Chieftaincy and privatisation in Anglophone Cameroon

Author(s):
Konings, P.J.J.
Editor(s):
Binsbergen W.M.J. van, Pelgrim R.
Published
2003
Publication type
Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

This chapter examines the opposition of Bakweri chiefs in Anglophone Cameroon to the government announcement, on 15 July 1994, of the privatization of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), one of the oldest and largest agroindustrial parastatals of the country. The chiefs claimed Bakweri ownership of CDC lands and felt betrayed at not having been consulted about the privatization of CDC. The chapter demonstrates that the current resistance to CDC privatization is part of the chiefs' long-standing struggle for the return of the vast Bakweri lands that were expropriated during German colonial rule and, later, leased by the British Trust Authority to the newly created CDC. In this endeavour, the chiefs have always been supported by the Bakweri 'modern' elite. This alliance of 'modern' and 'traditional' elites has forced the government to postpone the privatization of CDC and to enter into negotiations with the original landowners. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]

Cameroon
Date issued
2003
Language
English
Publisher
Leiden; Mnster: African Studies Centre; Lit-Verlag
Is part of
The dynamics of power and the rule of law: essays on Africa and beyond, in honour of Emile Adriaan B. van Rouveroy van Nieuwaal
ISBN source
3825867854
hdl
1887/3502