Traditional Liabation in Rong Village

THE RONG PALACE, NTUMBAW AND THE LION

During the reign of Gangtar the Rong people caught a lion. This was an event of historic magnitude given that it had never before happened in any of the villages in Mbum land. Jealous and envious of this big catch, the brotherly Ntumbaw Fon mobilized his people who marched into Rong palace and confiscated the lion. However, as time went on, the Ntumbaw people died in their numbers as it was believed they had confiscated the Rong Fon’s sacred animal which tradionally did not belong to them. This traditional violation had therefore brought curse and misfortune to Ntumbaw village. When Nganjo I ascended the throne in 1933 Ntumbaw began negotiations with Rong which resulted in the resolution of the problem. Following these negotiations Ntumbaw agreed to ( 1 )Return the lion’s skin back to the Rong palace( 2) give a wintoh to the Rong palace (3) give a Nchindap  ie a messenger to the Rong palace. In this respect, Sosong, a princess from Ntumbaw palace was given to Nganjo I as wintoh.  Nganjo refused the Nchindap stating that the wintoh was going to give birth to the Nchindaps. Sosong gave birth to four children ( Mbafon, Ngah, Nfor and Nteh) . Meanwhile, the Lion’s skin which had been returned to Rong was handed over to Yerima Ngiri a senior prince in the Rong palace for preservation. This lion’s skin was unfortunately damaged by rain which leaked through the roof of Yerima Ngiri’s grass house.