Ngondo Festival: Prime Minister Invited

T he Prime Minister, Head of Government, Joseph Dion Ngute has been officially in­ vited to the next edition of the Ngondo festival which holds in Douala, Littoral Region from Decem­ ber 5-6, 2026. A delegation of the Ngondo received by the Prime Minis­ ter yesterday September 16, 2026 officially handed the invitation. The Ngondo festival, it should be noted, is an annual traditional, cultural, and ritual celebration of the Sawa peo­ ple (coastal communities) held in Douala. In December 2024, the Ngondo festival was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the intangible cultural heritage of huma­ nity with the scared water ritual being the spotlight, which is a pro­ cess where an initiated priest dives into the Wouri River from a sacred canoe carrying a vase for the water spirits and later returns dry though coming from water with a spiritual message from the ancestors that guides the community for the co­ ming year. Speaking to the press after the over one-hour audience, the President of Ngondo, His Royal Highness Mbodi Epée Gaston, traditional ruler of Can­ ton Bassa in Douala said with the Prime Minister being a traditional ru­ ler and a dignified son of the Sawa people, they were obliged to invite him based on his administrative and traditional responsibilities. He further explained that they are on a tour to meet the diaspora com­ munity of the Sawa people and the first lap of that visit was Yaounde. “We cannot therefore be in Yaounde without coming to meet the Prime Minister, Head of Gove...