Kumba
| Kumba K-Town | |
|---|---|
  Kumba Location in Cameroon | |
| Coordinates: 4°38′N 9°27′E / 4.633°N 9.450°E | |
| Country |
 |
| Provincekind | Southwest Region |
| Elevation | 240 m (790 ft) |
| Population (2015) | |
| • Total | 400,000 |
Kumba is a city in Southwest Region, Western Cameroon also known as K town. Kumba has an estimated population of about 400.000 inhabitants with about ¾ of this population falling within the youthful age group. The increase in population is as a result of increase in birth rate and a fall in infant mortality rate as a result of improvement in Infant health care and migrations (Rural – Urban). The N8 and N16 highways meet at Kumba.
Economy
The city is a trade centre for Cocoa and Palm Oil, including Rubber and has a timber industry as well. Kumba is a local road junction, making it the main commercial town in anglophone Cameroon. Trading in Kumba has attracted the interest of foreigners, mostly [Nigerians] (The Igbos), who have always controlled a greater percentage of the Kumba main market. (culled from a personal survey, January 2011).Controlled by the Kumba city Council it is the most income generating source of the council. Most of the people in Kumba are farmers ad this has made Kumba one of the leading towns in Cameroon that provide food stuff to its neighbouring towns and cities not leaving out some neighbouring countries like Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Tchad and a good number of African Countries.
Geography
Although it is the largest city in the southwest region of Cameroon, it is not the provincial capital; which is located in Buea, the former German colonial capital. Because of its size, most major roads to the provincial interior radiate from Kumba, running to the Nigerian border at Mamfe, the Korup National Park at Mundemba, and Mount Koupe to the east. The premier geographical attraction in Kumba is lake Barombi Mbo, the largest volcanic lake in Cameroon's volcanic chain.
Transport
Kumba is the terminus of a branch railway of the western system of Camrail.Kumba has three major motor parks; one situated at Buea road in Barombi kang, the second is at Fiango(three corners), and the third is at Mbonge road(Mile one)
Government
Kumba is the headquarter of Meme division of the Southwest Region. It has three sub-divisional councils; Kumba 1(Kumba Town-Kake, a part of Buea Road), Kumba 2(Kosala, Hausa-quarters and Fiango) and Kumba 3(3 corners, Mambanda and a part of Buea-road) with three local mayors. The town also run by a government appointed Senior Divisional Officer(SDO) and a government Delegate.
People
Most people in Kumba speak English, Pidgin and to a small extend French and at least one of a variety of indigenous languages, most dominantly Bafaw, Bakundu, Bakossi and Mbonge.
The indigenes of Kumba are the Bafaw and the Bakundus. Bafaw is an ethnic group who speak Lifaw, a language similar to Duala, and the Bakundu ethnic group who speak the Bakundu language(Orocko language), Mboh, Bakundu Language and Bakossi, and certainly Southern Bantoid. The Bafaw people are ruled by their Paramount chief HRH Fon Victor Esemisongo Mukete who is the current chairman of Camtel, Cameroon's own Telecommunication company and the current CEO of Mukete Plantations Limited, a family heirloom and plantation measuring over 200 square kilometers in different localities in Meme division. The Bakundu people are ruled by their paramount chief Tata Itoe Benjamin Motanga who is currently the board chairman of the most renowned Cameroon Development Corporation(CDC). Due to its cosmopolitan nature, the Bafaw and the Bakundu now form just a percentage of the general population of the city, and have lost many aspects of their culture, except for their language which is spoken mostly by the elderly and some of the younger generation.
Kumba is the birthplace of French international rugby union player Serge Betsen and footballer Eyong Enoh.