Preserving the traditional Kom house

Abstract

The Kom, one of the migrating Bantu groups that followed raiding by Muslim jihadists on sub Saharan Africa in the late seventeenth century, moved southwards and established sporadic settlements, a pattern that has been traced by lexicographic evidence and oral accounts. The last recorded evidence of settlement by the Kom was in Babessi in Ndop plain. From Babassi, they moved up through Nkar and passing through Idien, finally settled on the peaks of the Laikom in present day Cameroon which remained the seat of the palace from which the Kom Kingdom was founded. Final settlement meant the establishment of a stable culture and way of life which included the construction of the traditional Kom house. This project will detail or document the traditional Kom house, including its history, construction techniques, materials and social use. It will then design a program, either at the national or local level, to preserve traditional housing in Cameroon.