The SDO’s attempt to impose a leader who has lost the mandate of his Kingmakers risks deepening local divisions. It reinforces the perception that, under the current system, traditional rulers are increasingly viewed as auxiliaries of the administration rather than independent custodians of custom.
By Lester Maddox, Guest Writer
Independentistnews, Oakland County, California
The ongoing crisis in Bangolan village, Ngoketunjia, has pulled back the curtain on a profound systemic conflict. When the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for Ngoketunjia, Handerson Quetong Konge, issued a decree declaring the dethronement of Fon Chafah Isaac XI as “null and void,” he was not performing a neutral administrative act; he was attempting to overwrite centuries of Tikari customary law and governance balance. In the historical governance of the Southern Cameroons, an SDO is a civil servant, not a monarch. His role is to receive information from the village and ensure public order—not to sit as a supreme judge over the spiritual and ancestral mandates of the Bangolan people.
The spark that ignited this fire was Fon Chafah’s recent visit to the church of John Chi, where he made public statements explicitly critical of traditional practices. By denouncing customs he was sworn to protect, he effectively set himself in conflict with the Ngumba (Traditional Council). When the SDO threatens the Kingmakers with accusations of “sacrilege” for removing a leader they believe has abandoned his heritage, the administration appears to be treating the Bangolan people as subjects rather than custodians of their own tradition. This tension highlights the deeper clash between centralized command governance and the consensus-based traditions of the Grassfields.
In the old order, the administration respected the “fence” between the state and the Palace. Today, many feel that fence has been torn down. The SDO’s attempt to impose a leader who has lost the mandate of his Kingmakers risks deepening local divisions. It reinforces the perception that, under the current system, traditional rulers are increasingly viewed as auxiliaries of the administration rather than independent custodians of custom. The Kingmakers of Bangolan have spoken; whether administrative authority can or should override that decision remains the core dispute.
The Final Verdict:
Administrative decrees alone cannot restore legitimacy to a throne that many believe has already been spiritually and culturally vacated by the occupant’s own words and actions.
Lester Maddox, Guest Writer
Independentistnews
