Assessing the Relevance of Local Epistemological Knowledge to The Emergence of Cameroon by 2035
Kingsley Nkwelle Ebako Dibo* and Oben Timothy Mbuagbo
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, FSMS, University of Buea
*Corresponding Author: kngsleynkwelle3@gmail.com
To Cite: Nkwelle & Oben (2026), Assessing the Relevance of Local Epistemological Knowledge to The Emergence of Cameroon by 2035. Journal of Tertiary and Industrial Sciences, JTIS, 6(1), 91–110. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18685810
Submission Date: 23/12/2025 Acceptance Date: 13/02/2026
Abstract
One of the most ignored, yet probably the most important dimensions of the development problematic in Cameroon and Africa is the question of intellectual sovereignty. Intellectual sovereignty requires a fundamental paradigm shift from the consent dominant, Western epistemological framing of African socio-cultural realities to local-level understanding of African socio-cultural experiences. This requires the usage of methodological and theoretical insights that are mainly home-grown. In this regard, this paper examines the current content of the undergraduate program offered in the department of sociology and anthropology of the University of Buea. It discusses how this program remains trapped in Western social science paradigm, proposes an intellectual rupture with inherited models, and finally points the way towards a Cameroon – focused social science analysis. This is done through a careful content relevance analysis of the departmental brochure of sociology and anthropology (2022/2023 academic year) to critically assess their relevance with respect to the ambition of Cameroon to emerge economically and otherwise by 2035. On the basis of the aforementioned methodological approach, the research finding shows that the disciplines of sociology and anthropology in their current outlook are in need of novel theoretical or methodological insight grounded in local socio-historical and political realities. This social critique calls for the transformation of dominant, mainly Western and colonial, social science Paradigms which are historically ideological projects for domination and control. The outcome of this research recommends a thorough understanding not only of the resilience of colonial education in Africa, but probably more importantly, to rid the content of sociology and anthropology of coloniality of knowledge, coloniality of being and coloniality of power as advanced by decolonial theorists such as (Dussel, 2013), (Mignolo, 2011), (Quijano, 2000) and others.