The people of Bechati, a village in Wabane, Lebialem Division, have welcomed their new Fon, HRM Nkemtaji Elias Kedju, who stepped into the shoes of his father, HRM Nkemtaji Jerry Jong, who joined his ancestors on March 5.
Hundreds of villagers and traditional authorities from neighbouring Fondoms of Bamumbu, Besali, Folepi, Bangang, and Nkong, converged on the Fon’s palace on May 30 for the public presentation of the young traditional ruler.
He was crowned on April 11 during a discrete ceremony conducted by two kingmakers of the Chiefdom.
This happened despite stiff opposition from two other kingmakers, including the lead kingmaker, Maitre Forchu John.
He reportedly wanted the coronation delayed after suspecting administrative interference in choosing the new traditional ruler. He also wanted to restore unity among the village’s disjointed elites before coronation the Fon.
A Bechati native who preferred not to be named told MMI that, prior to the demise of Fon Nkemtaji Jerry Jong, who led the Fondom for over 40 years, the elites were operating in disjointed ranks, having formed two development associations that seemingly rivalled each other.
Reports suggest that the late Fon, forced by the Anglophone Crisis to temporarily flee the village, had done little to unite the elites.
He was a member of the South West House of Chiefs and spent most of his closing years participating in activities of the political house that was created to appease Anglophones who were disgruntled with their treatment by the Cameroon government.
Backed by several elites and most of the Bechati diaspora in Europe and America, Maitre Forchu reportedly wanted a delayed coronation of Fon Jerry Jong’s successor in set order in the village and unite the Bechati elite.
However, this did not resonate with most members of the Nkemtaji royal family and village notables who favored an immediate coronation.
The unsettled disagreement between the two parties caused many elites to boycott the recent coronation, with Maitre John Forchu, who was supposed to preside over the traditional ritual, absent as well.
He, alongside many elites of the village, now deems the coronation of Nkemtaji Elias Kedju as illegal and is considering court action, with the help of Justice Tatsi Theophilus, an elite of Bechati and magistrate at the South West Court of Appeal in Buea.
But despite this dispute, Bechati villagers have been rejoicing over the coronation of their new king, hoping he will reinitiate development in the village, combat lawlessness, reinstate their tradition and spur recovery from the Anglophone Crisis.
The village, like many others in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, had been hit by the crisis, which displaced some of its population.
But a native told MMI Bechati and its neighbors have enjoyed peace for nearly three years now after most separatist fighters there gave up their quest, with others killed by the Cameroon military.