naka everyday to carry out farming. However serious agricultural projects cannot take place in this village because of the absence of electricity. Naka has the largest portion of fertile soil in the Bali Nyonga subdivision and could provide a source of wealth to many.
4. Living in Naka, is like Living in Bamenda. It takes less time to leave Naka to Bamenda, than it takes to live Nkwen or the Station Hill to Bamenda. Developing Naka will mean bridging the gap between Bali and Bamenda. In order to earn a division in Bali, small strategic villages like Naka need to be empowered and endowered with basic facilities. Uplifting this area may significantly contribute to the granting of a subdivision in Bali Nyonga.
It is within this framework of social development, that the people of Naka are soliciting your assistance for Fund Raising. Your generous donation, in cash or Kind will be highly welcome. What ever you contribute, God will refill your pockets tenfold.
Ba Tadoh Fomantum
On Behalf of the Naka Community
NAKA VILLAGE ELECTRIFICATION PROJECT FUND RAISING
Ba Mbonbani,
On April 25th 2008, the population of Naka Village in the Bali Nyonga Subdivision will be launching a Special Fund Raising for the electrification of the Village.
This call for support comes in the wake of recent development projects in Bali Nyonga as a whole, an initiative fueled by the World Bank Sponsored project through an NGO called GP DERUDEP. However for any village to benefit from the grant, they must in addition of the submission of a viable project, contribute 10% of the value of the project. We of Naka have already contributed 1.300,000 FCFA and wish to raise this amount to 3,000,000 frs in order to electrify the entire Naka Village. The estimated value of our project is 30,000,000 frs CFA. For our project to be accepted, we need the sum of 1,700,000 FCFA to make up the difference. It is in this light that we are calling on all the sons and daughters of Bali Nyonga as well as friends and sympathisers to come to our support.
Naka village is one of the only villages in the Bali Nyonga Subdivision without electricity, portable water and health care facilities. The entire village with a population of about 3,500 people is made up of the following quarters: Ngwatkan, Titam (Mile 88 ), Mali (Mile 86) and Nsang (Mile 8). Naka is only about 5 Minutes drive from Bamenda and 8 minutes drive from Ntafoang-Bali, yet it is one of the least developed in the area. Despite the tarred road that passes through Naka, it has not caught the eyes of people to invest or build beautiful houses in this area because of lack of basic necessities.
Naka is the most strategic village in the whole of Bali subdivisions for the following reasons:
1. It is the gateway to the Bali Nyonga subdivision. You can not enter Bali without passing through Naka except through Mbengwi or Mamfe.
2. As a border village that has witnessed invasion in the past from neibouring villages like Chomba, more people need to live in this area as soon as possible. More people can only do so with the presence of electricity, portable water and health facilities.
3. Naka is a major farming area that produces most of the food that feeds the population of Bali and Bamenda, yet it is paid the least attention. You need to see the number of people that leaves from Bamenda to Naka everyday to carry out farming. However serious agricultural projects cannot take place in this village because of the absence of electricity. Naka has the largest portion of fertile soil in the Bali Nyonga subdivision and could provide a source of wealth to many.
4. Living in Naka, is like Living in Bamenda. It takes less time to leave Naka to Bamenda, than it takes to live Nkwen or the Station Hill to Bamenda. Developing Naka will mean bridging the gap between Bali and Bamenda. In order to earn a division in Bali, small strategic villages like Naka need to be empowered and endowered with basic facilities. Uplifting this area may significantly contribute to the granting of a subdivision in Bali Nyonga.
It is within this framework of social development, that the people of Naka are soliciting your assistance for Fund Raising. Your generous donation, in cash or Kind will be highly welcome. What ever you contribute, God will refill your pockets tenfold.
Ba Tadoh Fomantum
On Behalf of the Naka Community.
On April 25th 2008, the population of Naka Village in the Bali Nyonga Subdivision will be launching a Special Fund Raising for the electrification of the Village.
This call for support comes in the wake of recent development projects in Bali Nyonga as a whole, an initiative fueled by the World Bank Sponsored project through an NGO called GP DERUDEP. However for any village to benefit from the grant, they must in addition of the submission of a viable project, contribute 10% of the value of the project. We of Naka have already contributed 1.300,000 FCFA and wish to raise this amount to 3,000,000 frs in order to electrify the entire Naka Village. The estimated value of our project is 30,000,000 frs CFA. For our project to be accepted, we need the sum of 1,700,000 FCFA to make up the difference. It is in this light that we are calling on all the sons and daughters of Bali Nyonga as well as friends and sympathisers to come to our support.
Naka village is one of the only villages in the Bali Nyonga Subdivision without electricity, portable water and health care facilities. The entire village with a population of about 3,500 people is made up of the following quarters: Ngwatkan, Titam (Mile 88 ), Mali (Mile 86) and Nsang (Mile 8). Naka is only about 5 Minutes drive from Bamenda and 8 minutes drive from Ntafoang-Bali, yet it is one of the least developed in the area. Despite the tarred road that passes through Naka, it has not caught the eyes of people to invest or build beautiful houses in this area because of lack of basic necessities.
Naka is the most strategic village in the whole of Bali subdivisions for the following reasons:
1. It is the gateway to the Bali Nyonga subdivision. You can not enter Bali without passing through Naka except through Mbengwi or Mamfe.
2. As a border village that has witnessed invasion in the past from neibouring villages like Chomba, more people need to live in this area as soon as possible. More people can only do so with the presence of electricity, portable water and health facilities.
3. Naka is a major farming area that produces most of the food that feeds the population of Bali and Bamenda, yet it is paid the least attention. You need to see the number of people that leaves from Bamenda to Naka everyday to carry out farming. However serious agricultural projects cannot take place in this village because of the absence of electricity. Naka has the largest portion of fertile soil in the Bali Nyonga subdivision and could provide a source of wealth to many.
4. Living in Naka, is like Living in Bamenda. It takes less time to leave Naka to Bamenda, than it takes to live Nkwen or the Station Hill to Bamenda. Developing Naka will mean bridging the gap between Bali and Bamenda. In order to earn a division in Bali, small strategic villages like Naka need to be empowered and endowered with basic facilities. Uplifting this area may significantly contribute to the granting of a subdivision in Bali Nyonga.
It is within this framework of social development, that the people of Naka are soliciting your assistance for Fund Raising. Your generous donation, in cash or Kind will be highly welcome. What ever you contribute, God will refill your pockets tenfold.
Ba Tadoh Fomantum
On Behalf of the Naka Community.
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