THE BAKWERI PALACE REVOLUTION IN CAMEROON: A NEW ERA MUST MEAN NEW LEADERSHIP (DR. DAVID MAKONGO)
First, congratulations. From German colonial rule to the present day, Bakweri land has endured generations of expropriation, dispossession and controversial land transfers. Too often, traditional authorities, administrative officials and powerful interests have stood at the center of decisions that left ordinary Bakweri children, youth and women watching their ancestral inheritance disappear.
But something is changing.
Across Buea, Bokwaongo, Great Soppo, Bokova, Bova, Gwassa and beyond, a younger generation is steadily rising into traditional leadership. This is more than succession. It has the potential to become a Bakweri palace revolution—a generational awakening born from land dispossession, unemployment, frustration and the thirst for dignity, identity and accountable leadership.
But changing the Chief without changing the culture of leadership changes nothing.
These new Chiefs must not become ceremonial handclappers, political praise-singers or unquestioning instruments of administrative authority. They must resist questionable land sales, defend customary inheritance, protect the vulnerable and place the dignity and future of their people above personal privilege.
The palace must once again belong to the people. The Chief must speak when the people cannot speak, stand when they are pushed down, and protect the land when powerful hands reach for it.
I grew up among these villages. I know our land, our people and our culture. That is why I see enormous hope in this generational transformation.
A new era of Bakweri chieftaincy is being born. Let it become the revolution that restores our land, our dignity and our people's confidence in traditional leadership.
New Chiefs. New courage. New accountability. A new Bakweri awakening.
GOOD LUCK
Dr. David Makongo
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