Mola Mbua Ndoko: Wisdom and Ways of the Bakweri People

69 “Yoma liye-nge-nye lima siiva”.`

69 “Yoma  liye-nge-nye  lima  siiva”.` 
(Hurrah !
As was expected the day of retribution has come.  Truth has ultimately prevailed).

nga-neli = news, usually sad news.

e-nga-neli  foo-foo = the news is spreading or has spread far and wide.

Generally  e-Mokpwe sympathizes with victims of normal misfortune.  But remarkably e-Mokpwe rejoices and celebrates with an intention to provoke some one who brings severe punishment upon himself as a consequence of a lifestyle of mischief, foolhardiness, arrogance, dishonesty, high-handedness, involvement in secret societies such as Nyongo.

For instance when Itata-namine started to confess his involvement in a Nyongo society and the distress he was experiencing as a consequence of the demands from the sect, inmates of his village rejoiced, and exclaimed:
“okpwa-wuu !
naa-nu !
Yoma  liye-nge-nye  lima  siva” !.(“It serves him right”). 

Bakweri traditional vegetable.

Bakweri traditional vegetable.
The vegetable that the Bakweri consume frequently are:

1 Veembe = (i) tender leaves of a tuber called lendee. (plural, miindee); alternatively, (ii) tender leaves of a cocoyam (ndaa) tuber. Lindee leaves first. Cocoyam leaves are used when lindee leaves are not available.

Veembe is prepared in various forms:

(a) ngonya veembe (ngonya ya veembe) = a green soup compatible with the consumption of wolanga (fufu).

(b) ekpwa-koko ya mawuja = a boiled mixture of grated cocoyams, veembe, njanga and palm oil wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled. It is the traditional food for Mountain hunters.

(c) ekpwang = thin and short lengths of grated cocoyams mixed with palm oil, njanga or any fish, then wrapped with veembe and then boiled.

(d) ekambe = boiled veembe spread on a grill above slow burning firewood.

2. Wosangu, a medicinal bitter vegetable that rectifies confusion in the stomach such as constipation. It also expels round worms from the stomach. Wosangu grows very well in the forest area south of the savannah region of the Mountain (e-Fako).

3. Mesowe = pumpkin leaves boiled in ngonya mosaka (palm-nut soup).

4. Ndoo/ndoole = a specie of bitter leaves.

5. Moto-nginya. It is going extinct as a consequence of extensive felling down of bushes for farming and construction of houses.

Ve-koko =tender leaves developing inside an elephant grass stem (likoko); they are located between the hard stem and the green leaves.

7. Kondi ja Valongi (beans, generally referred to as “kondi ja Valon gi”, that is, beans from the land of the Balong (Valongi).

Mushroom (joo-njo). Popular mushroom are ngoote, vefunde, mwiime. Several species of mushroom are disappearing as a consequence of extensive felling down of trees.

Oma  nanu.  i-mba  Mbua Ndoko.

P.o Box 38 Buea, South West Province
Cameroon, West/Africa.
Email:[email protected]
Website: http://www.mbuandoko.com

280. The Bakweri cultural chant: “i-nye na liiya nanu” (Let me be as I am).

280.  The Bakweri cultural chant:  “i-nye  na  liiya  nanu” (Let me be as I am).

“i-nye  na  liiya  nanu” is a house-hold word. The chant has profound meanings. It warns or reminds people that it is being foolhardy to acquire wealth, fame, knowledge through dubious/dishonest means – stealing, embezzlement, extortion, assistance from secret sects.

Oral history has it that during the years 1800 to 1950 there lived in the village of Wonyavio  (the home village of my maternal grandfather) a man whose name was Ngando. He was arrogant and seemed to live above his means, hanging his coat where he could not reach. 

278. Bakweri Clan: “Mbenga Mbowa” and “Wojuwa” villages.

Bakweri Clan:  “Mbenga  Mbowa”  and “Wojuwa” villages. 
 
Bakweri (Vakpwe) clan is one of the five clans of the aboriginal inhabitants of Fako Division.  The other clans are: 
 
Valongi (Balong).
Mungo.
Bimbia.
Molondi/Wovea (Bota). 
 
However since the creation of Bakweri Land Claim Committee in 1946 the name Bakweri has assumed the status of a general reference to the ancestral lands of all aboriginal inhabitants of Fako Division. The objective of the Bakweri Land Committee (BLCC) is to pursue the claim that the aboriginal inhabitants of Fako Division be recognized as the owners of all parcels of land in Fako Division on which CDC plantations have been established.
 
Each clan except Balong speaks a dialect that is similar to dialects spoken in other clans. 

68. “osi tule te Nyonga Liva mosango wunya, oma osi koki foni” !

(The law is no respecter of persons.  If you are not yet able to summon up enough courage to point out to your mother-in-law the mistakes she makes then you are still an infant).

Maito, maito  Kaii !  It’s time to narrate Fables of the Animal World. 

Yasi nanu:  Three sons-in-law (mekiya) of Njika Nyame asked Ikula Nyame for advice. Narrating their problem, the eldest son-in-law, explained:
“Mola  Ikulu  kooko !

Our mother-in-law is embroiled in a boundary dispute with the wife of
Mbwe-ya  Nyame. We have inspected the boundary and observe that our mother-in- law has encroached on the farm of the wife of Mbwe-ya  Nyame.