Burden of Custom and Tradition: The Woman Who Beat the Sacred Drum

Ngina, the daughter of Mbaragha and A'Ngon, lived ahead of her times. At a time when women were and still relegated to the background, Ngina distinguished herself in activities which by tradition belonged to the men-firing a musket, building a fence, leading a goat to the fields to feed, felling trees, and playing the drum or guitar. Such disposition put her at loggerheads with her husband, Mvodo, an arch traditionalist, as well as with the entire population of Ghost Hill Town later christened Mboa Zambe (God's Town) in the Christian era. Ngina evoked the wrath of Ghost Hill Town when she beat the "Sacred Drum", and narrowly escaped death by poisoning and physical assault by Mvodo, who was then her estranged husband. Ondoa, Ngina's son vowed to avenge his mother's near-death situation. He tracked down Yene, one of his mother's attackers, who divulged information that the other attacker was Mvodo. Meanwhile, Ebanga, the hospital nurse who was bribed by Yene to put poison in Ngina's coffee, languished in jail. Later, Yene and Mvodo were tried and jailed. However, Ngina's ordeal, tenacity, love for her people, good judgment, and faith elevated her to high places in the colonial era, of which she was the catalyst in the transformation of Ghost Hill Town in women's rights, education, jobs, health matters and child care services. In fact, Ghost Hill Town (Mboa Zamba) was never the same again.