In a personal account, Cameroonian writer Jean Claude Mbede reflects on the painful reality of tribalism in Cameroon, arguing that the true divide is not ethnic but social.
Here is his account:
Stories of tribalism – Cameroon #1
I have decided to begin sharing true stories about tribalism, a vice that often hides in plain sight, dressed in the robes of intellect and privilege. Let me tell you a story that exposes the great hypocrisy of our society.
Recently, I was speaking with a so-called friend from the Grand North. She is a graduate of ESSTIC and IRIC, two prestigious schools whose access routes are well known in Cameroon. Her father is a customs official — an extremely privileged sector. She is not the brightest in the country, yet she passed both competitive exams that many PhD holders fail each year. In my own family, since independence, no one has ever had the privilege of entering either institution.
Yet, in the middle of a conversation, she hit me with the classic refrain: “The country is tough, except for the Betis who control everything and only help each other succeed.” The cynicism peaked when she added that if I have been living in exile for 20 years, it is because of my “pride.” According to her, all I had to do was “apologize” to my Beti brothers to be “fine” in Cameroon.
“Apologize for what crime? What fault?” I asked her.
When our Beti brother Martinez Zogo pleaded with his killers (funded by elites from all backgrounds), did they show mercy? In the team that cowardly murdered him, was there only one ethnic group? No. Crime and the feeding trough have no tribe.
Reminding her that she has benefited from this system far more than most young Betis or people from other regions changed nothing. In one sentence, she trivialized 20 years of exile, suffering, loneliness, and struggle with insulting lightness.
My reaction was radical: I blocked her. I have zero tolerance for tribalists, especially the well-off ones.
Get this straight:
In Cameroon, there are really only two ethnic groups:
- Those who hold the keys to the system: they place their children in IRIC, ESSTIC, ENAM, or EMIA through elite connections.
- The rest of us: children of resourceful mothers, women who work the fields, who had to sell non-iced water on the streets to survive.
The real divide is not regional; it is social. Do not let yourself be distracted by those who benefit from the system while crying marginalization.
I got rid of her because the tribalism of the privileged is the most dangerous of all.
Jean Claude Mbede Fouda
