Jawei Chiefdom is a

chiefdom 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 ...

Kailahun District Kailahun District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital city, capital and largest city is the town of Kailahun. The second most populous city in the district is Segbwema. Other major towns in Kailahun District inclu ...

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 , Sierr ...

with a population of 42,635. Its largest town and headquarters is Daru, Sierra Leone, Daru.

Geography

Jawei Chiefdom is located on the southwestern edge of Kailahun District, bordering Dama Chiefdom and Gaura Chiefdom of

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 southwest. Jawei borders Jaluahun Chiefdom to the northwest, Mandu Chiefdom to the northeast, and Malema Chiefdom to the southeast. The

Moa River The Moa River (Makona River) is a river in west Africa. It arises in the highlands of Guinea and flows southwest, forming parts of the Guinea– Liberia and the Guinea – Sierra Leone borders. It flows into the Southern Province, Sierra Leone ...

transects the chiefdom.

Settlements

The other important town in Jawei Chiefdom is Benduma. Villages in Jawei dChiefdom include Bombohun, Nyedehun, Gbajorma, Tomboma, Folu, Giehun, Guma, Kambama, Kutoma, Manowah, Mamabu, Bembeyeima, Pellie and Potoru, nyeama

Economy

The economy is primarily agricultural; however there is some mining. The primary export is palm oil.

Civil war

During the 1991-2002 civil war various villages in northern Jawei Chiefdom were occupied by the

Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...

(RUF) and National Patriotic Front of Liberia ((NPFL)) during their initial on-thrust in Spring 1991. The RUF got as far as Benduma, but did not attack Daru or the Moa Barracks across the river, where the Sierra Leone Army (SLA) was based. Guinean troops soon arrived in Daru to support the SLA. The Guineans attacked and drove the RUF out of Benduma, after which battle neither side stationed troops there. In June 1991, RUF and NPFL attacked the Moa Barracks at Daru, but despite the gallantry of the NPFL commander, who was killed on the bridge over the Moa, the Guinean troops and the SLA turned back the assault. Fighting continued in Jawei Chiefdom over the next two years with little change in territory. In December 1992, after an almost successful RUF attack on nearby Segbwema in Jaluahun Chiefdom, some of the Guinean troops were sent from the Moa Barracks to Segbwema. At that same time local hunters, often members of secret hunting societies, began to form into auxiliary units to assist the SLA in Jawei Chiefdom. Finally in May 1993, the SLA with the assistance of these "civilian" units were able to dislodge the RUF from their bases in northern Jawei. Nonetheless, RUF guerrilla warfare continued in the chiefdom and it was still considered ''unsafe'' during the February 1996 elections. Shortly after the election, local chiefs were encouraged to send their young men to Kamajor society initiations after which they were formed into Civil Defence Forces (CDF) units. Prior to this the local hunters were under the command of their own chiefs, but this changed them into a ''state'' force. With this new status the Jawei CDF units began attacking RUF positions without SLA support. By January 1997, some Jawei forces were fighting as far away as Upper Bambara Chiefdom. By September 1997 the Jawei Kamajors had all of Jawei Chiefdom under their control and the guerrilla war there ceased. In March 1998, Nigerian

ECOMOG The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work ...

forces arrived in Daru to support the Kamajors. But this had the effect of drawing combined RUF and

Armed Forces Revolutionary Council The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the cap ...

(AFRC) forces to attack Daru which they did several times during 1998 and early 1999. The last such attack was on 7 July 1999, just two days before the ceasefire mandated in the

Lomé Peace Accord Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

. But the fighting continued anyway with the Kamajors attacking RUF/AFRC positions at Daru Junction on 17 July, driving them out. But the RUF/AFRC recaptured Daru Junction a month later. In Spring 2000 with the arrival of UNAMSIL personnel disarmament started in Jawei Chiefdom, where a Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Camp had been set up in November the previous year. But it was interrupted in May by resistance to the northeast. The process was only restarted in late July.

Recent history

A boundary dispute between Jawei and Malema Chiefdom, arising in 2004 out of the dislocations suffered during the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, was settled in 2007 at the direction of the president Bai Koroma. In September 2009 the chiefdom suffered serve and unusual flooding as the

over flowed. Chief Fadah Kallon said that it was the first such flood ever to hit the chiefdom. The flood has been partially attributed to the chronic deforestation that occurs in Sierra Leone.

Notes

{{Kailahun District Chiefdoms of Sierra Leone Eastern Province, Sierra Leone