MINAT boss strikes gold, reconciles Bamoun, Tikar rulers!.

MINAT boss, Bamoun Sultan, Tikar King, West & Adamawa Governors & others after meeting

The Minister of Territorial Administration, MINAT, Atanga Nji Paul, has in a move, described by keen observers as striking gold, sued for peace between the traditional rulers of the Bamouns and the Tikars.

The member of government reconciled the two monarchs in Yaounde Tuesday, January 28, 2025. 

This was during an in-camera meeting Minister Atanga Nji had with the Sultan of the Bamouns, Nabil Mbombo Njoya, and the King of the Tikars, His Majesty Soule Ngamon III. 

The meeting was also attended by the Governor of the West Region, Awa Fonka Augustine, the Governor of Adamawa Region, Kildadi Taguieke Boukar, and other officials. 

Minister Atanga Nji said the reconciliation process was engaged on the instructions of the Head of State, Paul Biya, as part of efforts to consolidate national unity and foster peaceful coexistence. 

Emerging from the in-camera meeting, the traditional rulers exchanged handshakes with their body gestures speaking volume of a new page opened between both communities. 

Disagreements between the two rulers had degenerated into violent clashes between inhabitants from both tribes in the Noun Division of the West Region.

Bamoun Sultan & King of Tikar shaking hands after reconciliation

 

Revisiting Bamoun, Tikars clashes

The Bamouns and Tikars have always been mired in occasional conflicts. Tikars have constantly been refusing to submit to the authority of the Sultan. 

Violent clashes had in 2023 and 2024, erupted between indigenes of the two tribes, causing at least three deaths and properties destroyed.

In February 2023, a clash erupted between the people after the King of the Tikars, His Majesty Soule Ngamon III, was undressed in public and molested by guards of Sultan Nabil Mbombo Njoya; for referring to the Sultan as “my son”. 

The Bamoun monarch was on a tour to some localities in the Noun when he made a stopover at the Magba traditional ruler’s palace. 

Following the incident, elite of Tikar retaliated, barricading roads and disrupting traffic. 

Irate Bamoun indigenes also invaded the palace of the Magba traditional ruler, destroying and partially burning part of the palace. It took the intervention of the governor of the West Region, Awa Fonka Augustine, for uneasy peace to reign between both ethnic groups.

Last year, another violent clash erupted. It was linked to bickering over the Nguon cultural festival that Bamouns had planned to launch in Magba, which the Tikars were vehemently opposed to.

The rejection had led to another voilent confrontation between both tribes. At least 20 shops were looted and razed during the clashes. 

The Governor of the West Region, Awa Fonka Augustine, had summoned a crisis meeting to sue for peace. After listening to both rulers, Governor Awa Fonka had called on them to bury the hatchet and turn a new leaf.

It is hoped that with Tuesday's historic reconciliation brokered by the MINAT boss, the usual tension and clashes between the two tribes will be history.

 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3354 of Thursday January 30, 2025

 

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