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4.6. The language committee
In Bafut, Kom and Nso, the language committee functions as a community-based organisation built around promotion of the written mother tongue. In each case the language
committee has committed itself to programme implementation PROPELCA and adult literacy classes, production of mother-tongue publications that meet a certain standard of
quality, and local advocacy on behalf of mother tongue use. Their top leaders state the three language committees goals in these ways:
[The KLDC] … that every Kom person be able to read and write Kom using the standard alphabet OI: Waingeh 14 March 03.
[BALA]… getting the Bafut language written so that the Bafut man can read and write his own language; to be able to record the way of life of the Bafut people,
Bafut civilisation, culture, philosophy, and history OI: S. Mfonyam 26 March 03.
[NLO] At the bottom of everything, you find, is the mother tongue. . . . So the idea of holding the language intact, as a vehicle of communication, as a store of the
treasure of the Nso people, has been the primordial aim of the NLO because all these cultural values, the written language, the various norms, can only be stored
in the Nso language OI: Suuyren 2 March 03.
Central to all three is the promotion of the written mother tongue, but not just for its own sake. Rather, written mother tongue is to be used in the service of the culture.
Interestingly, improved school performance of local children is not mentioned as a foundational goal in any of the three statements above, although certainly this is an important
aspect of the language committees commitment to PROPELCA. 4.6.1. History and structure of the language committees
The language committees in Bafut, Nso and Kom are quite similar in their structure and the role they perceive for themselves in the language community.
The beginnings of each of the three language committees accompanied the advent of PROPELCA in the language community. In the case of Nso, Justin Suuyren, NLO general
secretary, notes that expatriate missionaries and Nso people as well were trying to write in Lamnso since at least the 1960s; so the interest in writing the mother tongue was there, but it
was not at that point owned by members of the Nso community. This changed when PROPELCA began, and soon local leadership in the NLO became the norm:
In 1982 [actually 1981], with the launch of the experimental PROPELCA course, they [the originators of PROPELCA] were now obliged to work in various
communities, they needed persons to guide and direct those things. That was what we could call the genesis of the whole thing. And you find that from that time
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now, people were in charge. There was a language committee - it was called a language committee by that time. They were working on it, giving guidelines to
those people who wanted to do research at that time. That is when they started being forced to begin meeting regularly, and since then nothing has ever stopped.
But the administration has changed hands, from one president to another and various executives, but the aim has been one: to see to it that there is didactic
material in the mother tongue ready to help any learner. So that has been in place until this present date OI: Suuyren 29 March 03.
Current BALA chairman Samuel Mfonyam describes a similar beginning for BALA, but notes that this language committee has yet to be well integrated into the Bafut
community:
BALA began as the Bafut Language Committee in the late 1970s with the help of Dr. David Crozier of SIL. It became BALA three years ago. . . . I dont know if the
community knows enough for BALA to have a place in it yet. It is BALA that promotes its work. . . . The struggle is that BALAs goals originated not within the
Bafut community, but from abroad. Getting the community to own it has been a challenge OI: S. Mfonyam 26 March 03.
The KLDC was launched in 1989 when George Shultz of SIL invited a number of Kom elite to come to the Kom town of Njinikom to discuss the development of the Kom
language. Shultz describes the process:
It was agreed that a committee would be formed to direct the work and an interim executive was chosen, led by Hon. Albert Waingeh, MP. Dr. Paul Nkwi and other
Kom elite came from Yaoundé and Dr. Nkwi handed the baton to Hon. Waingeh. I [later] helped the new KLDC to write a constitution Shultz 23 Dec 03.
The origins of these three language committees clearly show the hand of outsiders, whether NACALCO, or before NACALCOs formation in 1987 the PROPELCA team from
the University of Yaoundé, or SIL personnel. Today, this connection with SIL and NACALCO takes the form of financial support see below and pedagogical and linguistic
consultant help from NACALCO experts. The language committees were - and continue to be - seen by these extra-community institutions as local structures which have the capacity to
lead and build community support for local language development initiatives. It is in the interests of both NACALCO and SIL that the language committees succeed in gaining that
community support.
