In a renewed effort to heal the scars of conflict and rebuild fractured communal ties, the Bafut Development Manjong (BDM) Bamenda Branch has announced plans for a Unity and Peace Football Tournament and Mansoh Cultural Festival. This landmark initiative, recently announced in Bamenda, combines peacebuilding with grassroots fundraising for the construction of the BDM Bamenda Event Center.
The project, prepared and spearheaded by Ndonwi Derick Shu, Chairman of the BDM Bamenda Branch, is expected to run for three months in Bamenda, which hosts a large population of Bafut people displaced by the ongoing Anglophone crisis. According to organizers, the timeline includes one month of preparation, a month dedicated to football and cultural activities, and a final month for evaluation and reporting.
Conflict, Displacement, and a Fractured Social Fabric
Since 2016, communities across Cameroon’s North West Region have faced prolonged insecurity, resulting in widespread displacement and social dislocation. The Bafut Fondom, known for its rich cultural heritage and strong traditional institutions, has been deeply affected, with lives lost, livelihoods disrupted, and thousands forced to flee their ancestral villages.
In Bamenda, where the BDM Bamenda Branch serves as the mother branch and gateway to the Fondom, the lack of a dedicated community event hall has constrained efforts to organize structured dialogue, cultural expression, and psychosocial support particularly for youths and internally displaced persons.
Sport and Tradition as Instruments of Peace
At the heart of the initiative is the Unity and Peace Football Tournament, designed to bring together village and quarter-based teams in a neutral and inclusive setting. Organizers say football offers a powerful platform for reconciliation, encouraging teamwork, dialogue, and mutual respect among young people from communities divided by years of conflict.
Running alongside the tournament is the Mansoh Cultural Festival, one of the most celebrated expressions of Bafut identity. The festival will showcase competitive traditional and indigenous dances, cultural exhibitions, peace messages, and traditional rites, providing a vibrant space for cultural revival and intergenerational knowledge transfer. By blending sport with culture, the initiative aims to attract broad community participation, strengthen shared identity, and enhance visibility for sponsors and development partners.
Fundraising for a Permanent Community Space
Beyond its peacebuilding ambitions, the project serves as a strategic fundraising drive for the construction of a BDM Bamenda Event Center. The proposed facility is envisioned as a permanent hub for cultural festivals, community meetings, youth programs, and income-generating activities such as hall rentals.
Funds will be mobilized through team registration fees, sponsorships, pledges, donations, and cultural stands during tournament and festival days. Organizers have underscored their commitment to transparent financial management, with full accountability and post-event reporting to contributors.
Expected Impact and the Road Ahead
The initiative is projected to directly benefit more than 1,000 people, including youths, women, cultural groups, traditional authorities, and internally displaced persons, while indirect benefits are expected to reach over 5,000 community members. Anticipated outcomes include improved social cohesion, increased youth participation in peacebuilding, reduced communal tensions, and strengthened institutional leadership of BDM.
Plans are already underway to institutionalize the Unity and Peace Football Tournament as an annual event, linked to successive phases of the Event Center’s construction and supported through partnerships with councils, elites, NGOs, and development partners.
Investing in Unity Today
As communities in the North West Region continue to search for pathways to peace, the Bafut Unity and Peace Football Tournament and Mansoh Cultural Festival stand out as a community-driven response rooted in culture, sport, and shared values.
By investing in unity today, the Bafut community hopes to foster reconciliation, preserve its cultural heritage, and lay the foundations for sustainable development for generations to come.
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