Early Marriage: King Nabil Mbombo Njoya Preaches By Example
The new Paramount Ruler of the Bamoun Tribe, Nabil Mbombo Njoya upon his enthronement rejected the offering of 14-year-old virgin bride presented to him by members of the traditional council.
He rather decided to sponsor her education right up to the university level. His decision ushers in a new dynamic in the fight against early marriage in a community where the practice is deep rooted in their culture.
King Nabil further iterated that he will try his best to abolish the system of offering teenagers into marriage which has obtained for many years in many tribes across the ten regions of Cameroon.
The people of Bamun have upheld an ancestral tradition where the newly crowned king is expected to receive the offering of a virgin girl in marriage, at his service and answerable to him.
The tradition requires the Sultan to fulfil the ‘Lah-Kam’, wherein he is expected to take a teenage virgin bride from the Njim Monchouh line. It is said that the girl offers her virginity to him and becomes his wife to mark the fulfillment of his initiation rites.
Over the years early marriages have been a common practice despite the fact that it is illegal by Cameroon law. Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child establishes that a child is any human being under the age of 18 unless, under state law, the majority is attained earlier.
This practice particularly witnessed in the West region of Cameroon stems from traditional gender roles that have been followed for generations.
A majority of the girls are often brain washed to see this as normal and part of tradition.
Baba Moussa says “it is normal that when my girl child is betrothed to someone and he comes for her I have to give in. I have given two of my girls in marriage already and once the third turns 15, she will be ripe to marry. This also helps me take off the responsibility of caring for them which is not easy. I married their mothers when they were 12 and 13 years, so why not marry them off to rich men who can properly care for them.”
25 year old Chandinli Njoya, who lives in Foumban shares her experience. “(Smiling), we were thought by our parents that a woman’s place is in the kitchen” taking care of the children, whereas men are supposed to work and provide for the family. I got married at the age of 13 years, my parents told me they had no money to care for my needs and that my husband was going to take care of me. I got married as a third wife and it was easy in the beginning as I had to drop school, bare children and care for my home and husband. Now, I have five children and four co-wives. I didn’t go to school but at least my children are, and I won’t force any of my girls to get married early if it is up to me because my husband has the upper hand.
Pauline Irene Nguene, Minister of Social Affairs: protecting girls and children remains priority:
The fight against early marriage has taken various turns, with Cameroon’s minister of social affairs inclined to see the complete eradication.
The Minister on the day of the African child on June 16 2022, encouraged girl child education imploring girls not to expose themselves but rather escape all forms of early marriages.
“The rights of girls should be promoted and protected in Cameroon. I frown at all enhancing the practice of early and child marriage as the fragility of the child’s body is submitted to the harsh reality of the life as a house wife, the exigency of maternity and the pressure of meeting social standards and expectations in life. This inflicts physical, psychological and moral trauma and scars of the children.”
Religious Implications to Early Marriage
The Quran advocates the practice of polygamy. This can be read in surah titled “Women”: it goes thus “And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four; and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice (to so many) then one (only) or (the captives) that your right hands possess” (Surah 4:3). Many who have exploited this in the wrong way forcing teenage girls into marriage.
Role of Custodians of Tradition to wipe out Early Marriage
Child marriage is highly prevalent in Cameroon and Africa at large. The age old Islamic believes can however be wiped out if the custodians who hide under tradition to do some of the most dreaded acts against women, getting away with things such as cradle snatching, look above their stereotyped opinions. Some of these leaders’ claim they are under an ancestral obligation that they have to fulfil, failure which they get spiritual punishment from their ancestor who first invented these rules.
Set back:
This not only ends the future of a girl who is barely about to begin experiencing youthful exuberance but she’s been introduced to hardships of early marriage.
She also misses the opportunity to get a decent education like girls of her age and becomes considered more of a baby making machine. She also has to live with co wives who can sometimes be unbearable as the Bamoun tradition permits for the practice of polygamy.
Cameroon’s government says there is need for a dramatic turn of events especially to some of these ancestral believes that have handicapped and frustrated the lives of many such virgins who are sometimes also given into marriage to custodians of traditions.
More often than not advocating a stop to this should be performed by traditional rulers who will help in dismantling archaic customs that no longer have relevance in contemporary society and promote girls’ education.
Efforts are equally being made by law enforcement officials to ensure that there are no contradictory statements in the legal frame and the vulgarisation of conventions such as law 81 of the civil statues which states that a girl can decide to marry at the age of 15 and a boy at 18, which should not be exploited by traditional heads for negative gains.
Child marriage is considered modern-day slavery and is a stumbling block to achieving successful lives for many girls forced into early marriage.
