Bamenda is the big city of Cameroon's North-West highlands and, in normal times, one of the country's most characterful cities: capital of Anglophone Cameroon, perched on a spectacular cliff at 1.600 metres, with a cool climate, lively markets and a role as the gateway to the scenic Ring Road and the region's traditional kingdoms ('fondoms').
But today Bamenda cannot be visited safely. It is one of the epicentres of the Anglophone crisis, the armed separatist conflict that has ravaged Cameroon's North-West and South-West since 2016. The city lives with clashes, curfews and frequent 'ghost town' days imposed by separatist groups. All major governments advise against any travel to the area. This guide describes Bamenda for its importance and cultural value, but with a clear warning: for now, it is not a destination you can go to.
In these pages we explain what Bamenda is and what it stands for: its setting on the cliff, its role as the Anglophone capital and gateway to the Ring Road, the culture of the North-West grassfields, and the background to the crisis that makes it inaccessible today. It is a way to get to know an important Cameroonian city and to understand why, for the moment, you have to do so from a distance and always check official travel advice before making any plans.
Bamenda grew in the 20th century as the administrative centre of the North-West highlands, first under the Germans (who set up a post on the upper level, 'Up Station') and then under the British administration that made this region Anglophone Cameroon. After reunification in 1961, it became established as the regional capital and the political heart of the English-speaking community, the setting for milestones in Cameroonian political life. Since 2016 it has been one of the epicentres of the Anglophone separatist conflict. The full story is told on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The fondoms of the highlands: the kingdom of Bafut immortalised by Gerald Durrell, the city of Bamenda, cradle of the opposition, and the scenic Ring Road, all now marked by the anglophone crisis.
Read the history of The anglophone Northwest highlands →No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Long before the city of Bamenda existed, the highlands of northwestern Cameroon were home to a dense constellation of traditional grassfields kingdoms ('fondoms'): Mankon, Bafut, Kom, Nso, Bali and many others. Like their Bamileke neighbours in the West, these peoples had reached the mountains in waves of migration over several centuries and had organised themselves into small hierarchical states, each ruled by a sacred 'fon' (king), with their own secret societies, masks and rites.
These mountains, between 1,400 and 2,000 metres above sea level, with a cool climate and fertile soils, supported thriving agriculture and a large population. The area where Bamenda stands today, at the foot of a great escarpment, belonged to the 'fondom' of Mankon, one of the region's major kingdoms. The site was a natural crossroads between the different highland kingdoms.
The grassfields culture of the Northwest is related to Bamileke culture but has a character of its own, and it is one of the richest in Central Africa: sacred kings, powerful 'kwifon' societies, masked dances, woodcarving, textiles and a strong sense of community. In the early 20th century, the colonial administration that would give rise to the city settled on top of this world of kingdoms.
In the early 20th century, under the German protectorate of Kamerun, the colonisers set up an administrative post at the top of the escarpment, in what is now known as 'Up Station', drawn by the cool climate and the commanding views over the valley. This was how Bamenda's urban core began to take shape, first as a centre of colonial control over the grassfields kingdoms of the Northwest.
After Germany's defeat in the First World War, Cameroon was divided between France and the United Kingdom. The Northwest highlands fell within British Cameroons, which was governed indirectly through the 'fons' and tied to neighbouring British Nigeria. Bamenda grew into the administrative centre of this English-speaking Cameroon, with British-rooted education, legal and administrative systems that were very different from the French ones taking hold in eastern Cameroon.
This double colonial legacy, French in the east and south and British in the northwest, would shape the country's future. Bamenda became the main urban centre and the political heart of the anglophone community. The city still takes pride in that identity, and decades later it would sit at the centre of the conflict that is bleeding it today.
When decolonisation came, Cameroon's colonial division left it at a crossroads. French Cameroon became independent in 1960. The following year, in 1961, a UN-supervised plebiscite decided that the southern part of British Cameroons (the Northwest highlands, including Bamenda, and the Southwest) would join the new Republic of Cameroon to form a bilingual federation, while the northern part joined Nigeria. Bamenda thus became the main city of anglophone Cameroon within a mostly francophone country.
The city played a prominent role in Cameroonian politics. In 1961, the historic Bamenda Conference brought anglophone leaders together to set the terms of the union. And in 1990, Bamenda was the scene of a national milestone: the launch of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), the country's main opposition party. The event was marked by repression and several deaths, and it opened the way to multiparty politics in Cameroon. The city became a stronghold of the opposition and of anglophone identity.
For decades, despite the tensions, Bamenda was also a prosperous regional capital and a tourist destination: the gateway to the Ring Road, a base for visiting the 'fondoms' of the Northwest, and a city with a pleasant climate, lively markets and a strong cultural life. But resentment in the anglophone regions over perceived political, economic and cultural marginalisation kept building until it boiled over in the second half of the 2010s.
In 2016, anglophone lawyers, teachers and students protested against the imposition of francophone officials and rules on their legal and education systems, setting off a spiral of demonstrations and repression. As capital of the Northwest, Bamenda was one of the main settings for those protests and for the harsh response of the security forces. The crisis quickly escalated.
In 2017, separatists symbolically declared the independence of a state they called 'Ambazonia', and armed groups emerged to fight the Cameroonian army. The conflict took hold in the Northwest and Southwest, bringing clashes, kidnappings, school burnings, curfews and so-called 'ghost town' days, when separatists force shops, schools and transport to shut down completely. Bamenda was caught at the centre of the violence.
The war has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands within Cameroon and into Nigeria, and public services and education have collapsed across large areas. Bamenda was once a vibrant regional capital and a gateway to tourism in the Northwest. Since then it has lived in the shadow of the conflict, with regular 'ghost town' days that bring city life to a standstill.
On paper, Bamenda is still the main city of the Northwest highlands and the capital of anglophone Cameroon, but the conflict has put it out of reach for travellers. All major governments advise against any travel to the Northwest region and the neighbouring Southwest because of the risk of armed clashes, kidnapping for ransom, explosive devices, curfews and frequent 'ghost town' days.
The crisis has hit not only the people and the economy but also the heritage and cultural life of an extraordinarily rich region. The 'fondoms' of Bafut, Mankon, Kom and Nso, with their palaces, masks and ceremonies, and the scenic Ring Road, with its crater lakes, waterfalls and mountains, remain beyond visitors' reach. Even the Bafut Royal Palace, near Bamenda, was attacked and looted in 2019.
This guide describes Bamenda because of its importance and value, in the hope that one day peace will let people walk its streets again, climb to its viewpoints and use it, as before, as a gateway to the mountains of the Northwest. In the meantime, caution comes first: follow official travel advice closely and do not plan any trip to the area while the conflict lasts. Like all of anglophone Cameroon, Bamenda is waiting for better times.