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Ironically, however, these connections pose challenges to the language committees desire to be identified with and owned by the language community.
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The practice of facilitating the formation of local language committees is a common, if informal, strategy of SIL in its work in minority language communities across sub-Saharan Africa. However, the language
committeesis by no means the invention of SIL; such committees exist in various parts of sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, Benin and Senegal. Sometimes, as in the case of BALA, the KLDC and the NLO, these
committees prove to be strong and effective leaders in local language development; this is not always the case, however. Much depends on the vision and drive of the language committee members themselves.
143 Hon. Albert Waingeh, the KLDC chairman, described Kom peoples misunderstanding about
KLDC ownership:
The KLDC is known but misunderstood. There are an abundance of NGOs, and people see the KLDC as the same as them. But it isnt - it is there for the interests
of every Kom person. … There is the belief that somehow the KLDC is making money OI: Waingeh 14 March 03.
Currently, these language committees are run by language community members who live in or near the homeland. An executive committee of roughly 15 people forms the active
core of each language committee; in the case of the KLDC, sub-committees for literacy, translation and finance have the responsibility for activity in their domains. Executive
committee members draw no salary for their participation; some staff members, such as literacy supervisors and coordinators, receive the equivalent of part-time salaries or
honoraria. Hon. Waingeh emphasised the degree of volunteerism evident among KLDC members:
KLDC members feel responsibility for the committee; they pay their own transport every two months to the meetings, and feed themselves while there OI: Waingeh
14 March 03.
According to its leadership, the wider membership of the language committee includes everyone in the homeland OI: Suuyren 29 March 03; OI: Waingeh 14 March 03.
Meetings of the general assembly of the language committee are held yearly BALA, every two years KLDC, or every four years NLO, while the executive committees meet 4-12
times per year. Clearly, the expectation of the general assemblys role has much more to so with awareness raising, while the executive committees are charged with planning and
implementation of language committee programmes. 4.6.2. Activities and characteristics of the language committee
The language committee sees itself as the focal point for maintaining use of the mother tongue, and expanding use of its written form. BALA chairman Samuel Mfonyam
articulated BALAs vision of itself this way:
BALA is the highest body of the Bafut language. … BALA is the central point of the Bafut language for now. OI: S. Mfonyam 26 March 03
The notion of authority over language questions and responsibility for quality control is also part of the language committees self-identification. William Banboyee, who was
formerly the Catholic Education Secretary for Cameroon and is now the chairman of the NLO, stated that
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The NLO is the highest authority of Lamnso writing. Anyone who writes in Lamnso is supposed to send his manuscript to the NLO, and for free they give help
Banboyee, LCO: NLO 29 March 03.
Similarly, John Ambe, a BALA literacy supervisor, referred to an academic council of BALA which vets publications in Bafut language:
BALA requires that all Bafut publications pass through its academic council. This is quality control. … The Bafut people respect BALA as the association that can
solve language problems OI: Ambe 25 Feb 03.
The language committees also see their remit extending into the arena of education, at least insofar as local language use is concerned. As Patrick Meliim, an NLO literacy
supervisor, stated:
Our fight is against the dropouts and bad learning that is happening here in Banso Meliim LCO: NLO 29 March 03.
It is interesting to speculate where this sense of authority comes from; no doubt it is reinforced by the language committees association with their Fons, described in section 4.1.3
above. The range of activities in which the language committees involve themselves include
running adult mother-tongue literacy programmes, supervising and supporting PROPELCA, producing mother-tongue publications, language standardisation activities section 5.4 and
engaging in general promotion of the local language within the homeland. The marks of a good language committee include active participation by the leaders in
its various programmes, as Hon. Waingeh noted:
A good language committee has the ability to give continuous training, the ability to put out regular publications, and to follow up work on the field in adult literacy
and PROPELCA classes. OI: Waingeh 12 March 03
It is also important to have influential people on the language committee, as BALA literacy supervisor Ambe observes:
When you have people who matter in society, then the language committee makes policies and sees that they are well implemented OI: Ambe 25 Feb 03.
