sacral rule and the Christian Church: An ... - ResearchSpace

a leader or not. Those signs are kept secret between those who assisted at the birth of
the child and the ruler. A leader is born by God's will which is manifested in cosmic
and extraordinary signs at his birth and during his lifetime. It often happens that there
are many equally qualified candidates for a single position.
Succession in Grassfields is selective. No matter the position ofa son among his
brothers, it is the high-ranking people surrounding a member of the ruling class or the
top leader himself who choose the heir on merit. The Fo and his officials listen to what
people say about contestants; observe how each of them behaves and what he is able to
contribute to the well-being of the family and of the fondom. The father in the ruling
class secretly makes up his mind and communicates the name of the best among the
potential heirs to the kingmakers or to the Fo. They debate over him until they come to
an agreement.
The office is also political. The position of the father or of the Fo in the
Grassfields IS an important office which is not easily attained. There is often
competition among the princes. Each candidate wants to gain a reputation in the society
by proving that he is hard working and by rendering satisfactory service to the people
and to the Fo. Every person knows that it is only by merit and the consent of influential
people around his father that he can be a positional successor. Paul Nkwi confirmed this
view ofsuccession:
"In the rites of fonnal election, we notice three categories of persons: the
crowd, the king-enstoolers, and the chamberlains... His presence in the crowd
and his final choice, revealed that he was democratically elected in so far as the
king-enstoolers who fonnally chose him, had themselves been elected by the
people. The king-enstoolers... did not only manifest their clan's right to give
fonnal approval to the heir-apparent's claim to succeed, but they also manifest
the will ofthe commoner (koummanchi) in the choice oftheir new leader... ".154
154 Nkwi, Paul, Traditional government, p. 33.
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