Moving the Goalpost: “Come-We-Stay” Practice in Menchum Division (MD), Cameroon

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand people's perception of "come-we-stay" (CWS) cohabitation in Menchum Division (MD), Cameroon. As in most of Africa, marriage is a valued institution that ensures the continuation of the family tree.The emergence of CWS is gathering momentum fast in many communities in the country much to the dislike of the church and custodians of tradition who perceive CWS to be a cheap union form that breaches marriage norms. This paper seeks to address whether the emergence of CWS has affected marriage perceptions in MD. Initially, quantitative data were collected via online survey disseminated via Facebook. The time-efficiency, economic viability, convenience and anonymity of this method made it a viable method for this study. Later, however, due to a low response to the Facebook link, the online survey was constructed into a questionnaire and administered to the same target population. Questionnaires were relevant to this study because they could be self-administered. However, the questionnaires were limited as they did not allow for attention to details. The data were analysed using content analysis.

Motives and Consequences of Premarital Cohabitation Practices among University Students in Iringa Municipality, Tanzania

“…Ever since cohabitation is guided by "come we stay together" slogan, studies indicate that adolescents in Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are mostly influenced to practice it (Arisukwu, 2013;Kamgno & Mengue 2014;Posel & Rudwick 2014;Jensen et al 2015;Uka, 2015;Agyekum, 2016;Baloyi, 2016;Duyilemi et al, 2018). Those who are still in higher learning institutions were found to engage in cohabitation due to insufficient on-campus hostels, rigidity of parent treatment, freedom of creating new friendships and financial insufficiencies (Ayandele & Ayoola, 2019).…”