Financial strength and the ability to manage funds well are also mentioned as traits of the effective language committee. Yet the financial aspect appears to be where all three
committees struggle the most. I did not find evidence of major mismanagement of funds; indeed, in some cases, leaders tended to provide their own funds for publications, transport
145 and meeting costs when finances were tight. But as far as being able to budget realistically,
counting on certain income, none of the three language committees are able to do it. The NLO does not even prepare an annual budget; they did so for a few years, but when the
income in the form of promised donations from local councils or benevolent groups did not materialise they decided it was a pointless exercise LCO: NLO 29 March 03.
The lack of funds restricts the efficiency and reach of the programmes. For example, literacy supervisors are regularly forced to walk up to four hours between PROPELCA
schools, and general meetings periodically have to be cancelled or postponed. PROPELCA classroom teachers not only receive little or no financial incentive to teach in the mother-
tongue programme, but they even pay their own expenses at annual training and updating events. This has an impact on the willingness of teachers to be involved in PROPELCA, as
there is no financial incentive to do so. What funding is received by the language committees comes principally in the form
of an annual subsidy from NACALCO, designated for printing of publications, partial funding of teacher training events, and partial funding of literacy supervisors.
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Institutionally, SIL does not underwrite the ongoing expenses of individual language committees, but rather channels any such support through NACALCO. In the case of BALA,
there are also limited funds from expatriate contacts of Joseph Mfonyam. It is hard to know how much the language committees will be able to grow or even continue at their current
level of production and programme maintenance. The economic situation in rural Northwest Province has been deteriorating since the early 1990s
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, and even those staff who are well intentioned cannot afford to give their services for free. The Kom literacy supervisors
struggle with keeping the teachers committed to such volunteer work:
Particularly with the adult literacy facilitators, because they just help for nothing and sometimes when one finds an opportunity, they will just run off and leave the
class there. It is a question of motivation,
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because most of them just volunteer to teach. If there comes an opportunity when he has to go to the farm, he says, If I
continue the rest of my time here, what will I eat? GIS 8 Feb 03.
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For example, the BALA budget reported 875,000 francs cfa received from NACALCO for 2003, approximately £1000.
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The local economies were hit during this time by a fall in coffee prices and Frances devaluation of the Central African cfa franc to 50 of its former value.
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The term motivation as used in Cameroonian English carries more the sense of external incentive rather than inherent, personal drive.
146 Language committee members regard this funding shortage as a serious obstacle, and
are making active attempts to canvass traditional leaders, local councils, development associations, and other potential sponsors for financial help.
Nevertheless, a spirit of optimism pervades the language committee leadership, as they look to the future. The recent statement in the 1998 Law on Education regarding using
national languages in school is prompting more official support for PROPELCA. In Kom, development associations have recently been demonstrating increased interest in the KLDC
OI: Waingeh 14 March 03. These events are cause for optimism, as expressed below:
The future of the KLDC is bright I don’t see any turning back OI: Waingeh 14 March 03.
The future of PROPELCA in Nso is bright, it just needs to take time OI: Yongka 7 Jan 03.
4.6.3. Relationship to the national political hierarchy The role and interests of the local and national government in influencing local
language use are limited, except where education is concerned discussed above. This does not mean, however, that there are no links between the government and community
organisations that promote mother tongue. As the primary local institutions concerned with promotion of mother-tongue use, the language committees cultivate cooperative relationships
with local government entities. So for instance, the KLDCs headquarters in Fundong Kom are located in the office of the Divisional Delegate of the Ministry of Youth and Sports; the
PROPELCA teacher training course held in Jakiri Banso in July 2003 took place in the office of the sub-divisional inspectorate for nursery and primary education of the Ministry of
National Education. Further links exist with other government ministries, such as the Ministry of Health.
