2 August 2015: the kings of Africa at Pointe-Denis

On 2 August 2015, Pointe-Denis lived one of the greatest days in its recent memory: more than fifty sovereigns, princes and traditional chiefs from several African countries gathered on the peninsula to pay tribute to King Denis Rapontchombo, on the land where he has rested since 1876. For the House, that day says one simple thing: the throne of King Denis belongs on the map of African royalty, and the other thrones know it.

A tribute from throne to throne

To receive one sovereign at the tomb of another is not a visit: it is an act of recognition. By coming to bow at Iwounwé, where King Denis rests, the traditional chiefs from Cameroon and elsewhere on the continent honoured both the man, first signatory of a treaty with France in 1839, and the lineage that keeps his legacy: the Assiga clan and the House of Rapontchombo. The clan’s tradition, which has always been to welcome to the temple the great figures of the other branches of the Bwiti and the high customary authorities, found here its widest expression.

The delegations

Among the dignitaries present, the memory of the House names in particular, with the titles that public sources make it possible to verify:

• His Majesty Songue Madiba, paramount chief of the Bakoko canton, Wouri department, Douala (Cameroon), Katè dynasty;
• His Majesty Douala Manga Bell, king of the Bell of Douala (Cameroon), heir to a dynasty reigning since 1792;
• His Majesty Mahamat Bahar Marouf, sultan (miarré) of Logone-Birni, Far North (Cameroon);
• Diima Mfumu, customary dignitary (title being verified);
• Boketsu Ngele, customary dignitary (title being verified).

The full protocol list of the fifty delegations is being compiled by the House of Rapontchombo: the names, titles and countries of the other sovereigns present will be added to this page as they are verified. Anyone holding documents from the day, programmes, photographs or protocol lists, is invited to send them to the House via the contact form.

Pointe-Denis, a land that welcomes thrones

That day in 2015 does not stand alone. The same year, national television covered the tributes paid to King Denis and his predecessors by their descendants at Pointe-Denis (report of 3 November 2015, to be seen on the Archives page); in 2024, the annual ceremony at the king’s tomb was led by Jacques Makaya Zimamo; in 2025, the President of the Republic came in turn to pay his respects there. From one throne to another, from one year to the next, King Denis’s peninsula remains what it has always been: a place where customary Africa recognises itself.