Wabane

Wabane is a town and council/commune in Cameroon. It is the headquarters of Wabane sub-division in Lebialem division Southwest Region of Cameroon.

History

Wabane was selected and named at the second conference of the Mundani Elite Development Association, MEDA holding in Banteng, Bamumbu on 13 February 1988; the foundation of the town was laid on 31 December 1988. The Wabane Charter was signed on that occasion. Wabane is situated at the heart of the Mundani landmass, precisely at the point where the Bamumbu, Bechati and Folepi clan lands meet. The land on which Wabane is located was donated by the three clans.

Geography

Topography

Wabane have three distinct topographical regions and marks the end of the Manyu plain. The landform is undulating and characterised by elevated, prominent mountainous terrain, with altitude ranging from lowland Nkong, Bechati and Besali, through Alongkong to M’mouck Leteh. At the Bamumbu Fondom, hill slopes are steep to very steep, narrow boulder strewn crests and deeply incised valleys. The area of Mmuock Leteh is equally undulating but with broad hilltops and gentle slopes suitable for intensive vegetable farming.

Climate

The area experiences two seasons – the dry season that begins in November and ends in March and the rainy season that commences in April and stretches up to October. It has three zones owing to the difference in topography and vegetation. The lower belt popularly called lower Mundani has a characteristic hot temperature typical on a tropical forest zone. The middle belt where the council building is found has a higher altitude and the temperature is mild. The upper belt is tropical savanna with an altitude of up to 2100 m. Here the temperatures can go below 18 °C in the months of December to January.

Soils

The difference in altitude and vegetation types gives rise to different soil types. From the field studies, soils of the lower belt to parts of the middle belt can be described as sandy-loam to reddish alluvial. The soils of the lower belt are highly exploited for plantation agriculture and to a lesser extend subsistence crops like plantain, cassava, cocoyam, banana and pepper. The upper belt has rich alluvial and silty-loam soils interspersed with very barren chalk and clay soils. These soils serve for very high commercial market gardening crops like Irish potato, cabbage, carrots and leeks.

Wind types

Two main characteristic types of winds blow across the area. These are the North East Harmatan winds that come with the dry season and the Southeast monsoon that come with the rainy season. The coming of the Harmatan winds is noticed in the council area in the month of November by violent winds particularly in the upper plateau which more often than not cost great damages in buildings and crops. This violent effect of the winds is also noticeable in the month of March–April during their take-off which is a transitional period between the Harmatan and the quick-off of monsoon winds in May. However the monsoon winds operate in an atmosphere of a gentle breeze. The cold dry Harmatan and warm wet monsoon winds give rise to the characteristic cold dry season and warm rainy season of tropical climate, experienced in the council area.

Hydrology

The main rivers and streams in the council area are found in the lower and middle belt. There are equally many drinkable springs in the whole of the council area. The main river of the municipality known as river Meyi gets it rise from mount Bamboutous and to it is added many other tributaries downstream resulting in River Manyu. During the rainy season, many of these streams overflow their banks and become fast-flowing and dangerous to cross.
The upper tropical savanna area of M’mouck Leteh, Atsuala, Magha and Fonenge have few streams and springs, many of the springs dry off in the dry season leading to acute water shortage both for household use and irrigation.

Vegetation

There are three distinct vegetation types within the municipality. There is tropical forest vegetation in the lower parts from the villages of Nkong, Bangang through Besali to Egumbo; wooded savanna in the middle part around the villages Talung, Alongkong, Nchingang and Banteng and the tropical savanna vegetation at the higher attitudes of M’mouck Leteh to Magha. The lower tropical forest and the wooded middle zones hold the highest level of flora – timber and non-timber forest species including medicinal plants. Much of the primary forest have been converted to secondary forests and void of major timber species. The tropical savanna zone has grassy vegetation, with isolated patches of forest or planted eucalyptus trees.

Fauna

The difference in vegetation type gives rise to a variety of wildlife species. The Environment and Rural Development Foundation has listed a number of animal species that could be found in the forest and grassland vegetation of the Wabane Council Area – some that are rare or endangered. Amongst others are the primates to wild cats like African civets, genets, foxes, stone hayracks, antelopes, deer, caneras, grass cutters and a variety of avifauna species like the Bannerman's turaco and parrot.
For fear of extermination of the above-mentioned primates the Environment and Rural Development Foundation is working alongside the Ministry of Wildlife to create a sanctuary in the lower Mundani zone though without some resistance from a fraction of the local population.

