Traditional Leaders, Resources and Rural Development in the Santa Community in Cameroon

Abstract

Traditional Leadership Institution is recognized to promote rural development in Cameroon. It works with local government in a cooperative governance system to support development. Traditional rulers, who are the custodian of the land and auxiliaries of the administration, play a vital role in facilitating development processes in villages and towns. Traditional rulers in Cameroon collaborate with the administration to ameliorate the living condition of citizens. The Santa constituency has remained relatively underdeveloped despite the fact that traditional leaders in the Santa community are supposed to enhance rural development in their various communities. The main objective of this study is to investigate the resources used by traditional rulers in the Santa community and the role they play to develop the Santa community. A purely qualitative method was used to collect and analyze data for this study. Structured interview guides were used to collect data from some traditional leaders in the Santa constituency. The results of the findings revealed that traditional leaders in the Santa constituency do not have enough resources to enhance rural development. The only resource at their disposal is labour from the local population. The role they play to develop the Santa community is that, they function as intermediaries between the council and the local population; they resolve conflicts through traditional courts, organize community works and maintain peace and order through the creation of vigilante groups. The recommendation for this study is that the central government should provide funds to traditional leaders in the Santa community so that they can initiate meaningful development.