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Mbororo Claims to Regional Citizenship and Minority Status in North-West Cameroon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2011

Michaela Pelican
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Abstract

Discourses on autochthony, citizenship and exclusion have become popular in Cameroon as well as in other parts of Africa, and lately even in Europe. This article considers the case of the Mbororo (agro-pastoral Fulbe) in north-west Cameroon (also known as the Western Grassfields) and their recent claims to regional citizenship and minority status.

The Mbororo are a minority in the region. They are perceived as strangers and migrants by local Grassfields groups who consider themselves their hosts and landlords. The Mbororo have long entertained host–guest and patron–client relations with their Grassfields neighbours. However, in the context of Cameroon's democratization and the constitutional changes of the 1990s, they have changed their political strategies, aiming at direct representation to the state. In 1992 MBOSCUDA (the Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association) was founded and gradually developed into a nationally influential ethnic elite association. While confirming the Mbororo as regional citizens, it successfully portrayed them as an ‘indigenous people’ both nationally and internationally. Moreover, many Mbororo of the younger generation have gradually developed emotional bonds with their home areas. Neighbouring groups have mixed feelings about these developments, as they may generate new conflicts.

Les discours sur l'autochtonie, la citoyenneté et l'exclusion sont devenus populaires au Cameroun comme dans d'autres régions d'Afrique, et plus récemment même en Europe. Cet article s'intéresse au cas des Mbororo (agropasteurs Foulbé) du Nord-Ouest du Cameroun (région d'herbages également connue sous le nom de Grassfields de l'Ouest) et leurs récentes revendications à une citoyenneté régionale et à un statut minoritaire.

Les Mbororo constituent une minorité dans la région. Ils sont perçus comme des étrangers et des migrants par les groupes locaux des Grassfields qui se considèrent comme leurs hôtes et propriétaires fonciers. Les Mbororo entretiennent depuis longtemps des relations hôte-invité et patron-client avec leurs voisins des Grassfields. Cependant, dans le contexte de la démocratisation du Cameroun et des changements constitutionnels des années 1990, ils ont changé leurs stratégies politiques en visant une représentation directe au Gouvernement. L'association MBOSCUDA (Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association), créée en 1992, s'est peu à peu développée en association d'élite ethnique influente sur le plan national. Tout en confirmant les Mbororo en tant que citoyens régionaux, elle a réussi à les présenter comme un « peuple indigène », tant sur le plan national qu'international. De plus, de nombreux Mbororo de la jeune génération ont peu à peu développé des liens affectifs avec leur région d'origine. Les groupes voisins sont ambivalents à l'égard de cette évolution récente, car elle est susceptible de générer de nouveaux conflits.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 78 , Issue 4 , November 2008 , pp. 540 - 560
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2008

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