Abumbi II, the 11th fon, or king, of
Bafut, Cameroon, has close to 100 wives. They
weren't all his to start. According to local
tradition, when a fon dies, his successor inherits
all his wives and then marries his own queens.
"The queens have a great role to play in the
fondom," notes Prince Nickson, also of Bafut,
noting that it is up to these women behind the
man to shape him in his kingly role.
"Behind every successful man must be a very
successful, staunch woman," says Abumbi's third
wife, Queen Constance.
"Our tradition has it that when you are king, the
elderly wives remain to hand down the tradition
to the younger wives, and also to teach the king
the tradition because the king had been a prince,
not a king."
Despite the fact that polygamy is legal in
Cameroon, the data shows that there are far
fewer polygamous marriages
across the African continent. The practice is being
challenged by changing values, the spread of the
Christian faith, the growing appeal of the western
way of life but also the rising costs of having
large families. It is against this backdrop that
Cameroon's traditional rulers must walk the fine
line between two often conflicting cultures.
"During colonialism other values came in, of
governance, different from the traditional values
we had and therefore there is this constant
conflict between the traditional values and
modern western values," admits Fon Abumbi II,
who has ruled Bafut, the largest fondom in the
region, for 47 years.
"My role is to blend them, to find the way forward
so my subjects can enjoy the fruits of
development and modernity without destroying
their culture. Without a culture, you are not a
human being, you are an animal. And therefore
the chieftaincy institution is the guarantor of our
culture."
Though polygamy is often met with criticism in
the West, there are some who deem it a valuable
tradition. After meeting with Fon Abumbi II, Soni
Methu, presenter for CNN's Inside Africa, noted
that there was more to the practice than meets
the eye:
"I understand that we might be quick to judge the
lifestyle of the kings, but just like in the United
Kingdom, African kingdoms and kings are bound
to a rich culture and history. (Practices) like
inheritance of all your father's wives is nothing
but a moral obligation."
She also observed that many of these royals are
highly accomplished. On meeting the queens of
Fon Ndofua Zofia II of Babungo
Cameroon's youngest traditional rulers
said:
"All his young wives, forced on him by tradition,
spoke fluent English in a French-speaking region
and were great marketers."
It is this seeming contradiction that makes life in
the fondom fascinating and confusing. Are they
stuck in the past or keeping pace with the
present? Fon Zofoa III doesn't think you have to
choose. He may have "inherited" 72 wives and
more than 500 children after his father's death,
but he considers himself a very modern king.
"To run a kingdom nowadays in this era, you
must be educated because things are moving
very fast. Like they used to say, education is
light, ignorance is darkness."
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