Clash Between Nwarong(Ngumba) and Fons Spark Controversy

By Tabah Eric (Tatanic)

An unhealthy atmosphere now looms in Mbum land as to who is the supreme authority within the village traditional setup. The controversial situation exploded yesterday at Mbipgo during the public presentation of Ta Nfor Nkwi Nyaar. The story goes that as costume demands, the “Ye Ngwarong” had requested that all the traditional rulers (fons) should stand up like other commoners. The demand met stiff resistance from the fons of Sop and Sehn. When the two fons rejected to stand up, Ye Nwarong and its followers also stood on the spot without any move. The brouhaha lasted for over 30 minutes. In the final analysis, the two fons stormed out of the palace courtyard. The fons according to what we gathered had their arguments based on the fact that they own the Nwarong (Kwifon, Ngumba).

On the other hand, members of the Nwarong society also say they are the ones who enthrone them and they also have the powers to dethrone any of them if need arises. Traditionalists have averred that this is a long accumulated conflict that finally exploded at Mbipgo. Some also argue that YeNwarong was still far off and there was no reason for the fons to stand. “Fons can only stand up when YeNwarong is close just like the Head of state when the military match-passes in front of him during official ceremonies”. Some members of the Nwarong believe that the fons dived into an avenue where there was no problem to create an embarrassing situation which they could have solved with just two calabashes of wine and apologize for the matter to be laid to rest. 

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