A Brief History of the Bakweri Land Problem

When Cameroon became a German Protectorate in 1884, the Germans realized that the area around Mount Cameroon, home of the indigenous Bakweri ethnic group, was an agricultural paradise. They immediately instituted a policy of wholesale confiscation of native lands for large-scale commercial agriculture. Through the use of coercion, brute force, and a series of repressive laws, the German colonial Government forced local indigenous communities to give up vast expanses of native lands without compensation.

The German colonial Government also instituted the notorious and inhumane policy of packing the Bakweri into inaccessible, disease infested and inhospitable Native Reserves. Through this policy, thousands of Bakweri were forcefully displaced from their original villages and herded off onto strange and unfriendly patches of lands around the plantations. In one swoop, the Bakweri, who prior to the arrival of the Germans were described as aggressive, independent and dynamic, were transformed into a dejected, despondent, lethargic and dependent people. Ripped from familiar surroundings on which their entire traditional culture derived its strength the Bakweri began an alarming downward spiral that would continue for over half a century – a fate no different from that of Native Americans.

In total, the Germans alienated about 400 square miles of the most fertile land around the Mount Fako area alone, and stripped the Bakweri of over 200,000 acres of their most fertile lands with tragic results. According to the 1922 British Annual Report to the League of Nations:
“Uprooted from the homes of their forebears, settled willy-nilly on strange soil, deprived of their old-time hunting grounds, and fishing rights, the Bakweri have retained but a small sense of tribal unity or cohesion.”

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Comments

[DJATOU MEDARD]

hi all

I'm a doctoral student in anthropology at the yaounde I Uiversity. It's a great plesure for me to have this site. I'm working on Bakweri people for my thesis but I ghave a problem. I dont succed to have a geographycal map on which Bakwri people are located. i dont know if you can have it. Thanks

Best wishes.

[africanatheartinjamaica]

this is a clear case of african land being stolen by europeans of the past for which their present day descendants should by force ( and deemed necessary) be made to return those land or pay compensation... but how does one compensate for 400 + year of misery, discrimination and injustice... that is the question.

[MONANGAI JOHN MONANGAI]

AM A JOURNALIST WORKING WITH RADIO BUDESLIGA IN GERMANY. I WANT TO TALK A LITTLE ABOUT THE BAKWERI LAND AFFAIRE AND THE LAND OWNERSHIP IN GENERAL ESPECIALLY AROUND THE BUEA BOKWANGO HERMISPHERE.I HAVE BEEN PREVILEDGE AND A WITNESS TO SOME CRUCIAL LAND PROBLEMS IN BOKWANGO VILLAGE WHERE THE TRADITIONAL RULERS HAVE ALL BEEN CORRUPTED WITH BRIBERYAND CORRUPTION.ESPECIALLY THE TRADITIONAL RULER OF BOKWANGO VILLAGE OF WHICH I WILL WITHHELD HIS NAME HAVE BEEN AN INSTRUMENT IN SOME OF THE LANDS IN THAT AREA GIVING THEM OUT TO NON INDIGENES INSTEAD OF INDIGENES.
IN A SEPERATE DEVELOPMENT, I BELIEVE THAT IS TIME FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO BE PAYING RENTS FOR THE LANDS TAKEN IN THE SOUTH WEST PROVINCE

[Akwalefo Djeudo]

What are the effects of the wholesale confiscation of native land by the Germans on the spatial development of towns like Limbe ,Tiko and Buea. Inorder words would the site, situation and spatial expansion of these towns been what it is today if the Germans did not confiscate native land. If not what would have been the most appropriate expansion pattern for these towns following a normal evolution?

[Anschaire Aveved]

The Bakweri lands issue in this article makes the case for the reparation of a colonial injustice. It is a compelling case which shows that colonial history and legacy must be examined with justice as the primary goal, having however in mind that the "Bakweri Lands Problem" is an archetypal portal to Cameroonian land issues, territorial administration, cultural policy and national security due to its domino effect. I have been brought to this website by a friend of mine whose book is about to be published on the privatization of the CDC. There is one information I would like to ask which he failed to provide. He informed of an agreement between Germans and Bakweris which stipulates the duration of land exploitation by German companies for a period of 60 years, but he did not succeed to tell me immediately the source of that information and the evidence of that agreement.

[T. Bah Tanwi, IV, MD]

The story of the great land theft of the Bakweri People is a story of virtually all formerly colonized African people.

[Ngome Elvis Nkome]

Hi dear all

I am a PhD candidate at the University of Yaounde 1, cameroon. am working the subject dealing directly with the Bakweri land issues under colonial rule and beyond. This site is certainly very useful for all researchers interested in the history of land alienation in cameroon because the Bakweri case remains an innovative and continuous challenge to this day... I am in desperate need of data to write my thesis...

Your kind suggestions and resources will in no small measure contribute grossly to the finalization of my research.

[Louis]

Hello!! am a PhD student of the University of Buea, currently writting a thesis on the material and immaterial cultural heritage in Bakweriland for a sustainable cultural tourism. Pls, any material on Bakweri, especially on rituals will be of great help to me
thanks

[Tata Mola Makwaeley Ma Ngande]

The good news is that the land will finally be taken back probably in 2022.

I am litigating against UK government in London and every sign is that I will win.

After that every tribe will claim its tribal homelands before colonialism. Any non-indigene who acquired land will forfeit it because it was unlawful. Please, see Article 8 of the "Trusteeship agreement of Cameroons under UK Administration."

I expect the graffis who got land from Muna and Foncha's government will cause another war. They also should reclaim lands in their own regions.

[Derrick E. M. Mokake]

Custodians have distorted our very potent an aesthetic mythology. Together we can do this but indigenes have become elites who keep on fighting with each other day in day out. We can't even get along with this any more but with PRAYERS, these drawbacks could be fixed.