Tuesday 20 January 2015

ORIGIN OF VILLAGES AROUND MOUNT CAMEROON


Amongst the villages situated around Mount Cameroon they share a common identity. These villages as history tell it; their founder was a hunter who came from the Bomboko area behind Mt. Cameroon. Never the less, Wonjia is a village in Buea who is a clear testimony of this history. Wonjia village in the past was habited by the children of Njia the founder of the village. It should be noted that over 99% of the villages around Mount Cameroon, are named after their founders. In the case, this has also been a mechanism to trace ancestral lineage and determine owners of the throne.

Wonjia (the descendants of Njia) village was founded by Njia Tama. He came from Bomboko; he was a farmer, hunter and a good Palm Wine tapper. It is known that in the course of his hunting expeditions, he found himself along the eastern banks of the Koke Streams which happened to be blessed with games and fertile volcanic soil. He latter settled here and called the place “Wonjia” meaning the descendants of Njia.

 In Wonjia village, he got married and gave birth to three sons; Mine, Evella and Meonje. His three sons constituted the ancestral fathers of the three patrimonial families of Wonjia.  Their off springs are identified by their ancestral fathers. The descendants of Mine or Wonya (family of) Mine are referred to as Bwemini, those of Evella or Wonya Evella are also known as Bwevella and those of Meonje are called Wonya Meonje. Like wise, the chieftaincy stool rotates amongst the descendants of those three patrimonial families.

A few decades ago, Wonjia village had been abandoned and deserted for over half a century for both natural and supper natural causes like the enclave nature of the area and the complete absence of basic facilities at the time. Following these short comings, almost every one left the village but for the last village head before Chief Njie Mandenge the present village head, Sango (Pa) Woloa Mokwa also known as “Atombi Longe” who died instate, was the only individual who stayed behind until his death.

Wonjia Village was declared and considered as desolate and extinct. On the other hand, in a spirit of consciousness and awakening, the children of Wonjia in unison decided to see the rebirth of their ancestral place of origin. In that awareness, they conveyed a general village meeting of all the sons and daughters of Wonjia on Saturday, February 9th 2008. In that meeting a new leader was chosen to lead the people back to their ancestral land. After some consultative talks and the confirmation by the administration of the chief, the beginning of the fulfillment of the dream was the new challenge.  


Communal Land: The Rebirth of Wonjia by Chief Njie Mandenge
The Wonja village of late Sango “Atombi Longe” and the cradle of the Malley and Nganya Culture had virtually disappeared Cameroon map and history. But today, barely after three years ago when the operation “Home is Home” was launched thanks to the over 20 hectares of CDC surrendered land that the government granted to the Wonjia community. With this notion in mind, it took the present Chief Njie Mandenge and some of his lineage and subjects of good will over three years considering the litigations, challenges, and hurdles to recover the encroached habitable portion of Wonjia village lands from intruders. According to Chief Njie Mandenge, the land of their ancestors is and will remain communal lands. He affirms that the land remain an inalienable right to the natives, a collective possession to hold and sustain for the common good of the community.

With the censured and proper management and distribution of the surrendered land, indigenes of the Wonjia village taking the “home is home” slogan to rebuild, assist and promote development actions in Wonjia village. Today, Wonjia has an accessible earth road, electricity, pipe born water, a palm plantation which gives opportunity for employment, just to list a few. His Royal Highness Njie Mandenge is standing head high and proud of a collaborating population of over five hundred persons with his village been a role model as other disappearing villages have choose to seek his consent and follow the foot step of Wonjia (the descendant of Njia).

Wonjia village is along the eastern banks of the Koke Stream in the defunct Lysoka Customary Court Area presently under the jurisdiction of the Muea Customary Court Area. Wonjia is bounded on the North by Wokulu village, North – East by Upper Wonganjo village, and South by Bolifamba village and South West by Wokaka village.

