Guneku is a rural community in Momo Division, in the North West Region of Cameroon, Central Africa. It has a tropical climate with two main seasons — the rainy and the dry — and a population of approximately 10,000 inhabitants. The main occupations are subsistence farming and cattle rearing.

Guneku has many touristic sites: the palace, caves, mountains and waterfalls, alongside hills and valleys, rivers and springs. It is one of the 31 communities that make up the Meta clan, sharing boundaries with Mbemi, Nyen, Tugi, Zang-Tembeng, Oshie, Mundum and Bafut. The Bantous and the Mbororos are the two peoples who live together peacefully in the community.

Governance

The community is ruled by a paramount Fon — Fon Fomuki — the traditional authority and custodian of tradition, to whom all community members are answerable. The Fon is also the representative of the central government. A community council makes the laws by which the community is governed, and the Fon enforces them, ensuring they are strictly adhered to by everyone. Defaulters are disciplined accordingly.

A Guneku man is proud, humble, innovative, hardworking, welcoming and open-minded, and leads by example. Guneku people are found in all walks of life.

GUDECA

Guneku has a dynamic cultural and development association, GUDECA, which oversees the design, planning and implementation of community-based projects. It is made up of a committee elected for a four-year term, with at least 60% youth and female representation. GUDECA has branches in Europe, Canada and America. At the end of each year the committee produces an annual report of activities and presents it to the community, which is the supreme decision-making body on development matters.

Infrastructure

Guneku has primary schools, secondary education and a Presbyterian health centre, and is easily accessible by road from Mbengwi and Bamenda. Only 40% of the community has pipe-borne water and electricity. It is connected to the rest of the world through MTN, Orange and CAMTEL, the country's main telephone providers.

Markets

The eighth day of the week, “Ngon”, is the market day held in Guneku. The other market days of the cycle fall in the surrounding quarters: “Tan” in Ngamunghe, “Mbon” in Mbengeghang, “Eje’e” in Ngamunam (Munam), and “Kwe” in Fringyeng.

Medical care

There are three medical facilities in Guneku village.

Because of the undulating landscape, Guneku has many caves, which in years past served as hiding places from enemies during the colonial warfare days. These could today be developed, through the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure, to generate income for the development programmes of the village.

Cash and food production

The cash crops of Guneku include oil palm, raffia palm, coffee, maize and groundnuts, along with plantains and cocoyam, which are the main products from upper Guneku. Guneku has the highest grazing surface area in Meta; cattle rearing is carried out by the Mbororo settlers, though many natives have also embraced cattle farming.

Wood carving, bag and basket weaving and other domestic crafts are practised in Guneku. The youths of Guneku and of neighbouring villages exploit sand from the River Batmuki, which runs through the village from upper Guneku and joins the Mezam River. Those who build with stone are well served, as stone is plentiful in Guneku.

Churches

There are as many churches in Guneku as there are quarters. The Presbyterian church stands right in the palace; indeed, the palace of Guneku is surrounded by churches. A survey by the original writer of this record counted the following houses of worship in the village as a whole:

  • 12 Presbyterian churches
  • 2 Catholic churches
  • 1 Full Gospel church
  • 1 Good Shepherd Ministry
  • 1 Apostolic church
  • 1 Mount Zion
  • 1 Kingship Ministry

Schools

There are two government secondary institutions in Guneku — G.S.S. Guneku and G.S.S. Ngamungeh — and seven government primary schools.

Culture

Musongong is the dance of the Guneku people. As Meta people, the people of Guneku speak the MENEMO dialect, although some Meta people refer to this dialect as “META” — which the village record notes is not correct.

Meta is a land of peace. Its people are lovers of peace, kind, receptive and approachable, and above all respectful of the law and of hierarchy. So are the people of Guneku.

Editor's note on the source

This article is recovered from the village record published on the legacy Guneku website. Its language has been corrected; its facts have not been changed. Three points in the original are inconsistent or unresolved and are recorded here rather than quietly settled:

  • Number of schools. The source states in one passage that Guneku has “4 primary schools, one secondary school”, and in another that there are two government secondary institutions and seven government primary schools. Both statements appear in the same original article. The Palace should confirm the current figures.
  • Size of the Meta clan. This record states that Guneku is one of 31 communities of the Meta clan. The legacy home page states 29 villages. The two have not been reconciled.
  • Population. This record, written for the legacy site, gives approximately 10,000 inhabitants. The current figure held by the Fondom is approximately 15,000; the older number is kept here only as historical source context.