ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses that speeches and stereotypes used in Cameroon's political debates during the 1990's. It focuses on the construction of an opposition between two ethnic groups: the Bamileke and the Beti of Cameroon. The chapter explores the contents of ethnic stereotypes and the conditions under which they have emerged. It also focuses on transitions and differences between political debates on ethnicity, with emphasis on those that seem most useful in accounting for the complexity of the interactions between ethnicity and politics in Cameroon in the 1990's. The chapter discusses that the development is an example of how political parties and elite groups play an important role in constructing and shaping ethnic identities; they endeavour to take advantage of such volatile ethnic constellations. The population of Yaounde is estimated at over 1,200,000 inhabitants and includes, apart from foreigners, numerous local ethnic groups such as the Beti, Bamileke, Bassa, Duala, Pullo, and Kirdi.
