Leocadia Bongben
As the world celebrates the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, Cameroon’s Baka, Bagyélé, Bakola, Bedzan, and Mbororros cry for recognition and land rights. The plea comes against the backdrop of a lack of a legal framework for the protection of indigenous peoples.
Instituted by the UN in 1994, the day is celebrated on August 9, under the theme ‘Indigenous peoples and artificial intelligence: defending rights, shaping the future.’ Ahead of the day, Greenpeace organized an information and advocacy day, which provided an opportunity for the indigenous people to raise their voices and present their problems to the government at the Bois Saint Anastasie in Yaoundé.
It is an opportunity for Nkolo Thade, from Nyabibete, a Baka village in Njoum, South Cameroon, in a quivering voice and with tearful eyes, to revisit the travails of the indigenous peoples. “We have a land problem. Our neighbours keep telling us we are occupying their land, and we have no one to stand and defend our course. We are like strangers. Our great-grandparents were removed from the forest to settle along the road and lacked the know-how to approach the administration for their land rights. Our chiefs are not officially recognized. The forest is our shop, yet it is disappearing, and we may only remain in history books. We are forest people; give us our identity as indigenous people.”
On the land rights, Jean Jacques Ebo Ebo from Meyonmessala adds, “The Bantu people threaten to seize the little space where we have constructed our huts. I complained to the Bantu chief, and without a favorable response, I am forced to take the issue to the divisional officer. Help legalize chiefs of indigenous people.”
Like the Bakas, the Mbororros from the savannah, and the Banen people of Ebo, among others, they have one thing in common: limited access to ancestral land. A sketch from Mboa Hub on the occasion depicted how local communities are stripped of their land for development projects, which end up enriching a few officials.
According to the representative of the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, “It is important to reflect on the future of the Indigenous Peoples. It is appreciated that Greenpeace is taking the lead to urge the government and stakeholders to celebrate indigenous people while reflecting on their situation.”
A roundtable debate provided an opportunity for the representative of the Minister of Territorial Administration to indicate that the government recognizes traditional chiefdoms, especially since chiefs are auxiliaries of the administration; however, pending the effective demarcation of territories, indigenous peoples remain marginalized. Additionally, the Ministry of Social Affairs mentioned a study commissioned in the year 2000 to examine the absence of a legal framework for indigenous people, whose results are still pending. The representative, however, maintained that Cameroon is applying the international charters and conventions it had signed and ratified.
Amplifying the call from the indigenous people, Stella Tchoukep, forest campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, proposes participatory mapping with the indigenous people for living spaces and the activities they carry out to document their land rights. She also wants indigenous peoples to be given the means to adapt to their new living environment, where they now have to live in houses outside the forest that provided them with everything they needed to survive for free.
For the Greenpeace Cameroon Director, “The theme is an opportunity to use the advantages of technology and artificial intelligence to document resources and the heritage of indigenous people. To bring forth their rights and make their voices heard where they are not present and to guard what is most dear to them, which is their culture, land, and forest for the Baka and Bagyueli people.”
Dr. Fabrice Lamfu Yengong, Forest Campaign Manager at Greenpeace, underscores the need “to promote the recognition of indigenous peoples as full citizens of the countries of the Congo Basin, encourage the recognition of their land rights, and establish an International Day of the Congo Basin.” Against this backdrop, he urged governments and stakeholders to reinforce work towards the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and during the next commemoration of the day in 2026, these advances can be celebrated.
