Bafaws showcase rich culture at Y’de festival

Written by Martin Sombe

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 16:03

YAOUNDE—In dance, music, cuisine and arts exhibitions, the culture of the Bafaw people of the Meme division, South West region, was on display in Yaounde at the weekend.

The Grand Bafaw Cultural Festival was intended to promote the Bafaw culture to the rest of the country and bridge the cultural gap between the younger and older generations, said organiser.

An initiative of the Bafaw Cultural and Development Association (BAFCUDA), the festival held for two days (August 20 and 21) at the Yaounde conference centre.

Its theme was, “The Bafaw in Unity and Development.”

The Bafaws are a Bantu people spread across some 247.8 square kilometres of territory and 10 villages of North Kumba.

Today, they are found all over Cameroon and the world, forced to migrate by work and education.

They are largely an agrarian people thanks to fertile volcanic lands that are favourable for the cultivation of cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber and a wide variety of food crops.

The tribe is headed by a paramount ruler, Nfon Mukete.

For the past ten years, cultural festivals have been organised turn-by-turn in the ten Bafaw villages.

It was the first time it had been taken out of the Bafaw land.

Bafaw culture was under threat from modernisation and needed preservation, said organisers of the festival.

Part of the plan was to remind the rest of the country about the contribution the Bafaws have made to national unity and economic development, said Lydia B. Efimba, the festival coordinator.

The people continue to make enormous contributions to the development of Cameroon and, like everyone else in the country, would love to see better development in their land, said Ashu Balimba, BAFCUDA adviser.

Bafaw people of all walks of life came to Yaounde for the event. Bafaw artefacts, drama and music – traditional and choral – were all on display. Top officials from the Ministry of Culture attended the show.