Culture

Population

According to the council logbook the population estimate of the council area stands at 86,721 inhabitants spread over a surface area of 180 km². This gives a population density of 48 inhabitants/km². The field survey by the Center for Promotion of Local Development in 2011 puts the population at 62,342 inhabitants with a population density of 35 persons/km².
Like in other parts of the country, the population of Wabane is made up of mostly young people. The ages 0–4 years and 5–14 years accounts for 21% of the population each, and 15–44 years 31%. Ages above 45 years accounts for only 27% of the total population. The youthful nature of the population is indicative of enormous need in education, health and future demands for employment.
Of the total population, 28,803 are males representing 46.20% while 33,538 females representing 53.80% of the population. The higher female population can be explained by the fact that more males migrate out of the municipality in search of jobs as there due to the low economic activity in the area.
The following villages have more than 2,000 inhabitants: Bangang, Cham-Gomeveh, Fonenge, Agong, Nkong, Besali, Magha, Mmuock Leteh, Dih, Folepi, Fomenji, Bahne, Banti, Banteng, Atsuala, Bechati. These are areas of intense agricultural activities, host weekly markets or are comparatively easy to access to other divisions. It should be remarked that the village of Mbecho though very enclaved has one time been the capital of Wabane Sub Division – thus its population.
The population of Wabane municipality is divided into the lower Mundani clan and the upper Mundani clan. The lower Mundani is made up of seven villages. They are governed by chiefs while the upper Mundani is made up of nine villages – each traditionally administered by a third class chief. These third class chiefs are all answerable to the paramount ruler – a first class chief known as his royal majesty the fon of Bamumbu. Chieftaincy is hereditary in the Mundani clan. In the clan, the traditional rulers are generally called fons though the fall in three different categories as structured by the ministry of territorial administration and decentralization. The fons are directly assisted by the village council which is constituted of sub chiefs or quarter heads. The quarter heads are directly assisted by the ‘Nkems’ who act as the link between the family heads and the council.
As with other rural areas of the country, out-migration is common. In the Wabane council area, emigration is noticeable in the middle belt as compared to the lower and the upper regions. This is due to the difficult topography, difficult access and the poor nature of the soils that make farming unrewarding.
The huge production of palm oil and cocoa in the lower region and the Irish potato, cabbages, carrots in the upper region which is more accessible from nearby Dschang attract a considerable proportion of immigrant farmers from other areas of the division and makes the population more stable.

Ethnic groups

Wabane constitutes one main clan which is the Mundani clan - the population which can either be referred to as lower Mundani and upper Mundani. These people are said to have originated from Widikum from the Northwest Region. Others, the Mmuock tribe from the upper belt of Wabane Sub Division are also said to have migrated from Dschang in the West Region as a consequence of the first world war and others especially from the lowland from upper Bayang in Manyu Division. The difference can be seen from their dressings, dance and their dialect. The main dialect is known as the Mundani language.
Other tribes found within the municipality are the Bangwa, the Bamileki, the Bayang, the Meta' language and the Bassossi – most of them are civil servants.

Religion

Wabane municipality is receptive to all religious groups accepted in Cameroon. Christianity is the religion most practiced in the municipality. The prominent denominations in the area are Presbyterian, Catholic, Full gospel, Baptist, Apostolic, and others with nomadic Muslims spotted around the Western part of the upper belt. The religious groups serve the area with moral ethics and some social welfare services like health units and schools.

Land tenure system

Land ownership in the Wabane municipality is hereditary. The housing system in the Wabane council area is made up of non-permanent structures which make about 97%. The nature of building material is about 90% mud houses with thatch roofs or corrugated iron sheets. At most 3% housing is constructed of cement bricks with iron rods and majority of wooden houses are found in lower Mundani which is hotter.
About 90% of the population of Wabane live around water sources like springs. This reflects the tendency of human settlement around natural water supply points. A majority of settlement patterns is dispersed except of linear settlement in the lower belt, with an example of Bechati and Besali in particular. This should have a direct link with their lowlands nature.
Looking at the zonal spacing of Wabane council, the population of is settled on two main geographical landforms with about 40% living around the lowlands of the lower belt. While 60% occupy the rocky, hilly, undulating middle zone and the slopes and plateau of the far upper zone.