Page 1 of 24
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 10
Publication Date: October 25, 2022
DOI:10.14738/assrj.910.13200. Balon, S. S. (2022). Stokvels and Intra-Community Ethnic Associations in (Yaoundé) -Cameroon: Harbingers of Stability, Nation- Building and Development. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(10). 124-147.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Stokvels and Intra-Community Ethnic Associations in (Yaoundé) -
Cameroon: Harbingers of Stability, Nation-Building and
Development
Sharila Shuka Balon
PhD student at the University of Yaounde 1
ABSTRACT
This article counters the assertion that ethnicization and ethnophobia is a cause of
conflict with insights from how ethnic groupings around stokvels and cultural
associations help entrench political stability and accelerate rural development
where governments and service delivery is in short supply. Drawing from the
current geopolitical and regional conflicts splitting former English and French trust
territories that have since 1972 united to become one Cameroon, the article argues
that, while at its inception the government’s revision of the federal system
established in the negotiated 1961 constitution, the former British trust territories
of the North and South West regions of present Cameroon have remained glued
around ethnic groups and co-existed until the evident and admitted attempts by the
government to erode the English Common Law and Anglo-Saxon educational
systems. As such a cursory of literature which suggests that ethnicization is a trigger
of intractable conflicts is examined with the view of demonstrating that in present- day Cameroon, the ethnicization which has kept a fragile nation together for years
is once again the harbingers upon which the country’s stability, nation-building and
development is reliant. Using ‘Social Cohesion’ as a reflexive praxis upon which
societies are believed to stay together, the article confronts the notion that social
cohesion has to be large societal demographics and with the aid of quantitative data
sourced from assessing the impact of certain stokvels and intra-community ethnic
associations, concludes that, ethnicization is a potent vehicle of stability and
development.
Key words: Stokvels, intra-community association, ethnicization, social cohesion,
development, Cameroon
INTRODUCTION
There is no gainsaying that social cohesion is a critical factor for nation-building, stability and
development.1 In fact societies perceived to have the “most development” are padded together
by their rich history, cultural diversity 2 and inclusive governance systems.3 Some of these
societies include the Scandinavian countries and the South Pacific Islanders who have lived for
1 Udeagwu, O. C., & Ugochukwu, O. M. (2021). “Nation at collapse”: a reappraisal of nation-building in Nigeria, 1967-
2003. UZU JOURNAL, 8(1). 2 Waddell, S. (2017). Societal learning and change: How governments, business and civil society are creating solutions
to complex multi-stakeholder problems. Routledge. 3 Mubaya, C. P., & Mafongoya, P. (2017). The role of institutions in managing local level climate change adaptation in
semi-arid Zimbabwe. Climate Risk Management, 16, 93-105.
Page 2 of 24
125
Balon, S. S. (2022). Stokvels and Intra-Community Ethnic Associations in (Yaoundé) -Cameroon: Harbingers of Stability, Nation-Building and
Development. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(10). 124-147.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.910.13200
centenaries without conflict. 4 In fact the challenges which these societies experience are
common to any nation’s – climate change,5 increasing inequality and populism culture.6 Many
of these countries have not had a single conflict or threat to their stability in several decades
and centuries.7 By contrast Africa, a continent rich in ethnic and cultural diversity,8 conflicts
have continued to ravage societies,9 displace people, and is today one of the major drivers of
migration.10 Conflict and migration culture have therefore taxed the ingenuity of scholars and
policymakers about how Africa can draw dividends from its rich ethno-cultural diversity and
natural resources. A country such as Cameroon, known for being culturally diversified and as
Africa in miniature11 with over 250 ethnic groups12 has struggled to capitalize on this for its
own development.13 At the time of its independence in 1960, Cameroon14 was in as much
development as Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia and today it is bedeviled by socio-cultural
and economic challenges which threaten to run the nation aground15 while the former are
accelerating in development and emerging as global centers for stability and centers for
infrastructural and technological development.16
In the last decade, Cameroon has positioned itself as a guarantor of regional stability.17 It has
gone to the defense of neighbouring countries affected by conflict and violent extremism.18
Nonetheless, in 2016 a peaceful march for reform by Teachers’ and Lawyers’ Associations has
now dragged on for over five years.19 The beleaguered conflict in Anglophone Cameroon today
has tested the capacity of Cameroonian’s institutions to manage its internal affairs,20 assuage
conflicts and continue to be the beacon of stability in the Central African Sub-Region. Various
4 García Sanz, C., & Tato, M. I. (2017). Neutralist crossroads: Spain and Argentina facing the Great War. First world
war Studies, 8(2-3), 115-132. 5 Vieten, U. M. (2020). The “new normal” and “pandemic populism”: The COVID-19 crisis and anti-hygienic
mobilisation of the far-right. Social Sciences, 9(9), 165. 6 Epstein, A. L., & Leoussi, A. S. (2017). Ethos and identity: three studies in ethnicity. Routledge. 7 Cohen, Lenard J. Broken Bonds: Yugoslavia’s disintegration and Balkan politics in Transition. Routledge, 2018. 8 Werbner, P. (2020). The Cosmopolitan Encounter: Social Anthropology and the Kindness of Strangers 1.
