The Esu-Elba Ranch Imbroglio, 1987-2008: Contending perspectives of land control in the Cameroon Grasslands

The arrival of the cattle Fulani in the Bamenda Grasslands of Cameroon in the first half of the twentieth century coupled with the systematic increase in herd sizes and attempt to modernize cattle breeding against an increasing human population brought tremendous pressure to bear on land resources. This paper examines the Esu-Elba ranch clash in the North West Region of Cameroon. It argues that although there were disputes over geographical space, especially between Esu, her neighbours and the immigrant Fulani grazier population over the use and ownership of land, the situation became endemic with the establishment of the ranch in 1987. The article establishes that, the Esu-Elba ranch contention was centrally motivated by the irreconcilable power perception between progressive elite land exploitation and the conservative traditional discernment of the use and meaning of ancestral land. The investigation was based on secondary and primary sources which were interpreted following a qualitative analyses and presented thematically.