It was formally constituted as a commune by decree on 7 June 1955, and the construction of a town hall, Protestant and Catholic churches (1957) and a post office (1958) followed.

[1] The landscape of the district is characterised by low hills, draining huge amounts of runoff in the rainy season, which results in the formation of streams in the valleys.

[1] The district stands in a zone of dense, evergreen, ecologically diverse equatorial forest, most often characterised (depending on local soil types) by Annona senegalensis and Bridelia ferruginea, interspersed with pockets of shrubby savannah.

[1] However, the forest is constantly facing deforestation by people due to housing, population growth, the expansion of agricultural activities, and logging (legal and illegal).

[3][1] It is home to animals such as rats, bats, deer, boas, hares, vipers, hedgehogs, antelopes, porcupines, monitor lizards, moles, wild boar, sloths, turtles, serpent noir, monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, and fowl.

The permeability of these soils makes them fertile, suited to the production of food and cash crops, and variation in soil-types is accordingly of considerable economic importance.

It is headed by a mayor, who presides over four commissions: General Affairs, Economy and Finance, Health, Social and Cultural Action, and Forestry.

A 2012 report identified the following concerns in Messamena: abusive exploitation of the forest, poaching, limited harnessing of natural resources, under-exploitation of tourist sites, insufficient communication channels, and the domination of economic activity by the informal sector.

[1] The town of Messamena has a football ground, hosts local championships; various villages have green spaces set up as sport areas.

The town's population focuses on buying and selling food products and cash crops (cocoa, coffee) supplied by the villages.

[1] Sale of manufactured goods is dominated by West African immigrants and Cameroonian nationals with shops in the town centre and the commune's villages.

Despite the abundance of land, farming techniques remain traditional and subsistence-level, focused on peanuts, maize, cassava, plantain, and macabo, making productivity and income levels very low.

[1] Notwithstanding legal restrictions and the presence of checkpoints for flora and fauna, hunting game for sale by means of traps, firearms, spears and dogs is common, with targets including deer, pangolins, monkeys, wild boar, and hares, some of which are endangered.

[1] Telephone landlines have not been installed in the commune, but radio and television is available, along with extensive mobile phone coverage via MTN and Orange.