People
Menchum County
Of the 17 villages that are in Wum council 10 of them are in the Aghem Clan,then the rest out of this are Menteng, Agulli, Bangwe, Atwe, Itiaku, Echuan and Bu.
The population is a conglomerate of ethnic groups, which are the Aghems, Tikaris and Hausa/Fulani in Wum central and the Widikums in Agulli, Atwe, Menteng, Itiaku and Bangwe. There are also immigrants from other parts of the country especially from the divisions in the North West region and from neighboring Nigeria with whom the municipality share boundaries. In the commune of Benakuma, the main indigenous languages spoken by the people are Esimbi, Beba, Befang, Modelle, Oko manjang and Mukuru. These three clans make up the administrative unit known today as Menchum Valley Subdivision which corresponds to the Benakuma Council. The people of the Zhoa council belong mainly to the Tikaris and Mbororos (Akus) ethnic groups.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Menchum county covers an area of 4469 km² and as of 2001 had a total population of 157,173.
The capital of the department is Wum. In descending order of population size, the four communes of Menchum are: Fungom, Menchum Valley, Wum and Furu Awa. Menchum has the 3rd largest surface area of the counties, is the 9th most population in the nation, and is 11th in population density.
RESOURCES
Wum Municipality partly hosts the Kom – Wum Forest Reserve which spans from Belo in Boyo Division to Wum in Menchum Division. This reserve that was created in 1951 has a surface area of 8029 hectares. The reserve contains many plant and animal species and wetlands. There are natural resources like minerals, crater lakes, afro-alpine vegetation and Motane Forest.
ECONOMY
With an annual production of 109000 Tonnes of food crop produced, Menchum county ranks 9th nationally as a food crop producer and is 5th in per capita food crop production. Menchum’s overall economic profile is most similar to Kupe-Manenguba county and somewhat comparable to Momo(Midland State) and Boyo(Savannah State) counties. Boyo county shares Menchum’s eastern border and several roads link the two counties.
