Talk of Sawa people talk of Ngondo festival. Entering River Wouri body and soul and emerging un-wetted is a remarkable feature that cannot be avoided when talking Ngondo festival. Talk less of the ancestral communication with the lives on earth. The later communication, which is based on the mystery that life exist under the waters of River Wouri, leaves any stranger in solipsistic musing. That is the culture that psychologically forms the Sawa people, and the entering into the River has been shifted to Sunday, December 5, 9:00 am, at the “Base Elf” of River Wouri.
An undisclosed custodian of Sawa culture, accompanied by a woman and two men on a ritual boat, will enter Wouri from the middle surface of the River. He is expected to spend three to ten minutes in the river during which messages on succession, among others, will be delivered by Sawa ancestors believed to yet exist under the river. The custodian, who re-emerges un-drenched and go aboard the boat in full view of curious onlookers, will deliver his voracious message to the Ngondo next of king (President), HRH Din Dika Akwa, later at the Akwa Palace that same day. Mystery indeed!
The President of Ngondo Communication Commission, Richard Lobe, explained that this year is very important to the institution of Ngondo. “HRH Din Dika Akwa, who is currently Vice President, will succeed HRH René Douala Manga Bell as President of Ngondo,” he said while noting “the installation is due for an annual general assembly whose date is yet to be announced.” The new President to whom the oracle is transmitted is, according to Sawa culture, the guardian of the word (message).
A Douala elite last Sunday offered a boat to Ngondo. The boat was traditionally blessed according to Sawa culture. Meanwhile, a cultural night was organised at Stade Paul Soppo Priso in the night of November 27 breaking 28. The menu consisted of traditional fighting games where groups of two muscular young men, on a sandy pitch, partake in goat-style wrestling. Other activities included traditional dances, asiko and the election of Miss Bodiman and Bell, the singing of Bonadoo and Bodiman anthems under the watchful eyes of the chief of their traditional ruler. Between November 29 and December 5, a series of conferences to be moderated by Prof. Ebenezer Njoh Mouelle, cultural marches, and a semi-marathon as well as a canoe race will be taking place in the economic capital Douala.
