Mbokomu, the Ancestor Goddess of the Ngombe

What if the first woman on Earth wasn’t a passive creation — but a divine disruptor? What if she were sent down not because she was weak, but because she was too powerful to be contained?

This week on Women and Resistance, hosts Aya Fubara Eneli Esq. and Adesoji Iginla dive deep into one of Central Africa’s most captivating and under-explored mythological figures: Mbokomu, the ancestor goddess of the Ngombe people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Daughter of the supreme creator god Akongo, the first gardener, the mother of all humanity — and, depending on who you ask, the reason time itself sometimes slows to a crawl.

In this enlightening episode, Mbokomu shares profound African creation stories, emphasising the importance of remembering our roots, cultivating harmony, and understanding our spiritual connection to the universe.

Through rich narratives from the Congo and Yoruba traditions, listeners are invited to reconnect with ancestral wisdom and embrace their role in nurturing life.

We unpack the Ngombe creation myth and ask the questions that Western scholarship often doesn’t: What does it mean that the origin of humanity in this tradition is a woman who caused problems? How do African cosmologies encode ideas of female agency, ecological sovereignty, and ancestral power? And what happens to those stories when colonialism arrives to burn the archive?

From the Congo River basin to the mountains of Venus — yes, Venus — Mbokomu’s name echoes across centuries and galaxies. We also connect her story to the very real struggles of Congolese women today: from Maria N’koi’s 1915 insurrection against Belgian colonial rule, to the extraordinary courage of modern activists like Julienne Lusenge fighting sexual violence in the DRC.

This is mythology as resistance. This is ancestry as armour.

Takeaways

*African cosmology and creation stories
*The role of Mbokomu as the first woman and gardener
*The spiritual significance of rivers and water in African traditions
*The story of Obatala and the creation of Earth in Yoruba mythology
*The impact of colonisation on African oral traditions and knowledge
*The importance of remembering and reconnecting with ancestral wisdom

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Mbokomu's Legacy
01:44 The Essence of Creation and Nurturing Life
03:39 The Journey from Heaven to Earth
05:44 The First Garden and Humanity's Roots
07:45 Resilience and the Philosophy of Creation
09:49 The Impact of Displacement and Spiritual Exhaustion
11:50 The Role of Memory and Storytelling
13:56 African Cosmologies and Cultural Survival
16:14 The Importance of Understanding Our Origins
22:48 The Sky Kingdom and Olorun's Creation
24:07 Obatala's Quest for Purpose
26:00 The Descent to Earth
28:52 The Birth of Ife
31:21 Obatala's Creation of Humanity
34:36 The Role of the Chameleon and Divine Intervention
37:00 The Dogon People and Their Wisdom
41:22 Yurugu's Arrogance and the Consequences
47:58 The Seeds of Destruction
50:35 The Call to Remember and Reconnect

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Welcome to Women and Resistance, a powerful podcast where we honour the courage, resilience, and revolutionary spirit of women across the globe. Hosted by Aya Fubara Eneli Esq and Adesoji Iginla...

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