THE RISE AND FALL OF THE NGEMBA CONFEDERATION.

Mankon oral history has it that when the Mankon people arrived Alahnkie, they were structured into seven clans with seven clan heads and one supreme King(Fo).
However, one of the Mankon Princesses, Princess Bih Magha was afraid they might be circumlocuting back to the same spot they came from. Thus after coming to agreement with the then king (Nde Magha the VI), she took part of the crowd and led them south who became the present day Pinyin people.

FORMATION OF THE NGEMBA CONFEDERATION

As time went on, the Mankon Kingdom grew in numbers and strength and the seven clans together with the chiefdoms of Ndzong, Mbatu, Chomba, Nsongwa, Alahteneng, Mundum I & II, and Akum formed a solid tribal entity militarily able to withstand and flush out any military invasions from any unknown kingdoms since there were powerful kingdoms around, including the northern Fulani, the Balis, Bafut, and the Nso.

ORGANIZATION

a)-Military

The traditional confederation was militarily fortified with strong men and women backed by their holistic custodians (magicians) which naturally scared away external threats and invaders.

b)-Language and culture

They spoke practically the same language and shared the same culture and even intermarried peacefully .

c)-Administration and economics

The people (confederation) recognized the King(Fo) of Mankon as paramount(being the leader of the coalition) and operated within the provisions of the traditional constitution of Mankon and they even paid royalties to the Mankon Fon (e.g. all skins of royal wild animals hunted were honored to the Fon of Mankon)

d)- Quasi Independence

-However, the other sub chiefdoms still maintained their sovereignty and had their own authorities and slightly different customs and expeditions.

The confederation had its main market center toward the location of the Mankon palace with connected routes to the other chiefdoms.

e) -Additional members

As time went on, and the community enjoyed peace and prosperity, the Ngemba confederation welcomed new members who joined by will and not by military conquest owing to the fact that weaker groups in those days were vulnerable to attack and external conquest.
These were the Mbu group of families namely Baforchu, Ndzah Ngyenmbu, Santa Mbei, and Fomudum(in Bali).

THE FALL OF THE CONFEDERATION

The Ngemba confederation collapsed in January 1891 after the Mankon kingdom suffered a deadly attack from the Germans led by a certain Eugene Zintgraft, a German colonial explorer who had arrived the northwest of Cameroon and allied with the King of Bali in an attempt to subdue the other existing kingdoms (which resulted to the seven years Bafut war and many other resistances) under the Germans.

However, all the members of the confederation still peacefully co-exist today as brothers and sisters with common routes and cultures and still intermarrying though with different traditional rulers and administrations.

Ndãh Mankon

 

As Narrated By Nde Christopher, former Ngemba President, and founding member.