By Andrew Nsoseka, Njie Ryan & Epamba Jemimah
The Fon of Mbiame, one of the Fondoms in Nso has paid a fine of 50 goats, 50 chickens, 50 kegs of palm wine, 50 crates of beer and 50 baskets of corn fufu, levied on him by the Nwerong secret society, a regulatory body in Mbiame and Nso land as a whole.
The fine known in Nso land as Kishov, and in this case, ‘Kishov ke Fon’, (the Fon’s Fine) was levied on the ruler of Mbiame people on June 24, shortly after he returned from his trip to the USA. The trip was authorized by the Nwerong.
Talking to The Post on the fine paid by the Fon, De Lavmfu, a renowned Nso cultural blogger explained that ‘Kishov ke Fon’, is a fine that is usually levied on the Fon, by the Nwerong, when the Fon fails to live up to the swearing-in promises and oath he took before the secret society, when he was made to ascend the throne. Though stating that as proclaimed by the Nwerong, no one is supposed to be asking what the Fon did to attract the fine, De Lavmfu said the fine may not be unconnected with the Fon’s visit to the USA. He said it had been remarked that the Fon’s visit caused a little division amongst His people, as it was claimed that someone was taking credit for bringing the Fon to the USA. To De Lavmfu, the Fon is not supposed to cause division or move on someone’s invitation. De Lavmfu suspects this might have been one of the reasons that Nwerong decided to fine the Fon.
De Lavmfu told The Post that when the current Fon of Mbiame was crowned, he took an oath in front of the Nwerong to be “an exemplary Fon, to be a father to all and to respect the laws of the land to which Nwerong is the watchman. In this case, we cannot say for sure because Nwerong herself said nobody should dare question why she has fined the Fon, that what is awaited is for the Fon to pay the fine, which the Fon has paid today (July 26).
On the Fon’s visit to the USA which was authorised and announced by the Nwerong before the Fon departed from the Nsimalen airport and back. De Lavmfu told The Post that, “There was a lot of confusion around the Fon’s visit and it almost caused division among Mbiame sons and daughters. First, some people saw that the nature of the visit of the Fon to the US was not properly managed or planned, because it was given the impression that it was an individual that invited the Fon, and many people judged that it would have been a community initiative even though one person can be as the leader.
“This caused a lot of discussions within the Mbiame fora and some people who were very close to the Fon and would benefit from the Fon’s visit orchestrated stories and piled them on some elites like Justice Sunjo, who is one of the senior magistrates in Cameroon, and Yaah, the parliamentarian in Mbiame and Nkum, and another elite based in Switzerland, who is called Shufai Nsi-iysi that they have been against the Fon, and that they have been propagating hate speech against the Fon in Mbiame WhatsApp groups. It is natural that if you oppose the Fon, you should be banished from the community. These people were all notables, so immediately the Fon came back and was briefed on this, Nwerong took a decision to ban these people and relieve them of their different traditional titles and this increased tension among the sons and daughters of Mbiame. Nwerong reviewed the decision and found out that it was influenced by one of the Fon’s close aids.”
De Lavmfu said after removing the bans, the Nwerong dismissed indefinitely, the aid of the Fon. He said it was in line with the very decision overruling the bans and banning the Fon’s aid, that the Fon himself was fined by the Nwerong. He said in Nso, the Fon is always right and the decision on whether the Fon is right or wrong, rests only with the Nwerong.
“The Fon has done what is right, and for all this while, since the pronouncement of the Kishov, the Fon has technically been on house arrest, because he was not allowed to move out of the palace until this Kishov of today. It is a multi-million fine. It has ended well and we hope to see new dynamics in Mbiame Palace. The Fon is bound to make mistakes because he is new on the throne. He was enthroned in November 2017, so it is still about six years ago, and he is bound to make mistakes and he is learning”, De Lavmfu told The Post.
He also noted that Mbiame is an offshoot of Nso, because the Founder of Mbiame was a prince of Nso, who was denied his right to the throne and left to start the Mbiame Fondom. He said it is a similar story with Oku Fondom. He said it is the reason why Mbiame and Oku have a special administrative place in Nso Land.