By Andrew Nsoseka
Indigenes of Moliwe and their newly crowned chief, HRM Abel Joke Kinge, are in another uphill task, following a takeover attempt by the chief of a neighbouring village, Bonadikombo (Mile Four), who has laid claim over the village’s entire land.
The move, which is the latest, is actually the second, following that of the Chief of Livanda, who had earlier on claimed that Moliwe was a village created within Livanda land. Though Livanda village is located in Mile Two Limbe, its Chief, Motia Mathias, skipped over Mile 4 (Bonadikombo) to claim land in Moliwe. Following a fight put by Moliwe indigenes and Chief at the administrative and traditional levels, Livanda Chief later issued a statement apologising that he was misled by his Council.
Years after that fight was won, the Chief of Bonadikombo, who is a neighbour to Moliwe village, has launched his own bid, attempting to swallow up Moliwe and claim the whole village land.
In an interview with The Post, Moliwe’s Chief regretted that “since the rehabilitation of Moliwe in August 2024, when the Minister signed a ministerial order rehabilitating Moliwe as a Third Class Chiefdom, we discovered that other villages emerged and started fighting over our land. For instance, Bonadikombo is up now, threatening that Moliwe is within his landmark, which is false because we even have the same German Gazette with Bonadikombo”.
Moliwe Existed Side By Side Bonadikombo In German Times
In his interview with The Post, the Chief of Moliwe revealed that the two villages existed as neighbours way back in the German days, as revealed by the German Gazette No 103 in 1893. “If you go to the National Archives, you will see it. Moliwe and Bonadikombo were among the 15 Villages that were carved under the Bojongo Court Area by then. So, maybe some of them don’t even know their history. They don’t even know the history of their own villages, so we don’t see the reason why Bonadikombo can stand up today, claiming that Moliwe is within Bonadikombo. They are our neighbours. We acknowledge them as our neighbours and even the document proves that they are our neighbours, even in the days of the Germans. Moliwe is Moliwe, the fact that Moliwe is small doesn’t mean they should colonise us, a house cannot enter another house, no matter how small that house is,” he said.
Retrieved German archive document showing Moliwe and Bonadikombo as two distinguish villages from in 1893
The Chief, who was recently crowned by his people in the presence of administrators, Mayor and other Chiefs of Fako on March 1, 2025, in a heavily attended public event, said the recent happenings should put to rest any colonisation ambitions by neighbouring villages.
“If you look at the development that is going on here. I think these people are just fighting a lost battle because they are just trying to distract us from concentrating on the developmental projects that we have at hand. People are living here, children are living here and going to school,” he said.
On the plans he and his councillors have for Moliwe and its people, Chief Kinge said they already have electricity, a school under construction, and water and road construction underway. The chief said his greatest expectation is to see Moliwe indigenes from abroad and around come back and develop their village. He said even the DO of Limbe 1 who was present during his coronation, echoed the same call.
“People should not stay outside. People should come, let us join and develop our place. We are allocating land to all the indigenous people. All the villagers that are out when you come, a land committee has been put in place. They will make sure that they give land to all those who are indigenes of Moliwe, so that we should build and stay in Moliwe. Let us come back to our village and develop it. In five years, at least we should have a good medical facility here. “We are already constructing the nursery and primary school. By next year, we have to target the secondary school, why not a professional school? We want this place to develop. We need a market. We are planning to have even the security side. We need police stations, a Gendarmerie Brigade,” he said.
The Chief equally revealed that they are looking to harness the abundant water from the Ombe River, to engage in economically viable ventures like fish, poultry, piggery and other farming opportunities. He said he and his team are working with NGOs to empower Moliwe people in various ways.
The Hunger For Land Grab
Chief Kinge regrets that the hunger for Moliwe land is fuelled by neighbouring chiefs who have sold all their village lands and are now looking for where to grab and sell next. “They are fighting Moliwe because most of them have dealt away with their own land. So the only place where they know land is available is Moliwe, so everybody is fighting because of the land, but one thing they fail to understand is that they cannot sell the land. They cannot be given that chance to sell any land within our Moliwe territory. I know that is their main focus. That is why we, the Moliwe people, will stand and fight till the end. Nobody will sell our land”.
CBC Nursery and Primary School, Moliwe
He further said that, when the Moliwe population was dispersed in the German days to make way for the plantations, their ancestral sites were still respected, and their graves and shrines still remain intact to date and the palace is built beside all those important village sites and shrines. “If you go around, you will see even our graveyards. The graveyards are here, our traditional Stone, which is like the village too. The village Shrine is still in place. That is where my Palace is constructed. If you go there, all those facilities are there. The features are there, so it’s not like we are framing them. They are there in place”.
The Chief said where the village is now is the native land, but they are waiting for a pending new layout from the CDC that has already been approved by the Minister in charge. “We are praying that since the village has officially been recognised by the administration, this is time that CDC has to surrender our land that was approved in 2020,” he said.
To his people, the Chief said he is calling on them to stay calm about the land grab attempt. At our level and the level of the administration, we will do everything possible to protect the interests of this community. They should instead support to make sure that the development and the vision we have for Moliwe should come to pass,” he said.
In an earlier interview with The Post, Chief Kinge said most of those fighting over Moliwe land are those who have relentlessly been applying for land from the CDC. He also revealed that three-quarters of Moliwe land is now occupied by CDC plantations because it was very fertile, reason why the Germans took over it and used it for their plantation purposes.