Chiefs and colonial rule in Cameroon: inventing chieftaincy, French and British Style

Abstract

Given the crisis today over the proper power of the State in modern Cameroon (as elsewhere in Africa), chiefs are sometimes considered as a possible alternative focus of authority. Yet chieftaincy is a very variable, context-dependent phenomenon, even when it originated only in the colonial period. The article illustrates this point by examining the different fortunes of the office of chief in two Cameroonian societies, the Maka (who came under French rule) and the Bakweri (who came under British rule). In neither instance (but for different reasons) does chieftaincy appear to offer the alternative, middle-range authority that is needed.