Cameroon monarch inherits 72 wives from late father

A king in the Bafut region in Cameroon, is the proud heir who has inherited his father's 72 wives and over 500 children, to add to his over 30 wives, meaning that he now has more than 100 wives and close to 700 children.

The monarch, King Fon Abumbi II, who is the traditional ruler of the town of Bafut and its adjoining areas in the Northwest Province of that country, does not feel there is anything wrong in pursuing the record set by the Biblical King Solomon as his large family is one that is close knit and he says that he knows all of his brood by name.

King Fon Abumbi II and two of his wives

Photo Credit: Mirror

“During colonialism, other values came in, of governance, different from the traditional values we had and therefore there is this constant conflict between the traditional values and modern western values.

My role is to blend them, to find the way forward so my subjects can enjoy the fruits of development and modernity without destroying their culture.

Without a culture, you are not a human being, you are an animal. And therefore the chieftaincy institution is the guarantor of our culture,” King Abumbi said.

His third wife, Queen Constance, told the CNN that the family is happy with the way they are:

Queen Constance

Photo Credit: Mirror

"Behind every successful man must be a very successful, staunch woman. Our tradition has it that when you are king, the elderly wives remain to hand down the tradition to the younger wives, and also to teach he king the tradition because the king had been a prince, not a king."