Source: Wonjia Village - Chief Njie Mandenge 
(mtcameroonecotour@gmail.com / globalhand7@gmail.com)  

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Thursday 8 January 2015

THE MANAGEMENT OF MOUNT CAMEROON


Mount Cameroon, located in the South West Region of Cameroon. The Mountain is the highest peak in West Africa with a total surface area of about 50 by 30 km2 thus given an estimated surface area of about 58178 hectares. The mountain is rich in resources; a rich biodiversity, range of attractive topography, savanna, lava rocks, craters, crater lakes and a lot more.

The range of natural endowment within the mount Cameroon region is shared within two divsions; Fako and Meme Division and some five (5) Sub-Divisions that the Mountain cuts across; the Buea, Mbonge, Muyuka, Limbe I, and Idenau Sub-Division. Amongst this Sub Division, we can count up to forty-one (41) villages within the Mount Cameroon region. Before the coming of the Mount Cameroon National Park (MCNP) in 2009, Mount Cameroon was been managed by the communities through the Mount Cameroon Inter communal Board (MtCEO) through a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure.  

In the year 2009 the MCNP came in place through a Prime Ministerial Order No 2009/2272/PM of 18th December 2009. In order to continue the process of conservation in Mount Cameroon; now a National Park the objectives of the MCNP were conceived to meet up with community needs, development and sustainability and best practice. Their three main objectives are;
1.      Biodiversity Conservation
2.      Support community development through the Conservation Development Agreement and
3.      Promotion of Eco Tourism

From the third objective, recent statistic from the offices of the MCNP shows an increase in the number of tourist visiting the park since 2010. For example, in 2013, the service of the Park registered over 1300 visitors and in 2014 they had on their register over 1500 visitors entering the MCNP.

From the first and second objectives of the Park, it has been confirmed that research activities on the biodiversity has increased which has also in turn lead to the discovery of new species of  butterfly and birds which are going to be named after the Mount Cameroon. On the other hand, following the Community Development Agreement, the 41 villages have been involved in the planning, policy/decision making and in the execution of some services of the park like boundary opening, monitoring of illegal activities within the park which has also earn them some Conservation Development Bonuses  to be used for community projects like the support to farming projects (Yam, Cassava and Bee farming) construction of community halls, chairs, water projects in villages like Lower Bwando, Kuke Kumbu, Woteva, Bonakanda, Mondongo, Bokosso, Buea Town and the lots of other villages from the four cluster making the 41 villages.

Blessed with a friendly environment and the diverse natural endowment, the park service also face some challenges like bush fire which at times is as a result of negligence and hunting. Fortunately, with the emergence of the Management Plan to approve in due time, bush fire (organized and controlled) is to be considered as a management plan for the park.  In that regards, the park service in their Management Plan has develop a fire management plan; to sensitize the communities, to carry out fire tracing and the implementation of a pilot fire management strategy to avoid unwanted bush fires in the park.

Here is a list of villages and in the four clusters
CLUSTER
S/N
VILLAGE
BUEA CLUSTER
1
Upper Boando
2
Ekonjo
3
Mapanja
4
Bwassa
5
Likombe
6
Bokwaongo
7
Likoko Membea
8
Buea Village
9
Ewonda
10
Bova I
11
Bova II
12
Bonakanda
13
Woteva
MUYUKA CLUSTER
14
Ekona Lelu
15
Mundame
16
Liola Buea
17
Masuma
18
Bavenga
19
Bafia
20
Lykoko
21
Lilale
22
Munyenge
BOMBOKO CLUSTER
23
Bova Bomboko
24
Boviongo
25
Ebie
26
Bokosso
27
Mondongo
28
Munyenge
29
Mweli
30
Efolofo
31
Kuke Kumbu
32
Kotto I
33
Kotto II
34
Bomana
WEST COAST CLUSTER
35
Sanje
36
Bibunde
37
Njonji
38
Bakingili
39
Batoke
40
Etone
41
Lower Boando

Source: MCNP
(mtcameroonecotour@gmail.com / globalhand7@gmail.com)

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