By Albert Njebusi*
The Sawa people’s traditional and ritual festival, ‘Ngondo’, has been inscribed on the UNESCO’s representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This was during the 19th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee on Wednesday, December 4, 2024 in Asunción, Paraguay.
The Ngondo traditions are based on the worship of water oracles during an annual festival that takes place from September to the first Sunday of December. The UNESCO announcement was made three days after the end of the 2024 edition of the cultural festival.
The inscription, UNESCO officials say is prior to the festival’s practices, which are essential for the transmission of cultural heritage from generation to generations.
To the Sub Director of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Arts and Culture, Dr Nounkeu, the Ngondo festival recognition by UNESCO is an honour to Cameroon and the Sawa people in particular.
“UNESCO is more of a trade mark to cultures across the World. After Nguon inscription, we now have Ngondo. These Cameroonian festivals will henceforth gain more visibility in their future editions”, Nounkeu who was part of the Cameroonian delegation to Paraguay explained.
The Executive Bureau of the Ngondo festival in a declaration on December 4, expressed gratitude to the State of Cameroon and UNESCO while reiterating that the inscription of Ngondo was a living expression of their cultural values, traditions and sacred connection with nature and the ancestors.
On her part, the Inspector General of the Ministry of Arts and Culture, Ngeh Rekia, who was Head of Cameroon’s delegation for the Paraguay expedition, explained that one of the missions of the Ministry of Arts and Culture is to valorize Cameroon’s culture and give it exposure.
Speaking to the state broadcaster, she said: “The recognition of Ngondo today is coming barely one year after the Nguon. And that’s not all, other cultural items like the Achu and the Fantasia from the North West and Adamawa Regions respectively are already knocking at the doors of UNESCO prestigious representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity,” Rekia explained.
About the Ngondo Festival
The Ngondo Festival is an annual water worship ritual that was established in 1949 by Stephane Ndoumbe Ekale Ngondo in Douala shortly after the split of the Douala lineages into two major competing chiefdoms of King Bell and king Akwa. The water oracle worship takes place at the banks of River Wouri every first week of the month of December.
This major cultural rendez-vous of the Sawa community involves over six million people spread along the coastal areas of Cameroon from Campo in the South to Mamfe in the South West Region.
The highlight of the ceremony is ‘Jengu’ where a devotee enters the Wouri river to visit the underwater kingdom of ‘Miengu’. Miengu is the plural form of Jengu believed to be mermaids who grants good luck to her worshipers.
According to the tradition, the devotee remains underwater for hours with a vase allowing the Oracle to transmit spiritual messages. The devotee usually emerges dry and the messages he brings are for the Sawa people and Cameroon as a whole.
Sources say, due to its powerful spiritual manifestation, the Ngondo Festival was banned by the Cameroon government in 1981 and was only reinstated in 1991.
The 2024 edition of the Ngondo Festival was concluded on December 1, 2024 few days before her place was validated into UNESCO prestigious representative list of intangible cultural heritage humanity.
*Albert Njebusi is a journalism student the Advanced School of Mass Communication (ASMAC), in Yaounde.
