From November 1st - December 1st, The Sawa people also known as the Duala people gathered around the banks of River Wouri in Douala, Littoral Region of Cameroon for the biennial Ngondo festival which celebrates the Sawa culture.

Around this ritual there is plenty of entertainment going on: music performances, folk dances, wrestling matches, beauty pageants and big canoe races on the river. Only Sawa are allowed to participate, but watchers are always welcome to watch and be entertain. Over the last few years, there has been an increase of viewers as festival has attracted plenty of tourists and foreign people.

Every 2 years, the five tribes which makes up the Sawa ethnic group gather to focus on the traditional ritual performed in the river with men wearing traditional garments carry sacred pots and dive into the waters. They remain immersed for several minutes in order to communicate with the gods whom they believe inhabit the riverbed.

According to customs, the gods always send message to be related to the people, the next two years message was "More responsibility and restraint to avoid the traps looming on the horizon." A message that goes to everyone not just the youth, says the outgoing president of Ngondo, His Majesty Madiba Songue of the Bakoko-Wouri Kingdom, who also challenged parents to be more attentive on the supervision and education of their children. It was the apotheosis of an edition particularly marked by a cultural mix tinged with peace "Musango".

There was also the passage of the witness of His Majesty Madiba Songuè to the new president of Ngondo 2021 His majesty Jean Yves Eboumbou Douala Manga Bell of Njo-Njo now known as Bell, not without having drawn up a glowing review of the festival. A notable result, notably the construction of the Sawa culture house and the launch of the Ngondo Foundation.

The ceremony took place on the banks of the Wouri, under the eyes of many personalities of the central government and the heads of the communities from the Far North, South, West and East whose Baka pygmies, special guests of this edition opened the festivities in dances and songs.


Who are the Duala or Sawa people?
 The Duala are an ethnic group in Cameroon. They are coastal people from Littoral and Southwest regions of Cameroon.

They played a vital role in the colonization of Cameroon and communication with the European countries. You can read their history on Wikipeida