Witchcraft in Cameroon

A detailed Summary of Witchcraft in Cameroon

When we think of witchcraft the general picture comes to mind, the one of an ugly witch dancing around around a cauldron in die middle of the forest naked. But this is not the picture we must imagine today, the view we all shared on the concept of witches has changed dramatically in the last century or so.

Now the political, Social and economic implications must be taken in to account when we deal or even think of witchcraft. In this essay I will look at the statement made by Geschiere and Nielaus and their findings respectively concerning the debate about witchcraft in Cameroon and in South Africa.

The essay will also look at the question why modernization has not caused witchcraft to disappear, and I will also look at what modern states can do to deal with the persistence and modernization of witchcraft beliefs.

In the final part of the essay a look will be taken to the question, is witchcraft a peculiar African belief.

The political view witchcraft has taken on, is a very interesting one. In the article written by Geschiere he describes the situation in Cameroon as one almost dominated by the influence of witchcraft in the politics. We must also understand that this form of witchcraft is not the normal 'magical deeds' w

In South Africa the same happened as in Cameroon. People, especially in rural areas were more intimidated by the threats of witchcraft. If they did not conform to the norms and values of the group or society they lived in they could or in some cases were labeled as a witches. The penalty to this charge my vary from a whipping to even death. This form of power was successfully used in the persuasion of people to rethink their goals in life. This persecution was raised to the extent that people seeked refuge from other who accused them of being witches. But being accused of being a witch has its advantages also, when you are accused of being a witch you could use that power to influence other people, this power that witchcraft possessed in the past is now in reverse, the accused are now the elite's in the society.

The social implication of witchcraft brings us to the economic factors that witchcraft presents in Cameroon and South Africa. In Cameroon the 'new' farmers was seen as using witchcraft to make themselves rich, but this of course is not true but it gives a reason to the local people to explain why the farmers now possessed money. The accusation of witchcraft went to the extent to where people for a long time did not advance the art of farming; an indirect result witchcraft had was to slow the economic advance of the country but in 1971, a small group of grands planteurs distinguished themselves from their fellow villagers on the basis of their annual revenues from the relatively large cocoa farms. The cultivation of cocoa and late coffee introduced new inequalities within village society. It takes only a few brave people to challenge the power of witchcraft to make it's influence crumble, but it does not disappear totally it only now takes on a new form, the one of wealth an!

In Cameroon, such reflections of wealth find expression in belief in new form of witchcraft that bears various names: ekong, famla, kupe, nyongo (Geschiere chapter 5 : 119). They have however, a basic idea in common : a new type of witchcraft who no longer eat their victims , but tuns them into zombies who work for them on their invisible plantations.

At the beginning of 1993 the head of state chose for the national team a marabout to make the team win, but the team did not get along with him. This shows how the concept of witchcraft has worked it's way all the way up to the politics of the country. Politicians now seeked the power of the nganga to protect them, (Geschiere, chapter 1 : 22). These politicians also knew that the influence that the nganga had could and have influenced the political development and thus the political action of the people. In one case the civil servants accused the villagers of using witchcraft to undermine the government projects; this is one way to find an excuse why the project failed. Which is more strange is that the villagers themselves now believe that the state officials are also now using witchcraft in their pursuit to become rich and powerful (Geschiere, chapter 1 : 5). For Cameroon jeune Afrique observed that multiparty politics leads to growing insecurity that in makes people res!

2. Witchcraft in the New South Africa: From Colonial Superstition to Postcolonial Reality, Isak Niehaus, School of Psychology and Social anthropology, U

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Approximate Word count = 2221
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science