Wutoh Dr. Gemuh Akuchu
Picturesque Location
Kedjom Ketinguh is a fondom in the Tubah subdivision of the northwest region of Cameroon. It is also popularly known by its colonial name as Babanki Tungo. This is a Bali Nyonga name given by Bali Nyonga soldiers in the German colonial army during the colonial wars and imposed by the German colonial administration. The “Tunguh” and “Tungo” parts of the names were derived from the three huge rock outcrops towering over the lower zone of the fondom. It is located about 15 miles on the ring road to the northeast of Bamenda, the capital of the region. It shares boundaries with the villages of Awing, Bali-Kumbat, Bambili, Bambui, Bamessing, Kedjom Keku and Kom.
Topographically, the fondom rises majestically from the Ndop plain through four natural terraces to the peaks of the Chuku and Kwishus hills sitting on top of the area. The first step rises gently from the plain up to the landing at the quarters of Fetang, Mbansajih and Ntehloh. The second step rises gently in some places and slightly steeply in others to the landing at the Tuoloh and Mbuaten quarters while the third step is a relatively steep climb up to the landing covering the quarters of Fedieng, Kechikentuh and Weyfeses. The fourth step is the escapement that separates the lower and upper zones of the fondom. On top of the escapement lies a vast area known as Kwighe that stretches for miles from the Tingeh to the Mbuandoboh quarters.
Falling steeply from the top of the escapement are high waterfalls with white waters that drop noisily to the lower part of the fondom. Behind the rivers are huge caves on the walls of the escarpment. Three of them are worth noting. The one at the Torhndoh quarter is a natural attraction because of its very wide bright pink opening. Wild animals said to live in it. The one known as feuh foyn mefu on the fon Kom river is reported to hold some Kedjom antiquities including drums, xylophone, and other items. It is claimed that sometimes some drumming is heard coming from that cave. Located under a big rock on the foyn Kom river in the Tuoloh quarter is a big cave with no visible entrance because it is only accessible through water. To enter it, one must dive into the river and then come up into a dry land area under the rock inhabited by bats. It is reported that in the 1950s, a young man who entered that cave to hunt bats could not come out on his own and had to be pulled out with ropes.
Also marking the lower zone of the fondom are the three huge rock outcrops from which the name of the foyndom was coined. The words “Tinguh” and “Tungo” in the name have the same meaning, namely: “under the rock”. So, the name of the village, “Kedjom Ketinguh or “Babanki Tungo” means Kedjom or Babanki under the rock. The rock, located in the Tuoloh quarter, is known as “nguh Mbohyang”, named after the quarter head. The second one, towering over the area of the palace at Ntehloh quarter, is named “nguh Aseh”, after the first fon of the fondom. The third one, located at the edge of the plain near the catholic mission is called “nguh bih”, named after goats. Nguh Mbohyang, which is the highest and steepest one, has been a source of attraction to European mountain and rock climbers and in the 1950s two Portuguese men came and climbed it to the top. It was a great astonishment to the local people who came out in their numbers to watch the spectacle.
The Kwighe area on top of the escapement is the most picturesque part of the fondom. Sitting on a plateau, it is characterized by undulating hills and ridges covered by lush green savanna grass during the rainy season and brown grass during the dry season. The area is also marked by valleys with rivers, streams, and trees. Also adding to the beauty and attraction of the area are three crater lakes: two wet and one dry. One of the wet ones is located between Kedjom and Bambili while the other wet one is near the dry one and they are situated near the Chuku hill.
Standing on the highest points of the Chuku or Kwishus hills, one gets a panoramic view of the entire area, as far as the eye can see. Looking in the direction of the Ndop plain, one can see the Bali Kumbat, Bamali and Bamunka foyndoms as well as the glittering waters of the Bamenjing dam. Across the hills, one can see far into the Jakiri and Nso hills and while looking westward, Banja and Nkwen foyndoms and Bamenda metropolitan area come into view.
The unique features of the fondom, including the rocks, caves, rivers falling off high cliffs and the rolling hills are a natural attraction not only to foreigners but also to nationals. In 1961, class four at the Cameroon Protestant College [CPC] Bali undertook a week’s excursion to the fondom and spent the week exploring the area and taking in the scenery.
Occupation: Farmers and Carvers
The Kedjom Ketinguh people, numbering about 30,000, are primarily farmers but also renowned for their skills in the arts, crafts and blacksmithing. They grow staple crops such as maize, groundnuts or peanut, yams, coco yams, sweet and Irish potatoes, plantains, beans, and rice. They raise livestock including chickens, goats, sheep, pigs and cattle and also do some hunting of wild animals and honey.
The people have distinguished themselves in farming huckleberry vegetables for food and sale. They have devised innovative ways of producing high quality vegetables with a unique taste that comes in part from the cattle dung or biodegradables used in growing them. The distinctive taste of the vegetables has made them in high demand in the markets in the main cities of Bamenda, Douala and Yaounde. Some of the other vegetables that are produced for the market include celery, garlic, parsley, onions, etc.
The growing of the high-quality vegetables in that foyndom and the high demand for them drew the attention of some agricultural researchers at the University of Yaounde 1 who studied the methods used in producing them. The late Professor Thaddeus Minang, of that University and a native of the foyndom, led the team of researchers in the late 1980s to the foyndom for the research.
Arts and Crafts
The production of arts and crafts is one area in which Kedjom Ketinguh people have distinguished themselves over the centuries. They are skilled woodcarvers who make statues and masks. Their outstanding carvings include thrones and stools featuring both human and animal images, different kinds of juju head-wear, posts, pillars etc.
The leading role of the royal family in this industry brought it to national and international recognition. In the early 1900s, HRH Foyn Phuonchu, the second ruler of the fondom, learnt how to carve from his father, HRH Foyn Aseh, the son of Yufanyi and Nih (mother). He specialized in the carving of thrones, royal beds, and stools. This quickly earned him a wide reputation and his works were to be found not only in the palaces of nearby foyndoms but also in faraway ones including Bagam, Bamoun, Fontem, Nkambe and Bamoun.
The Foyn’s work was further promoted by missionaries and German colonial administrators who visited his workshop in the palace and played an important role in bringing his work to international attention. They acquired items of his artworks that found their way into museums in Basel, Berlin, Geneva, and London. ([http://brunoclaessens.com/2015/02/field-photo-of-the-day-phuonchu-asehs-workshop-in-babanki-tungo-cameroon/#.X4icxNBKjIU])
Since Foyn Phuonchu’s days, Kedjom Ketinguh people have continued to maintain their reputation in artwork. In 1956, one of the expert carvers, Pa Toh Vekwoh, decorated an elephant tusk that was presented to Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Lagos in Nigeria. In 1964, when the government of the federated state of West Cameroon wanted to produce a brochure promoting the state, a British writer by the name of Keith Jop was invited to do the job. He visited the country to do research for the brochure and one of the artisanal workshops that he requested to visit was that of Pa Toh Vekwoh in Kedjom Ketinguh. This writer, a Kedjom Ketinguh son, was Mr. Jop’s escort during the research trip and gladly took him not only to Pa Toh Vekwoh’s workshop but also to all the other locations that he wanted to visit.
