Profile of a commercial town in West-Cameroon : Research findings of a socio-anthropological enquire in Kumba

1.1. THE GROWTH OF TOWNS IN CAMEROON EXHIBITS SPECIAL AND PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS There are, in the first place, tendencies at work which are reminiscent of the historen of Foumban. an East-Cameroonian town which devel­ oped independentlen of western influences.

Situated at a great distance from the sea, this town resembles in many ways a typical European mediaeval city bustling with the activities of guilds and craftsmen living in their different quarters according to their own codes of conduct.

Other tendencies at work are those of the traditional structures and authority patterns of the rural family.

These have been brought to the towns by the many immigrants from the countryside who in their bewilderment and relative impotence fall back on the old tribal rela­ tionships and traditions which guarantees them parasitic support.

There are, above all, new tendencies, unknown in the West, which are caused by the formation of groups at different levels, whose size, composition and sudden formation are quite unique: The youth who proportionately dominate the population pyramid and thus make inordinate demands on state-and family-budgetts.

The minor officials and the new money elite, who form a new and frequently corrupt top layer.

The young adults who are unemployed or unable to find work of the kind they like.

The girls and women who make a living by prostitution in such different ways that the very concept of prostitution becomes vague.