People
Mezam County
Santa Council area, which covers the same territorial area as Santa Sub Division, is a melting pot of ethnic groups, namely, the Ngembas (Akum, Alatening, Awing, Njong, Pinyin), the Moghamos (Mbei, Mbu, Baba II), the Chambas (Baligham), the Bamilekes and the Mbororos.
Other settlers in the municipal area include the Bamilekes, Bangwas and Fulanis. The Fulanis are a marginalized community living mainly in hilly and mountainous parts of the Council area, rearing cattle. Little is known of their migration pattern, but it is believed they settled in the area as early as the 19th century from West Africa with their cattle. The Bamilekes started migrating into the area in the early 20th century, due to population pressure in the Western Region and the search for new farmlands. They came as individuals and were not organized into a community. Over the years their number grown since the 1950s. They have integrated the mainstream communities.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Mezam is a county in the Midland State of Ambazonia. The county covers an area of 1745 km² and as of 2001 had a total population of 465,644.
The capital of the county lies at Bamenda. The county is divided administratively into 5 communes and in turn into villages. It is the 6th largest county in the nation and has the second highest population density. The population of the Bamenda municipality is between five and eleven times more than each of the other sub-divisions in the county, making it the most populous county in the Midland State.
RESOURCES
Mineral resources are limited to sand, stones and laterite quarries. Sand is gotten from Baligham and Akum. Stone quarries are dotted in the entire Council area. The products are either use for house or road construction. The construction and tarring of the Bamenda- Bafoussam highway used some material from mile 10 Akum. Another prominent stone quarry is found in Haussa quarter in Santa, BabaII and Pinyin.
ECONOMY
About 80% of the people of the Santa Council area currently depend on agriculture for living. Generally, the variation of soil types together with the climatic peculiarities favour the cultivation of a large variety of crops, ranging from tubers and cereals like Cassava and Maize to garden crops like cabbage, Carrot. Nationally, Mezam ranks 7th in tonnage production of food crops but productivity is low largely because the county is overwhelmingly urban and semi-urban. Food crop production occurs at the margins of the agglomerations
