Indigenous Political Organisation
The Bafut political
system centred on the Fon or Mfor who was the fount of the political and religious
life of the people (Ritzenthaler 1962; Kaberry and Chilver
1963; Aletum 1974). The Fon had multifarious functions; he
controlled external relations and internally he made laws. All
justice was done in his name, he was the final court of appeal
and had power of life and death over his subjects. As chief
priest he offered sacrifices to his ancestors and interceded
with them for the welfare of the people. He presided at
important festivals, the most important being the
Abin e
Mfor , the
dance of the Fon.
The Fon was assisted and advised by titled royals. The most
prominent among them being the Mamfor, the mother of the
Fon, either his real mother or a sister. In addition there were
two fraternal assistants called Ndimfor (the elder
brother) and Muma (younger brother). However, none of
these royals served as regent in the case of the Fon's death or
indisposition. The body which actually shared power with the
Fon and deputised for him was the council of elders,
Kwifor. Kwifor means holder or supporter of the
Fon but its role was far more pervasive. Membership was
restricted to commoners who had attained the rank of
Bukum (sing. Nkum). The strength of Kwifor
lay in its role as a council of kingmakers and was thus a check
on royal power. The Fon acknowledged this and tried as much as
possible to avoid confrontation. Kwifor assisted the Fon
in the judicial investigation of serious cases which could not
be dealt with at family, quarter or village levels. When
investigations were completed the Fon delivered judgement but
Kwifor would undertake its execution.
We may broadly divide the chiefdom into two in order to
understand its local administration. Firstly, there were
semi-autonomous settlements, each with its locally-appointed
Atangchuo (planner of war). These were linked to the
centre through tribute paid in the form of the specialised
product (palm oil, raffia wine, fish, etc.) for which the
village was noted. Secondly, there were those settlements
mostly around the palace and directly under the authority of
the Fon. These settlements had no hereditary chiefs but instead
each had an appointed head, Tanukuru (father of the
village), appointed by the Fon from among the bukum. In
some cases a son of the Fon might be appointed. The
Tanukuru, along with the other bukum, constituted
a governing council, butabunukuru..
In summary, the government of Bafut was a complex web of
relations of kinship, loyalty and tribute which centred on the
palace, the nto-o Bufu . The palace was not only the
residence of the Fon but also housed the all-pervading and
powerful Kwifor which worked in close collaboration with
him. This government was effective in maintaining law and order
and enabling rulers and subjects to carry out their normal
activities. The establishment of colonial rule had far-reaching
effects on the system.
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