The Bakweri Land Claims Committee: Standing the Test of Time and History

Created shortly after the Second World War, precisely in 1946, the Bakweri Land Committee (BLC), which is now officially referred to as the Bakweri Land Claims Committee (BLCC), has been at the forefront of the Bakweri campaign for compensation for, and restitution of, their lands initially expropriated by the Germans at the end of the 19th Century, and taken over by the Government of Cameroon, immediately after the reunification of British and French Cameroons in 1961.

Since its creation, the BLCC has undergone numerous transformations, with virtually all the members of the original land Committee having passed on. The last of these was the venerated land activist Chief Phillip Mofema Ewusi, President of the BLCC in its 1990s incarnation, who, unfortunately, passed away in November 1999, just as the BLCC struggle was entering its most critical stage since the the Cameroon reunification.

Today, the BLCC's membership and leadership cuts across numerous generations of Bakweri, both at home and in the Diaspora, who are determined to keep the issue alive for as long as it takes the Cameroon government to finally concede that the people of Fako division do, in fact, have a legitimate claim to the lands under the control of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), which the government has so far failed to fully privatize as a result of the unresolved land dispute.

The BLCC is controled by a Board of Trustees elected in 2000. The Board is headed by:

• A President - Chief Peter Moky Efange of Wonganga, Small Soppo
• Four Vice Presidents
  Chief David Ikome Molinge of Muea
  Chief Lobe Njembele of Missellele
  Chief Samuel Ekum of Bimbia
  Chief Mokoko of Bibundi   
• A Secretary General - Mola Njoh Litumbe
• Four Assistant Secretaries 
  Mola John Mokako Endeley
  Mola Smith Molua Becke
  Mola Mokako Elali
  Dr. Gladys Martin
• A Communications Department
• And a host of legal, Technical, Diaspora and other advisers
• Ex Officio members include former and current MPS and all Fako Chiefs who constitute the Chiefs Advisory council.

The BLCC also has a branch in the United States, the BAkweri Land Claims Committee in the United States of America - BLCC-USA.

Comments

[Mr. Samuel Teke Mbua]

I wish to thank the individuals that has faught this battle.we stand behind the elders who put an effort to fight this our fathers land.this is just the begining.tell those thieves not to sell our land.this land must be given back to the owner

[Francis Mondembe Menyoli]

I am delighted with the efforts of the BLCC to reclaim nativ lands from the state. please keep this spirit up, as we are strongly behind praying for the success of this cause.

[Ekema Roland]

Let me first of all thank all the bakwerians of good faith who are behind this struggle, and also to tell them that we the youth are strongly behind them. We must take what belongs to us no matter the hides, for it our right to have our God give posession.HOLLAND

[rose]

it really a shame that our chief of the bakwerie land are still falling for biya thief, i am a wife marry to one of the chives, the sold of our land by the gouverment is really a shame to us expecailly to you the chiefs. Get up and face the truth about southern cameroonian ,biya is using us to fix the francage cameroonian

[MINA.T.]

Surely there is no beating arround the bush for it is very clear that the said land belongs to the Bakweri tribe.So it shall be given back to them OR be heavily compensated for it with or without lifting a finger.We are strongly behind our elders fighting for our interest.

[Sarah Belalia]

Good evening,

I am struggling to get a phone number, address or email address in order to contact you, with no success so far...

We are a network of environmental NGOs in Buea, and we will be organizing a public event in April, called "Green Week", during which we will hold a large program of film projection, debates, case studies presentation, permanent exhibition, workshops, etc. which will tackle both environmental and political thematic such as land access.

We would be very pleased to have a meeting with a representant of the Bakweri Land Claim Committee, and invite you to present your fight during the Green Week.

Hoping to hear form you soon, we stay available for any question about our activities.

Best Regards,

Sarah
and The Green Cameroon team

www.greencameroon.org

[Jonathan Tingume]

We are all just vebally talking on here,how many people supported the land claims committe?Our people in govt were in resistance to fight Mola Njoh and the rest who were leading the struggle calling them opposition.The Gods of fako stood by the team and the legal expert leading the couse to victory,we need to appreciate the work of the team lead by late Chief Efange, Mola Njoh Litumbe and Prof Ndiva kofelle Kale,Chief Ekum,Late Mbua Mofoke etc.

[Derrick E. M. Mokake]

It was a trepidation, All the same we gratify the ESCO but not the custodians because the "ability to do" users confer decidedly to this dismay.