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12 juillet 2025
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«DIY GID BIY ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST»

The Diy Gid Biy cultural landscape on the Mandara mountains in the Northern part of Cameroon has been listed on the World heritage list.

This listing was validated during the 47th session of the members of the World heritage UNESCO committee. This is the first Cameroon cultural site to be listed on the UNESCO world heritage list.

Ruins of buildings in bricks, on an isolated mountain area, the habitation of traditional authorities, the Mafa people where the site is located named the site, the eye of the king at the top (Diy Gid Biy),those at the riverside use the site for traditional rites and sacrifices. The site is 22m² spread across other areas and looks like the Sokur site in Nigeria.

The listing of this site brings about international recognition to a site that was forgotten , turning it into a tourist attraction and engaging both the community concerned as well as the Cameroon government to ensure it’s preservation and safeguarding.

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«Douala:Ngondo Festival Officially Receives UNESCO’s Certificate as intangible heritage» By Albert Njebusi The traditional and water worship oracle ritual festival of the Sawa people ‘Ngondo’ officially received UNESCO’s certificate on Saturday, July 5, 2025.This was during a ceremony at the Sawa Cultural Centre in Douala, Littoral Region.This certificate confirms the festival’s inscription on the prestigious Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, following the 19th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee on December 4, 2024, in Asunción, Paraguay.The certificate was received from UNESCO Acting Director of the Central African Sub-Regional Office, Hilaire Mputu, and handed over to the current President of the Ngondo Festival, His Royal Majesty Milord Paul Mbappé Mbwanga.The handover was presided by the Personal Representative of the Head of State at the ceremony, Bidoung Mkpatt, accompanied by the Littoral Governor, Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua. The event was attended by government ministers, diplomatic representatives, local, traditional, and religious authorities of the Region.Speaking at the event, UNESCO Acting Central African Sub-Regional Director, Hilaire Mputu, appreciated the work done by the technical interministerial team.“It was not an easy job, but I am impressed with the successful collaboration between UNESCO’s sub-regional office and the Ministry of Arts and Culture to see through the inscription of Ngondo on the prestigious Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”, he said.He added that: “UNESCO is always ready to accompany Cameroon in safeguarding her rich cultural diversity. I can boldly announce that Gourna and Mvet are on good footing and will be examined at the upcoming 20th UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee session scheduled for December 2025 in India”.In his address, the Ngondo Festival current President, His Royal Majesty Milord Paul Mbappé Mbwanga, applauded the Head of State for personally supporting Ngondo’s UNESCO admission. He equally seized the opportunity to call on the sons and daughters of the Sawa land to unite more than ever to make the Ngondo festival more powerful and visible.Meanwhile, the Minister of Arts and Culture Bidoung Mkpatt, representing the Head of State, expressed gratitude saying, “Ngondo’s inscription is a high point of recognition of our rich cultural diversity. It wasn’t an easy task, but energies were united to make it successful”.He also announced ongoing efforts to inscribe other cultural heritages.“We still have Gourna and Fantasia from the Sudano-Sahelian cultural area, Mvet from the Fang-Beti and Achu from the Grassfields cultural areas undergoing studies for inscription. I can proudly say in the days ahead, Cameroon may have its first tangible cultural site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, that is the Dig-itbi cultural landscape on the Mandara Mountains in the Far North Region. Other files under consideration include ‘Les Gorges de Kolaa’, the Bafut fon’s Palace, and the Ekom Nkam Waterfall”.About NgondoThe Ngondo Festival is an annual water worship oracle ritual established in 1949 by Stephane Ndoumbe Ekale Ngondo in Douala, shortly after the Douala lineages split into the competing chiefdoms of King Bell and King Akwa. The Water Oracle worship occurs at the banks of the Wouri River every first week of December.This major cultural gathering involves over six million people across Cameroon’s coastal areas from Campo (South Region) to Mamfe (Southwest Region).Prof Nsaame Mbongo, Head of the Scientific Water Oracle Team, explained the ceremony’s highlight, ‘Jengu’, where a devotee enters the Wouri River to visit the underwater kingdom of ‘Miengu’ (the plural of Jengu), believed to be mermaids granting good luck to worshipers.He added that “According to tradition, the devotee remains underwater for hours with a vase, allowing the Oracle to transmit spiritual messages. The devotee usually emerges dry, and the messages he brings are for the Sawa people and Cameroon as a whole. This water is used for blessing”.Due to its powerful spiritual manifestations, we learned, the Ngondo Festival was banned by the Cameroon government in 1981 and reinstated in 1991.This certificate handover occurred one week after the launch of the 2025 edition of the Ngondo Festival at the Wouri-Bwele Island under the theme: ‘Jo ngouanele’ (Solidarity). The festival is scheduled for the first week of December 2025.

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