In Anthropology and the new cosmopolitanism (pp. 47-68). Routledge. 9 Lederach, A. J. (2017). “The campesino was born for the campo”: A multispecies approach to territorial peace in
Colombia. American Anthropologist, 119(4), 589-602. 10 Pennaz, A. K., Ahmadou, M., Moritz, M., & Scholte, P. (2018). Not seeing the cattle for the elephants: The implications
of discursive linkages between Boko Haram and wildlife poaching in Waza National Park, Cameroon. Conservation and
Society, 16(2), 125-135. 11 Bawack, R. (2019). Academic Libraries in Cameroon in the digital age. Libr Philos Pract, 2019, 1-13. 12 Kimengsi, J. N., Abam, C. E., & Forje, G. W. (2021). Spatio-temporal analysis of the ‘last vestiges’ of endogenous
cultural institutions: implications for Cameroon’s protected areas. GeoJournal, 1-18. 13 Tanto, N. D. (2018). The Impact of Civic Education in a Divided Society: the Case of Cameroon (Master's thesis,
Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU)-Doğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi (DAÜ)). 14 Agwanda, B., Nyadera, I. N., & Asal, U. Y. (2020). Cameroon and the Anglophone crisis. The Palgrave Encyclopedia
of Peace and Conflict Studies, 1-11. 15 Shai, K. B., Legodi, L. T., Vunza, M., Marong, M. N., & Bah, M. (2022). The AU’s Role in the Resolution of the
Current Volatile Political Situation in Cameroon. Journal of African Union Studies, 11(1), 49-63. 16 Yu, H. (2017). Infrastructure connectivity and regional economic integration in East Asia: Progress and
challenges. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 1(1), 44-63. 17 Okunade, S. K., & Ogunnubi, O. (2019). The African Union Protocol on Free Movement: A panacea to end border
porosity?. Journal of African Union Studies, 8(1), 73-91. 18 Ramdeen, M. (2017). Countering terrorism and violent extremism in Africa. Conflict Trends, 2017(2), 49-56. 19 AYISA, C. N. K. (2019). An examination of the ramifications of the Anglophone crisis to Cameroon’s peace and
development (2016-2019) (Doctoral dissertation, University of Ghana). 20 Fondong, J. (2022). Renewing the Promise: A Treatise on the Refoundation of the Cameroon Nation. Spears Books.
Page 3 of 24
126
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 10, October-2022
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
reasons have been advanced for the internal conflicts in Cameroon. However, none of these
realizes that countries similar to Cameroon such as Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea leave at
peace and continue to grow amongst others because they manage their diversity well.21 And
instead, the beacon of stability in Africa is trending as a country at war.22 Among the solutions
advanced include; military action such as the Government has embarked upon; policy reforms
undertaken by the government;23 which some distant populations consider not good enough
and the imperative for conciliation as recommended by the French President in his recent visit
into Cameroon. However, there is a scarcity of studies which looks at the role of social cohesion
in nation building and stability, and even much scarce is the role of stokvels and intra- community associations in Regional stability and national development. The reneging armed
conflict between separatists from former British colony of West Cameroon, hence referred to as
Anglophone Cameroon, against the state of Cameroon has culminated in untold property
destruction, loss of lives and internally displaced millions of people. Today many internally
displaced persons (IDPS) residing in the economic and political capitals of Cameroon (Douala
and Yaoundé respectively) have joined stokvels – intra-community associations as a means to
enhance their safety and cushion their welfare away from the threats of lives in their
hometowns, cities and villages currently at war with the government.24 This study seeks to
access the potential values of stokvels and intra-community associations for the promotion of
social cohesion in Cameroon.
This article draws insights from interviews with stokvels /intra-community associations and
IDPs and helps to clear the academic bifurcation of the role of ethnicity in a country’s stability
and development. The conceptual exploration of the causal link between ethnicity, social
cohesion and development addressed in this article helps to expand both our understanding of
the value of stokvels – intra-communal associations culture in regional stability and nation- building and how these can contribute to social cohesion and national development.
THEORIZING THE ETHNICIZATION OF SOCIAL COHESION
Literature on the importance of societies building social cohesion abounds.25 The absence of
strong cohesive societies has been contemplated26 by certain scholars as a cause of social
discontent. 27 In France for instance, before the coming to power of President Emmanuel
Macron, his emphasis on la cohesion sociale suggested that, the challenges bedeviling the
country under the stewardship of his predecessor, Francois Hollande were related to a
21 Dayley, R. (2018). Southeast Asia in the new international era. Routledge. 22 Endong, F. P. C. (2021). The ‘dark side’of African digital diplomacy: The response of Cameroon and Nigeria to
separatists’ online propaganda. South African Journal of International Affairs, 28(3), 449-469. 23 Awasom, N. F. (2020). The Anglophone problem in Cameroon yesterday and today in search of a definition. Journal
of the African Literature Association, 14(2), 264-291. 24 Seepamore, B. (2018). Indigenous social security systems: A South African perspective. Indigenous social security
systems in Southern and West Africa, 71-87. 25 Jayakody, C., Malalgoda, C. I., Amaratunga, D., Haigh, R., Liyanage, C., Hamza, M., ... & Fernando, N. (2022).
Addressing housing needs of the displaced people promoting resilient and sustainable communities. International Journal
of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment. 26 Rapp, A. M., Lau, A., & Chavira, D. A. (2017). Differential associations between social anxiety disorder, family
cohesion, and suicidality across racial/ethnic groups: Findings from the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent (NCS- A). Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 48, 13-21. 27 Horáková, H. (2018). Modern rurality, neoliberalism, and utopias: the anthropologist’s account’. Utopia and
Neoliberalism. Ethnographies of rural spaces. Berlin: Lit Verlag Dr. W. Hopf, 9-44.