The language committees make it clear that they are not themselves part of the local political apparatus, though they are affected by local politicians decisions about budget
allocation. Godfrey Kain, the KLDC literacy coordinator, was very definite about this fact:
The language committee does not do politics. It is not a political organisation. But when one particular party is strong, it makes sense to run after that partys
representatives to get them on board with the KLDC OI: Kain 14 March 03.
The language committees actively seek budget allocations for their programmes from the local urban and rural councils. The language committees consider it the natural
responsibility of the urban and rural councils of the homelands to support mother-tongue
147 literacy programmes out of their fiscal budgets, and they complain about the inadequacy and
inconsistency of that financial support they receive from these civil authorities. Justin Suuyren, the NLO general secretary, observed:
As for the local government, we are talking of the councils - those we [the NLO] are trying to ask for money. The mother tongue is supposed to be promoted by all
councils. Every council is supposed to see to it that its inhabitants are literate. Literacy is part of the council programme. And as such, in their budget head, it is
supposed to fall there OI: Suuyren 29 March 03.
Individually, members of local or national government do become personally involved in promotion of the mother tongue, but not as a direct result of their government
positions. The founding and current chairman of the KLDC, Hon. Albert Waingeh, was at one time a Member of Parliament; he is highly respected for this fact, and his prestige in the
Kom community helps to make him an effective leader of the language committee. However his role in the KLDC does not hinge on his political experience. Hon. Waingeh has his own
perspective on the relationship of the language committee to the political leadership.
The KLDC is the trial or demonstration arm of these authorities. . . . The government speaks a lot about development of national languages, but it has no
established way to do that. The hope is that the KLDC will be the forerunners in this area OI: Waingeh 14 March 03.
Waingeh sees the language committee as offering a local service which can help the national government to fulfil the obligations it has set for itself.
4.6.4. Position within the language community The language committee is in a curious position in the language community.
Endorsed by the Fon section 4.1.3, yet without financial security or any real means of coercion, the language committee appears to thrive by creating and maintaining a network of
connections to other people and institutions in the community. NLO general secretary Justin Suuyren described how the NLO seeks partners in the
Nso language community for its efforts to promote the written mother tongue. He noted that traditional leadership is a primary focus for the language committee, as has been described
above:
We have the traditional setup, the traditional assembly [of Nso leaders], and we try to integrate with them and see how they can chip in. Sometimes we go there for
research . . . you go to consult them at their various meetings and they enlighten you what to write so that what you will produce should not be rejected OI:
Suuyren 29 March 03.
148 However, other institutional connections are also important, including the Christian
church denominations. The Christian church is a strong potential supporter of written mother tongue for two reasons: church services include significant amounts of written material,
including the Bible
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; and use of the oral mother tongue is prevalent in those contexts. For these reasons the language committees make a priority of gaining support from the churches
in the homelands.
There are church groups, that is church groups or other organisations like NGOs who are a bit inclined to what we are doing. Because we are trying to make sure
that the written language makes it into the church, because the church in this our land here is more honoured OI: Suuyren 29 March 03.
It is interesting to note here that the language committee is forging partnerships with two very different local institutions: the traditional authority with its attachment to traditional
religion, and the Christian church, whose leaders are often vocal against those same aspects of homeland tradition. The potential tension of this partnership is resolved pragmatically;
each institution sees itself as using the other towards its own ends OI: J. Mfonyam 24 March 03. So the traditional authorities are pleased that the mother tongue is being promoted in the
church, because they believe that increased mother tongue use increases their own legitimacy. On the other hand, the church leaders who advocate use of the written mother tongue
especially the Bible, are pleased with the support for mother tongue demonstrated by the traditional authorities.
Suuyrens description further emphasises the inclusive nature of the NLO:
Anyone who shows interest, we go to that person and interact with the person and see how far they could help in the spread of the language, because our target has
always been to reach every person OI: Suuyren 29 March 03.
