The Chiefdom of Bamunka

Bamunka remains a state-like society headed by a hereditary Fon (Bamunka: Fung) who is recognized as the senior title-holder in the highly stratified social, political, economic and religious systems which constitute the social organization of this village (Chilver 1963). Bamunka lies within the range of 'centralized' chieftaincies of the Western Grassfields. In spite of variations it shares a number of common factors, including a focal palace, a palatine retainerdom, secret fraternities with regulatory functions, titles and ranks. The Fon's palace acts as a centre for the reception and redistribution of wealth, and houses many royal wives who are set apart both spatially and socially in contiguous houses inside the royal compound (Kaberry 1962; Geary 1988: 11-41; Mope Simo 1991b: 421-4).

Bamunka has an rural economy with a relatively high agricultural potential. Its strategic position between the provincial, economic and cultural capital of Bamenda and the capital of Bui Division, Kumbo, has encouraged the development of a complex multi-ethnic and peri-urban sector, where today the Bamunka proper form only a bare majority. As the administrative centre of the Ndop area, Bamunka's much longer and more intensive contact with wider social and economic opportunities have given it an advantage over neighbouring chiefdoms. The 1976 general census showed that the main village sector of Bamunka had a population of over 3,105 with women making up 51.86 per cent. At that time there were 4,590 people living in the administrative capital (urban) of which 48.47 per cent were women.