 Most of the chiefs respected Atangana as their spokesman and leader , and the Beti at large deferred to him prestige and power . A new system of status had evolved under his rule : a cadre of minor bureaucrats , envoys , interpreters , and office staff worked for Atangana and the other chiefs independent of the French government and were completely dependent on the chiefs . Atangana set up a private police force , for example , known as the fulus in Ewondo . The entire class recognised its reliance on the chiefs and gave them loyalty in exchange for protection and pay , and the chiefs relied on these functionaries to swiftly fulfill their duties to the French regime . 
