Visiting Donga Mantung

 Donga-Mantung is one of the Divisions of the Northwest Region of Cameroon. This Division covers a surface area of 4,279 km2. According to northwest-cameroon.com, the Division had a population of 269.931 inhabitants in 2005. However, according to ambazoniagov.org, the Division had a total population of about 337,533 inhabitants in 2001. The Administrative Head Quarters of Donga Mantung Division is Nkambe.

Going by the statistics of northwest-cameroon.com which come from results presented by the Bureau Central des Recensement et Des Etudes de Populations, Institut National de la Statistique Cameroon(Web), the population density stands at 62,78 inhabitants per Square Kilometer calculated from a total population of 269.931 in 2005. The annual population change between 1987 and 2005 stood at 0.947%. The same source indicates that the various Subdivisions had the following populations in 2005.

Ako – 40.349, Misaje – 22.641, Ndu – 73.955, Nkambe – 63.032 and Nwa- 69.954 which corresponds with the figures (269.931) given the Cameroon Institute of National Statistics.

Origin of the name

According to Wikipedia, Donga Mantung Division got its name from a German Explorer called Dunga, who opened a German Station and Hospital in Mbem in  Nwa Subdivision in 1911. Mr. Dunga also operated the first Hydroelectricity Plant on a River besides the hospital called Mantum by the natives. "Mantum" simply meant "river " in the Mbem language (Yamba) that was spoken by the natives. The German and his project became a reference point for  German exploration of the Cameroon High Plateau. Eventually, these names became representative of the Historical, Developmental and Local Distinctions that were used in honour of the incredible work of Mr. Donga the German. It is also reported that it was Mr. Donga who used forced labour to excavate the road to Mbem via the dangerously steep Rom Rock.

Cameroon became a German Protectorate on July 14, 1884. By 1916, Germany was defeated during the First World War by the Allied Forces and Cameroon was handed over to France and Britain under the League of Nations Mandate Agreement of 1922. Britain and France were mandated by the League of Nations to administer and prepare Cameroon for self-government at a later date. The Mandate Agreement resulted in the partition of Cameroon between the French and the British who had to enact policies that would ensure efficiency in the administration of their respective portions of the Mandate Territory of Cameroon. From 1916 to 1922, Britain had no formal administrative policy for the Cameroons and Nigeria. It was only in 1923 that the British “Orders-in-Council” created the then administrative Units known as Native Authorities (NA) headed by Traditional Rulers. The 1923 Orders-in-Council established British colonial Policy for the Cameroons and Nigeria. The Orders-in-Council equally enacted that British Law which were already applicable in Nigeria be extended to both Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. By this policy, each village, Chiefdom or Fondom constituted a Native Authority. The 1923 Orders-in-Council introduced a Native Administrative System known as "Indirect Rule", through which Britain administered its colonies in Africa through indigenous Chiefs and Traditional Institutions. This Administrative System excluded the educated Elites from administration. The administration was controlled by Traditional Rulers who were mostly illiterates and lacked both managerial capabilities and financial resources to carry out socio-economic development. This constituted a major flaw of the Native Authority system of administration. This flaw necessitated the Administrative Reforms of 1949 by the British. In 1949, Britain decided to create Local Government Units in the Cameroons and in Nigeria. Different Chiefdoms or Fondoms were merged together to constitute Divisional Local Government Units.

This is how what is known today as the North West Region was transformed into a province known as the Bamenda Province with three Divisions, namely, the Bamenda, Wum and Nkambe Divisions. What is known today as the South West Region was equally divided into three Divisions, namely, the Mamfe, Kumba and Victoria Divisions. These Divisions had deliberative and Legislative Powers and their representatives were elected through universal suffrage. They were empowered to ensure development.

The Nkambe Division which is known today as Donga-Mantung  was created for the first time in 1949 by the British Colonial Ordinance. It was one of the three Divisional Local Government Units of the then Bamenda Province of Southern Cameroons.

The Nkambe Division lasted from 1949 to 1968 when Donga and Mantung Division was created by a Presidential Decree. From 1963 to 1966, the Nkambe Division was divided into two subdivisions, namely, Nwa Subdivision, created by Presidential Decree No. 63/DF/25 of 26th July 1963, and Nkambe Subdivision, created by Presidential Decree No. 66/DF/432 of 26th August 1966.

On the 30^th of December 1968, Presidential Decree No. 68/DF/509, transformed Nkambe Division into Donga and Mantung Division. By the administrative re-organization of 1972, Presidential Decree No. 72-349 of 4th July 1972 once more changed the name of the Division from Donga and Mantung to Donga Mantung Division. The conjunction “and” was simply removed from the name. Donga Mantung Division derived its name from the two rivers that flow across the Division, namely, River Donga in Ako Subdivision, and River Mantung in Nwa Subdivision. Ako Subdivision was the third subdivision to be created in Donga Mantung Division. It was created by a Presidential Decree in 1977. It covered Ako and Misaje areas. Ndu Subdivision was created by Presidential Decree in 1992 and its accompanying Municipal Council was created in 1993 via Decree No. 93/332 of 25th November 1993. Misaje Subdivision just like Ndu Subdivision was created and carved out of Ako Subdivision in 1992 by a Presidential Decree.

From 1992 to 1996, Donga Mantung Division witnessed yet another evolution. The Constitutional Reforms of 1996 in Cameroon transformed Provinces into Regions and did away with the previous administrative units called Districts, and replaced them with Subdivisions. Thus, from 1996, Districts ceased to exist as administrative units in Cameroon. The Subdivisions were each accompanied by Municipal Councils headed by Mayors elected via universal suffrage. The five subdivisions that make up Donga Mantung today are: Nkambe Central Subdivision, Nwa Subdivision, Ako Subdivision, Ndu Subdivision and Misaje Subdivision.

 

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