Inter-chiefdoms relationships and traditional diplomacy among the english-speaking mbo chiefdoms of southwest Cameroon 1905-2001: A historical survey

Basically, this paper examines traditional diplomacy in the Mbo region. It demonstrates that Mbo people never lived in isolation, but always in communion with each other. The study shows how the leaders and peoples of the various chiefdoms interacted in the twentieth century by living, working and trading together. It shows that cooperation and conflicts characterized the relationships among and between the chiefdoms and that through diplomatic methods, conflicts were always resolved and harmonious relations reestablished. Despite the major external obstacle like the colonial boundary that was imposed and divided the Mbo community between two colonial powers, the chiefdoms and kinsmen on both sides continued to maintain diplomatic and other contacts across the boundary until independence and reunification of Cameroon. The Mbo ignored the international boundary that separated them in the same way that the makers of the boundary ignored the ethnic affinity and group cohesion that the Mbo had. Cordial relationships were established and maintain among the Mbo chiefdoms through traditional marriages and during the enthronement of chiefs and funeral entertainments. The issues that strained traditional diplomatic relations included the construction of a motto road, the creation of an administrative unit and boundary dispute.