Bamenda, also known as Abakwa[1][2][a] and Mankon Town,[5] is a city in northwestern Cameroon and capital of the Northwest Region.

The city has a population of about six hundred thousand people[6] and is located 366 km (227 mi) north-west of the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé.

[9] Many of the city's inhabitants are English-speaking, and Cameroonian Pidgin English is the main language spoken in the shops and on the streets of Bamenda.

The Southern Cameroons Liberation Council is a united front consisting of multiple groups of separatists aiming for an independent Ambazonian state, which would include Bamenda.

[11] Starting in 2017 as a continuation of the protests, the ongoing Anglophone crisis has heavily impacted the city, both through the actions of separatists and responses from the government.

[13] The city is made up of 3 villages; Bamendakwe, Mankon and Nkwen classified as Bamenda I II and III sub-divisions respectively for administrative reasons.

Ndop plain stretches from under the Sabga mountain or hill Bamali, Bali Kumbat, Bamessing, Bamikumbit and many more sounding villages.

North of the city is the Bamenda Ring Road, a 367 km (228 mi) circular route through Cameroon Highlands.

The Bamenda University of Science and Technology (BUST) is a brain child of The Industrial and Educational Development Company Ltd (INDECO).

At the request of government, BUST participated and contributed extensively to the drafting of the Law on Private Higher Education in Cameroon.

With the fall in the influence and budgeting of public works department and National Produce Marketing Board (NPMB), both teams fell from the limelight.

Bamenda is the founding place and seat of the largest opposition political party in Cameroon, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), and the home of its leader, John Fru Ndi.

The SCNC was born in Bamenda in 1994, after the All Anglophone Conference (AAC2) issued the Bamenda Declaration in which it had asked the government of President Paul Biya to respond to all anglophone grievances stated in the Buea Declaration of 1993, or face the wrath of the people of the Southern Cameroons.