Takembeng mobilizations are the latest in a long history of female mobilizations in the Western
grassfields of Cameroon. Sociologist Susan Diduk divides these mobilizations into three different periods (with prior forms continuing to exist in later periods). The first period of women exercising moral guardianship involved women in rural communities mobilizing to shame individuals who violated key community moral standards. A second period involved women from multiple communities connecting with one another to protest colonial and post-independence policies, primarily agricultural, from the 1950s on. Takembeng is the name for mobilizations which begun in the early 1990s and often took place with the opposition party to the government, the
Social Democratic Front (SDF). Some sources claim that Takembeng is a long-standing practice in
Ngemba communities and that it does not grow from the practices in the various communities.
Moral guardianship Throughout many communities in the grassfields of Cameroon (much of the present-day Northewest Region), there are longstanding practices of women gathering together as moral guardians of the community and in shaming individuals who break key rules. In addition women provide key ceremonial functions in many of the rural communities throughout the region: namely in protecting agricultural fertility. The moral guardianship gatherings would often use outlandish behavior in the ostracizing of individuals in order to highlight the severity of the offense and to prevent other people from intervening in the punishment. The practices differed in the various communities and are called
fombuen or
keluh in
Kedjom Keku communities,
anlu in
Kom communities, and
ndofoumbgui in the
Aghem tribe. In general these gatherings would involve older women, usually post-menopausal, gathering together in order to punish individuals of the community for offense such as being accused of witchcraft, falsely accusing others of witchcraft, physically abusing family members or pregnant women, incest, or committing other offenses. In the precolonial situation, these practices were very local, never extended outside of a single ethnic community, and established clear remedies for the individuals targeted (typically begging for forgiveness from the women, paying a fine, and being ritually cleansed). The older women gather at the house of the individual being targeted, sing and chant, and behave in ways which are typically against decorum (including stripping, defecating and urinating on the person’s property, sexual harassment and puns directed at passersby, dressing in male attire, etc.) in order to express the severity of the offense. In Kedjom Keku communities, the women would be led by comedians (called
vugweys) who would lead the group in making vulgar jokes and puns at those passing by and the individual being shamed. In Kom communities, the women would be led by the oldest women in the community, called na-anlu (mother of anlu) for the duration of the shaming, who was in charge of organizing the various efforts. Dress was an important feature in these events and the women dressed often in old clothing or rags with hats (increasingly backwards baseball caps in Kedjom Keku) and would be adorned with plants which are claimed to provide protection to the women. Men largely avoid the demonstrations and run away from the protests to avoid the women acting in offensive ways. There are rumors that seeing the women can drain a person’s vital force and this keeps men from intervening in the practice at all. These local, rural practices are considered crucial aspect of upholding the morality of the communities and provide women with a unique aspect of power in the affairs of the community.
Development as political protest During colonial rule, these local gatherings were transformed into a more political practice which would be targeted against political institutions. They would include multiple communities, although still remaining closely related to specific ethnic groups, and would be aligned with political parties. During this period, key issues for mobilization included threats to female land tenure, rumors of the sale of land to different ethnic groups, crop destruction caused by grazing animals which had increased in the grasslands, and disputes over the required use of new agricultural techniques (namely,
contour cultivation). The traditional tools of shaming and ostracizing individuals grew to target and be organized against colonial authorities and specific political parties using protests, disruptions in public spaces, roadblocks, and other nonviolent means. The most significant example is the 1958-1961
political anlu in the Kom communities. The event started on 4 July 1958 in the town of
Njinikom when women who were upset about agricultural policy decisions surrounded the location of a meeting and forced the local council member C.K. Batholomew to flee to the local church for protection. The disturbance spread and led to large shutdowns of schools, undermined both traditional and colonial authorities, set up roadblocks around the region, and disrupted most aspects of life. Government in the area was largely replaced by the women who organized a separate leadership structure and were able to influence the situation around the region. The protest proved crucial in undermining the
Kamerun National Congress (KNC), which had been in power in the region, and leading to the victory of the
Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP). Similar protests continued in independent Cameroon with women organizing as a form of limited political protest, often against agricultural policy. ==Takembeng mobilizations==