The Conflict Dimension in Party Politics among Traditional Rulers in Cameroon in the 1990s

Abstract

Traditional rulers in Cameroon are custodians of the traditions of their people. Part of their duty is to protect and defend their 'subjects' and also cause them to carry out their civic duties to the state. It is the duty of the ruler to maintain peace and unity in his community and to foster development. He is the first to preach and enforce the virtues of law and order. To succeed, traditional rulers have to ensure that issues that generate conflict, violence and disorder are discarded in their communities. With the rebirth of multi-partism in the 1990s, traditional rulers became involved in partisan politics, and as auxiliaries of the administration, they were obliged to either join, or sympathize or support the ruling party. In doing this, traditional rulers turned against their own people and discredited the chieftaincy institution. Instead of playing its natural role as a bastion of peace, chieftaincy became a breeding ground for conflict, violence and all sorts of human rights abuses in many localities. This paper examines some of the conflicts (ills) and their impact on local communities whose rulers got involved in party politics. We adopted a chronological approach to the historical discussion here and consulted both primary and secondary sources of information. From the sources, we concluded that the involvement of traditional rulers in partisan politics caused conflict, violence and disorder, which affected development and harmonious coexistence in their communities. For peace to reign, traditional rulers must remain apolitical and stay glued to their role as custodians of their people and traditions.