Manyemen Royal Stool: Administration holds consulataive talks with stakeholders

As recounted by someone at the meeting whom CNA spoke with.

Ahead of the start of the Consultative Talks, the shrine which is called “Ntem” in the Manyemen language, is the sacred forest where kingmakers, the village Chief Priest or Tiger Chief (Chief of Tiger), conduct the traditional screening of candidates for the royal stool, was vandalized on the night before the meeting. Items placed there in preparation for the sacred screening were scattered and burned. Also, at dawn, some white substance, believed to be salt, was sprinkled around the meeting venue, which some observers said could be an antidote to neutralize mystical powers around the venue.

The meeting for the Consultative Talks was chaired by the Divisional Officer of Nguti Subdivision, Etengeneng Kevin Oben, accompanied by the Mayor of Nguti Subdivision, Tong George who is a son of Manyemen and the President of the Nguti Subdivision Chiefs Conference, Chief Asek Lordson of Ayong, an Upper Balong village. Also present were the commanders of security and defence forces (Police, Gendarmerie and BIR) of Nguti. Minute secretaries were two men from the DO’s entourage.

In accordance with the invitation issued by the DO, participants at the meeting were Manyemen Traditional Councillors, Quarter Heads, Kingmakers, Family Heads, internal and external elites.

Two individuals believed to be candidates for the Manyemen royal stool were also present, that is Mr Hope Sona Ebai and Mr Williams Mbue Besong to whom the SDO of Kupe-Muanenguba awarded the Manyemen royal stool last year but which decision was cancelled on 12 December 2024.

The meeting began after the arrival of the DO in a Gendarmerie armoured car, accompanied by several other military armoured cars. The arrival of the DO came almost simultaneously with the arrival of Hope Sona Ebai and Williams Mbue Besong, each accompanied by persons posing as palace courtiers and/or kingmakers. Those who accompanied Sona Ebai were dressed in typical traditional outfits though he was dressed casually, while Williams Mbue Besong who was in complete traditional outfit, was accompanied by people mostly dressed casually. Neither Besong nor Ebai is officially a candidate as the process of validating candidates has not been engaged.

Entry into the hall was initially restricted by members of the Traditional Council loyal to Williams Mbue Besong and their collaborators who presented themselves as “protocol officers”. They demanded invitations from certain persons. However, observers watched them allow unrestricted access to certain individuals, including women, who are generally not involved in chieftaincy matters. Those thus allowed easy access were later identified as family members of Williams Mbue Besong.

Those kept outside the hall were allowed in upon the arrival of DO who instructed that non-notables sit at a separate location from notables.

After the singing of the national anthem and after the DO presented his speech in which he urged the people of Manyemen to put general interests above special interests in choosing a chief to replace the late Chief Eben, the rest of the business of the day, according to the agenda read, included identification of Kingmakers and selection of Chief.

The meeting reached a deadlock over eligibility of Kingmakers and families to participate in the chieftaincy process.

The DO of Nguti decided to use documented information from only the process that placed late Chief Jacob Eben on the throne.

Based on that information, he excluded the Nsuk ô Mbi family, a founding family of Manyemen from presenting Kingmakers. He said the Nsuk ô Mbi family did not exist during that process that took place between 1989 and 1992 when Chief Eben was enthroned. But Nsuk ô Mbi kingmakers and their family head argued that the family existed from the founding of Manyemen and participated in all chieftaincy processes until the early 1950s when, due to the rampant death of its adult males, the lone surviving adult male decided to merge the Nsuk ô Mbi with the Njet family until the early 1990s when the family invited village elders around a meal and declared its restoration. So, there are no grounds to exclude Nsuk ô Mbi because it did not take part in Chief Eben’s process. The Nsuk ô Mbi elders pointed out that Manyemen did not begin with Chief Eben.

The other deadlock over Kingmakers stemmed from the DO disqualifying the list of Kingmakers used by the SDO of Kupe-Muanenguba to award the Manyemen throne to Williams Besong Mbue. He rather used the list of Kingmakers who took part in Chief Eben’s selection and if they were dead, replaced them with their children or close relatives.

Williams Besong protested and requested that the list used by the SDO be used again but the DO said once that process was invalidated by the decision of the SDO and he asked to carry out a new process, everything from that process is equally invalidated.

Kingmakers of the Nsuk ô Mbi family were excluded and asked to let this process pass, that they will be included in future processes but they refused, saying that in the same manner as the list of families involved in the last chieftaincy process is being used to disqualifying them because their parents did not take part in the selection of Chief Jacob Eben between 1989 and 1992 when he was enthroned, so too will the list from this process be used against their children in future, so they must be included. They said there is no room for compromise over the matter as tolerating another exclusion would mean that records will show during the next chieftaincy process like in this case, that Nsuk ô Mbi would not have taken part in this chieftaincy process and so would not be eligible in future processes. That, they say, would compromise the future of Nsuk ô Mbi children. Nsuk ô Mbi elders produced documented evidence that they are one of the founding families of Manyemen over 150 years ago and that a Nsuk ô Mbi patriarch was Chief of Quarter Heads and acting chief way before German colonization.

There were also contestations over who was the rightful person to replace a deceased kingmaker. Some brothers and family members came close to scuffles over who between them is more eligible to succeed there father or their uncle.

Another contention was over family heads. Some families quarrelled over who is qualified to be their family head.

Shortly after returning from two-hour break at about 5:30pm, the DO adjourned the meeting at about 6pm and set a new date of Friday, 3 January 2025 for the Consultative Talks to resume.

At the end of the meeting, Besong walked to his house followed by family members and friends chanting victory songs that left observers wondering what they were celebrating. For his part, Ebai hopped into an armoured car that brought him from Kumba and left Manyemen.