CONFLICTS OF LAND EXTENSION ‘POLICY’ IN LOGONE-AND-CHARI REGION OF CAMEROON (1953-2012)

Abstract

From 1953, intra-ethnic violence erupted between qabbayil (Shuwa Arab ethnic groups), and between khashm buyut (clans and fractions) in Logone-and-Chari region of Cameroon. In that year, the breakup of the Sultanate of Goulfey led to the fragmentation of Shuwa Arab authority, then land extension ‘policy’. In this study one also discovers that during Land extension in the Lake Chad basin, there was intra-ethnic violence. This paper evaluates the use of force between Shuwa Arabs from Logone-and-Chari when the need of new land supply targets the closest brother’s lands. Recurring tensions, crises and threats are employed by the qabbayil about the kalankiat (ethnic land boundaries) and illegal villages. Between Shuwa Arab clans and fractions, violence refers to bloody confrontations and personal revenge. Up to 2012, these conflicts between ethnic groups and those within clans involved protagonist autochthonous policy, a land regulatory from Shuwa Arab economic elites and corruption from administrative Authorities. Those are the factors which block the process of stopping land violence between these Shuwa Arabs.