Guochang Wang

Guochang Wang

30 December, 2024

Bassa, West African tribal leaders, Mbombog, Identity.

Mbombog serves as the religious leader of the Bassa and is also regarded as the spiritual figure of the entire ethnic group. The Bassa people are not confined to Cameroon; they can also be found across many regions in Central and West Africa, where groups identify themselves as Bassa or as cousins of the Bassa. However, with the intervention of colonial governments, the erosion of modernization, and the encroachment of foreign religions, many ethnic leaders, exemplified by Mbombog, are witnessing a similar trajectory of gradual decline in their historical significance. This phenomenon more profoundly reflects the diminishing political identity of small ethnic groups, alongside the rise of regional and national politics designed to satisfy colonial governance.

© 2024, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

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