Bo District is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in the Southern Province of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

. It is one of the sixteen Districts of Sierra Leone. Bo District is the fourth most populous District in Sierra Leone. Its capital city, capital and largest city is the city of Bo, which is the third most populous city in Sierra Leone. other major towns in the district include

Baoma Baoma is a small town in Bo District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and G ...

Bumpeh Bumpe is a small town in Bo District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and G ...

, Serabu, Sumbuya, Baiima and Yele. Bo District borders

Kenema District Kenema District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital city, capital and largest city is Kenema, which is the third most populous city in Sierra Leone, after Freetown and Bo. Tongo is the second most populous city i ...

to the east,

Tonkolili District Tonkolili District is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Magburaka. The other major towns include Masingbi, Yele, Mile 91, Bumbuna, Yonibana, Matotoka. Mathora, Magbass and Masanga. To ...

to the north,

Moyamba District Moyamba District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, with a population of 318,064 in the 2015 census. Its capital and largest city is Moyamba. The other major towns include Njala, Rotifunk and Shenge. The district is the la ...

to the west,

Bonthe District Bonthe District is a district that comprises several islands and mainland of the Atlantic Ocean in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Bonthe is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Its capital is the town of Bonthe Island and its la ...

to the southwest and

Pujehun District Pujehun District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Pujehun District is one of the sixteen Districts of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is the town of Pujehun . The other major towns in the district include Gando ...

to the south. The district population as of 2015 is 574,201. Bo District occupies a total area of 5,219 km² and is subdivided into fifteen

chiefdoms A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

. The population of Bo District is mainly from the Mende ethnic group, though the city of Bo has a very ethnic diverse population.

Government

Bo District has its own directly elected

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

called District Council and is where

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

and legislative authority is vested at local level within Bo District. The Bo District Council is Headed by a

council chairman A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, who is an elected official and is responsible for the general management of the district. The current council Chairman of Bo District is Joseph Munda Bindi of the

Sierra Leone People's Party The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with its main political rival the All People's Congress (APC). It has been the ruling party in Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. The SLPP do ...

(SLPP), following his election victory in the 2018 Sierra Leone local election. The city of Bo also has its own directly elected

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

headed by a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The current mayor of Bo is Harold Logie Tucker, he is a member of the opposition

(SLPP). Bo District is a stronghold of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party.

Members of Parliament of Sierra Leone from Bo District

Bo District currently has twelve Representatives in the

Parliament of Sierra Leone Parliament of Sierra Leone is the legislative branch of the government of Sierra Leone. It is principally responsible for making laws. The Sierra Leone parliament consists of 146 members, of which 132 members are directly elected from across Si ...

, of which eleven members were elected for a 5-year term in the 2007 general elections. The district is a stronghold of the opposition

(SLPP). The following is a list of Representatives and affiliations:

Demographics of Bo District

Ethnicity

The population of Bo District is ethnically and culturally diverse, particularly in the city of Bo, Sierra Leone's second largest city. The

Mende people The Mende are one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone; their neighbours, the Temne people, constitute the largest ethnic group at 35.5% of the total population, which is slightly larger than the Mende at 31.2%. The Mende are pred ...

form the largest ethnic group in Bo District at over 60 percent of the population.

Religion

Economy

With Bo being the second largest city in Sierra Leone,

trading Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

are major economic activities for the district; as well as agricultural production of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

growing, and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

, cacao and

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its co ...

Education

Bo District is home to 385 Primary Schools and 40 Secondary Schools. Bo Government Secondary School, commonly called

Bo School The Bo Government Secondary School commonly known as Bo School is a secondary school located on a property in the center of Bo, the second largest city in Sierra Leone. The school was founded in 1906 at the behest of the British colonial govern ...

is among the 40 secondary schools in Bo District. The school was founded in 1906 by

Leslie Probyn Sir Leslie Probyn (23 February 1862 – 17 December 1938) was an administrator for the British Empire. Career Probyn was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1884. He began his career as a British colonial administrator in the Caribbean. F ...

to educate the children of Bo District. The school has a long history of developing the elite of Sierra Leone, especially the country's

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Recovery after Civil War

Bo District suffered badly at the hands of rebel forces during 1994–1995, and many major towns were almost entirely destroyed (

Tikonko Tikonko is a village in Bo District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and G ...

and Bumpe, for example). However, since the ousting of the Junta in early 1998, Bo District has remained secure, due mainly to the strong presence of the Civil Defence Forces. As such, rather than suffering from displacement, Bo district has been the recipient of displaced persons from less secure parts of the country. Although aid agencies have had uninterrupted access to the district for five years because of its relative stability, most of the recovery efforts were concentrated in Bo Town leaving out the 8 sections in Kakua chiefdom as well as all the other 14 chiefdoms in the district. The major recovery needs according to sectoral priorities are as follows: Road rehabilitation, Education, Water and Sanitation, Health, Agriculture, Restoration of Local Government Structures and Shelter.

