A most outrageous insult to womanhood.
Mokpwe culture and tradition asserts that every woman is born beautiful, tidy and attractive and that she maintains these traditional qualities without fail at all times in all places throughout her life. This opinion is not subject to debate or review.
Any expression of doubt about this assertion or any insinuation, demonstration, illustration that is at variance with this opinion and if made in the presence of at least one witness is viewed as a heresy and a grave and notorious social crime known as Titi Ikoli - an abominable insult to the dignity and privacy of womanhood.
Furthermore, to subject a woman or her clothes to any condition that ridicules her dignity and privacy or to make indecent remarks about her dress constitutes a Titi Ikoli crime.
In short, Titi Ikoli is a distasteful, outrageous oral or physical insult to the traditional beauty, dignity and privacy of womanhood.
e-Mokpwe classifies Titi Ikoli crimes as “veya vese-nje o-kati”, that is, indecent, distasteful, outrageous matters that are not found in law books and are therefore matters that should not be subjects of discussion. In this regard it is worthy of note that even in their worst moods of madness and drunkenness, Mokpwe mad persons and drunkards hardly ever make mention of Titi Ikoli related matters.
There are no lectures on Titi Ikoli related crimes. The general expectation is that knowledge about these matters is acquired culturally or by intuition and common sense just as without first of all going to a school, an enfant acquires the language that his parents speak.
Every adult is expected to understand what constitutes a Titi Ikoli crime. Claim of ignorance of not being knowledgeable about what should not be spoken against a woman or what is considered as improper treatment that a woman should not be subjected to is not an acceptable excuse.
A Titi Ikoli crime against one woman is viewed as desecration of womanhood and an automatic declaration of war against womanhood (“Wonya Valana”).
Tradition requires that an allegation of a Titi Ikoli crime has to be reported without delay to the Women’s Leader of the village concerned.
If the Leader and her Council are satisfied that there is enough evidence to warrant prosecution she delegates a member of her Council to make a public announcement stating that the Council has received a report alleging that their village has been contaminated by a Wonganjo indecency (Yooli ya Wonganjo).
She will also announce the name of the accused person, and invite the accused person and all women in the village to immediately meet at the Titi Ikoli Court .
The women dressed in “Kaava” controlled with head-ties wrapped round the stomach will assemble at a convenient spot and then march to the Court, singing and waving leaves and branches of shrubs as they march along the road.
The general desire is to dispose of the case swiftly and relief the community from further formal discussions of the matter. Remarkably, an accused person receives community condemnation before he is tried. He is blamed for being distasteful, shameless and foolishly bold to dance where Angeles dread to walk.
The prosecutors are women. The presiding judge and the jury are all women. Two or three respected elderly men may be drafted to the trial. Men generally don’t want to come close to a Titi Ikili Court .
If the accused person is found guilty the Presiding Judge would announce solemnly:
“o tuu” = “you have been found guilty”.
The crowd would then respond in thundering voices:
“aundi Titi Ikoli !.
aundi Titi Ikoli” !
Literally:
He has desecrated Womanhood/Motherhood.
He has broken the law.
If for instance the name of the person found guilty is “Mulungu” the crowd would sing loudly:
(i). “MULUNGU asa lemi ee ?
a-lemi, ee ! a-lemi” !
(Is MULUNGU not foolish ?
He is foolish. He is foolish).
(ii). “MULUNGU asa sambo ee ?
asa-mbo ee ! a-sambo” !
(Is MULUNGU not a disgrace ?
He is a disgrace. He is in utter disgrace).
(iii). “MULUNGU asa saso ee !
a-saso ee ! a-saso” !
(iv). (Is MULUNGU not wretched ?
He is wretched. He is a wretch).
Some one who has been found guilty is viewed as a wretched creature, an outcast and an abominable person - a “Mokase”. (Mokase = Satan, the Devil). The community treats him with aversion for his contempt of a traditional and cultural dogma.
The prescribed fine is a nice looking female or castrated pig of the largest size (ngowa a maata). There is also punishment that is not prescribed. It is an indelible stigma of alienation that haunts an accused and guilty person.
Besides, persons who subject women to conditions that desecrate womanhood and persons who despise Titi Ikoli courts, for instance, failure to respect court convocations or refusal to pay court fines, subsequently suffer baffling misfortunes.
Lexicon:
Titi = a teenage girl.
Ikoli = a thousand.
(i). Titi Ikoli is a literal reference to any woman of any age whose womanhood has suffered insults. Her dignity and integrity are viewed in terms of the most beautiful and most treasured teenage girl whose worth is in thousands of every thing precious in this World.
(ii). Titi Ikoli = a distasteful, outrageous oral or physical insult to the traditional beauty decency, attractiveness, dignity and privacy of womanhood
Wonganjo. There are two villages with the name “Wonganjo”. One of the villages is in the neighbourhood of the villages of Wonakanda and Wokulu. The other Wonganjo is situated near the village of Meveo and the southern border of Tole Tea Estate.
Yooli = language that condemns or vilifies..
Yooli ya Wonganjo = an indecent/vulgar utterance “imported” from the village of Wonganjo and used to insult the traditional beauty, decency, dignity and privacy of womanhood..
Wonya Valana = womanhood; all women (babies, teenagers, adults, elderly) in a village and beyond, all over the World.
kati = book; law books.
Mokase = Satan; the Devil.
ngowa a maata = a pig of the largest size.
esambo = disgrace.
a sambo = he has suffered disgrace.
lilema = foolish behaviour.
elema = foolish.
elema moto or eetii a moto = a foolish person..
(i). sasowa/lisasowa = wretched. In a bad condition, for instance, when palm nuts begin to detach themselves from a cone as a consequence of their starting to decompose.
(ii). sasowa = The confessions of a dying witch.
a sasowa = he/she is confessing his crimes.
(iii) sasowa = To render an account. Tradition requires a widow/widower to “sasowa” on the night before the burial of his/her spouse. In the process of “lisasowa” the widow discloses to the family of her spouse the whereabouts of the husband’s properties, and then at the same time praises her late spouse for having been a very kind and caring and loving husband.
kaava = a long and loose dress generally worn by Bakweri and Douala women.
Oma Nanu
Imba Thomas Mbua Ndoko
Chicago ILL, USA
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