Language committee workers are very aware of the need for winning over the community particularly where mother-tongue education is concerned, as John Ambe of
BALA makes plain:
It is very important to educate the parents, to sensitise them, because otherwise they can make it [implementing PROPELCA] very difficult. . . . If we teach the
mother tongue badly, then the people will say. Get out with that your Bafut teaching OI: Ambe 12 March 03.
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The Lamnso New Testament was published in 1990, and the Old Testament is currently being translated by a committee of Nso church leaders. The Bafut New Testament was published in 1990, by Joseph Mfonyam, a
Bafut linguist and SIL member and also a member of the BALA executive committee. The Kom New Testament is in its final stages of translation, by the Translation Sub-Committee of the KLDC. It is likely to be
published in the next few years. All of these Scripture texts are currently used to varying extents in local- language church services.
149 Language committees attempts to address the strained financial conditions involve
reminding local leaders of their obligations where the community is concerned. The KLDC literacy committee discussed this strategy for gaining support:
This organisation has no money at all, so it is good to contact the councils for financial aid. We are not telling them what to give us, but just informing them and
seeing how they can help us LCO: KLDC 30 July 03.
Happily, the recent show of government support for PROPELCA allows language committees to appeal to the local educational leadership for support as well as the community
- and to use the authority of the educational hierarchy to forward their own agenda. Nso literacy supervisor Sylvester Kanjo comments on a new strategy for increasing the number of
teachers coming for PROPELCA training:
The NLO has brainstormed a new strategy to boost teacher attendance for next year. Early on in the year, we will approach the hierarchy - first the delegate of
education. We will talk to him and show him the benefits [of PROPELCA]. Then he could forward the list of teachers to the inspectors and then to the headmaster,
because invitations for training are sent through the headmaster OI: Kanjo 8 July 03.
In the same vein, Nso literacy supervisor Patrick Meliim reports an interaction he had with a headmaster reluctant to allow PROPELCA to be taught in his primary school:
I said, If you want to drop the programme, tell me that you want to drop the programme. Then the battle can be between you and the delegate and the
inspector. I am merely coming to supervise the section we are concerned with. I am not the government agency supervisor, I am just the local supervisor for the
NLO and that is charity work, voluntary work OI: Meliim 5 Jan 3.
One segment of the community which has not been successfully networked is the Muslim community. Muslims in Banso are a cautious religious minority
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in a largely Christian population, who keep to themselves for the most part. Suuyren describes his failure
to start a literacy class for a group of Muslim women who lived nearby, concluding that even though there is a high degree of illiteracy in the community, they lack trust in any person
who is outside OI: Suuyren 29 March 03. In neither Bafut nor Kom has a significant Muslim community been identified for possible networking OI: J. Mfonyam 24 March 03.
The only real source of active opposition to the self-assigned role of the language committees appears to be among those who are attempting their own orthographic
presentation of the language. It has been mentioned in chapter three that an expatriate named
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The Muslim community in Banso is ethnically Nso, even though the areas where they live are often called the Hausa quarter. This contrasts with the few Muslims in Bafut, for example, who are ethnically Fulani.
150 Mueller was for three decades producing Kom publications in competition with the KLDC
and in a different orthography, although the scope of distribution and influence of those materials seems to be quite limited. In Banso, mention was made of a well educated man
who has developed a mathematics book in Lamnso which uses the traditional Lamnso right- to-left convention for reading numbers. Despite the objections of the NLO, this unnamed
person has continued to promote his unique approach to the written representation of Lamnso.
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However such opposition is not well supported institutionally, and the language committees do not seem overly worried about it threatening their authority and community-
based support. As Suuyren concludes:
Those are some of the few problems we have been having; it only comes from the few who are claiming to be quite literate. But when you get to the real Nso man
who is here at home, he welcomes it [the NLOs programme] with absolute satisfaction OI: Suuyren 29 March 03.
4.7. Summary: Leadership and its relation to language use and attitudes
Kategori