Administrative divisions

Chiefdoms

The district is made up of fifteen

as the third level of administrative subdivision. # Badjia – Ngelehun #

Bagbo Koudou Laurent Gbagbo
, FPI website . ( Jimmi Jimmi is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Dr Jimmi Clay, fictional character in the soap opera ''Doctors'' *Jimmi Bredahl (born 1967), Danish boxer in the super featherweight division *Jimmi Harkishin (born 1965), British actor ...

# Bagbwe – Ngarlu #

–

# Bumpe–Gao Chiefdom, Bumpe–Gao – Bumpe # Gbo – Gbo # Jaiama Bongor – Telu # Kakua – Kakua # Komboya – Njala # Lugbu – Sumbuya # Niawa Lenga – Nengbema #

Selenga The Selenga or Selenge ( ; bua, Сэлэнгэ гол / Сэлэнгэ мүрэн, translit=Selenge gol / Selenge müren; russian: Селенга́, ) is a major river in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia. Originating from its headwater tributaries, ...

–

Dambala Damballa, also spelled Damballah, Dambala, Dambalah, among other variations ( ht, Danbala), is one of the most important of all loa, spirits in Haitian Voodoo and other African diaspora religious traditions such as Obeah. He is traditionally po ...

–

# Valunia Chiefdom, Valunia – Mongere # Wonde – Gboyama

Major towns

* Bo, capital and largest city * Boama * Serabu * Bumpe *

Mongeri Mongeri is a town in Bo District in the Southern Province, Sierra Leone, Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Its population was estimated at 14,273 (2004 census). The population of Mongeri is mostly from the Mende people, Mende ethnic group. It is ...

, second largest town * Sumbuya * Baiima *

* Gondama

Towns and villages

* Bambima * Bandeh * Bumbe * Koribindu *

Mamboma Mamboma is a village in Bo District in the Southern Province, Sierra Leone, Southern Province of Sierra Leone. The predominant ethnic group in the village are the Mende people, Mende and the Mende language is widely spoken throughout the village. ...

Mange Mange is a type of skin disease caused by parasitic mites. Because various species of mites also infect plants, birds and reptiles, the term "mange", or colloquially "the mange", suggesting poor condition of the skin and fur due to the infection ...

* Momboma * Sembehun * Telu * Tokoronko * Jimmi Bagbo * Mondorkor * Gandohun -Tikonko * Gondama

Notable people from Bo District

* Solomom Berewa, former vice president of Sierra Leone *

Joe Robert Pemagbi Joe Robert Pemagbi (born 22 November 1945 in Bo, British Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean diplomat. He has been the Sierra Leonean Ambassador to the United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose state ...

, Sierra Leone ambassador to the UN *

Aluspah Brewah Aluspah Brewah (born August 24, 1983) is a retired Sierra Leonian international football player. He last played as a striker for Hanoi F.C. in the Vietnamese Super League and also played for the Sierra Leone national football team. Early care ...

, football star *

Hinga Norman Samuel Hinga Norman (January 1, 1940 – February 22, 2007) was a Sierra Leonean politician from the Mende tribe. He was the founder and leader of the Civil Defence Forces, commonly known as the Kamajors. The Kamajors supported the government of ...

, Politician *

Joseph Henry Ganda The Most Reverend Joseph Henry Ganda, Archbishop Emeritus, (born 22 March 1932 in Serabu, Bo District, British Sierra Leone) is the retired Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Freetown and Bo. Born in the village Serabu in the Bo district, he ...

, Archbishop *Emerson Samba, Football star * Edward Jeffrey Boima, I.T. Technician, Administrator. former I.T. Lecturer Sulisha Institute of Management and Technology. Cureent Administrative Secretary for Sierra Leone Association of Cassava Producers and Processors *

Chief Joe Lahai Boima Gbondo Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

, Chiefdom Administrative Court Speaker, Judges * Cllr. Edmond Koroma, Accountant, Politician *

Prof. Dr. Jia Bainga Kangbai Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

, Academic, reputable journalist

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070121122533/http://www.statehouse-sl.org/member-parliament.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20070928043611/http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_20052169.shtml *https://web.archive.org/web/20061129153754/http://www.directrelief.org/sections/our_work/notes_sierra_leone.html *Parts of this article reproduced with permission from http://www.daco-sl.org {{Districts of Sierra Leone Districts of Sierra Leone Southern Province, Sierra Leone