Kenema is the third largest city in

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 ...

(after

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

and Bo), and the largest city in the country's Eastern Province. It is the capital 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 ...

and a major

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

center of the Eastern Province. At the 2015 national census, Kenema had a population of 200,354. Kenema is located approximately 200 miles from

, and south of Bo. Kenema is one of Sierra Leone's most ethnically diverse cities. Like most parts of Sierra Leone, the

Krio language Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio is an English-based creole language that is lingua franca and de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 96 percent of the country's population, and it uni ...

of the

Sierra Leone Creole people The Sierra Leone Creole people ( kri, Krio people) are an ethnic group of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Creole people are descendants of freed African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Liberated African slaves who settled in the Western Area of ...

is by far the most widely spoken language in Kenema. Kenema is governed by a

directly elected Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

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 ...

in whom

executive authority The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

is vested, and who is responsible for the city's general management. The mayor and council members are elected every four years. Kenema's current mayor is Thomas Karimu Baio of the Sierra Leone People's Party

Karimu Baio was elected mayor with 79.4% of the vote in the 2018 Kenema Mayoral electio

Kenema is an overwhelming political stronghold 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 d ...

, the current national

ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a democratic parliamentary or presidential system is the political party or coalition holding a majority of elected positions in a parliament, in the case of parliamentary systems, or holding the executive ...

in Sierra Leone. As in the rest of Sierra Leone, football is by far the city's most popular sport. The

Kamboi Eagles The Kamboi Eagles Football Club commonly known as Kamboi Eagles, is a Sierra Leonean football club based in Kenema City, Sierra Leone, currently a member of the Sierra Leone National Premier League, the highest division of football league in Sie ...

, a professional football club based in Kenema, represents the city in the

Sierra Leone National Premier League Sierra Leone National Premier League is a professional football league in Sierra Leone. It was founded in 1967. The league is sponsored by the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, one of the major Sierra Leonean banks. East End Lions and Mighty Blackpoo ...

. Kenema is known as the hometown of some of Sierra Leone's greatest international soccer stars, including the country's most widely known athlete, retired soccer star

Mohamed Kallon Mohamed Kallon MOR (born 6 October 1979) is a Sierra Leonean football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is widely considered the most famous footballer from Sierra Leone. He made 39 appearances for the Sierra Leone nationa ...

. Other notable Sierra Leonean international footballers from Kenema include the country's current top striker,

Kei Kamara Kei Ansu Kamara (; born 1 September 1984) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a striker for CF Montréal of Major League Soccer. He is one of only eleven players to have scored 100 goals in MLS history, achieving the l ...

, and retired soccer stars

Paul Kpaka Paul Kpaka (born 7 August 1981) is a former Sierre Leonean footballer who played as a striker. Early life Paul Kpaka was born into the Sherbro Rogers family in Kenema, the third largest city in Sierra Leone. He is a member of the famous Sher ...

Kemokai Kallon Kemokai Kallon nickname Panbody (born March 17, 1972 in Kenema, Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean footballer who is currently playing as a Defender (association football), defender for Kallon F.C., where he is the captain of the team. He is t ...

and

Musa Kallon Musa Kallon (born 8 April 1970, in Kenema, Sierra Leone) is a retired Association football, footballer and current coach in Sierra Leone. He is the older brother of Sierra Leonean international footballers Mohamed Kallon, and Kemokai Kallon. P ...

. Kenema's growth was originally promoted by the logging and carpentry industries, which were linked to the city by the now-closed

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. Since then, its economy has benefited from the

diamond Diamond is a 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 chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

mines first discovered in the area in 1931.

2014 Ebola outbreak

Kenema was the origin and first place in Sierra Leone to report Ebola.

Government

The city of Kenema is one of Sierra Leone's six

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and is governed with a

form of government, which is headed by a

, in whom

is vested. The mayor is responsible for the general management of the city. The mayor is elected directly by the residents of Kenema in a municipal elections held every four years. The current mayor of Kenema is Joseph Samba Keifala, a member of the

(SLPP), who won the 2012 Kenema Mayorship election with 74.99%, defeating his main opponent Ishmail Sesay of the APC, who took 19.36%. Kenema is a political stronghold of the SLPP party, the main opposition party in Sierra Leone. In Presidential elections, Kenema has voted for the

by a vast majority of over 70%.

Demographics

Kenema is the third largest city in Sierra Leone. one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Sierra Leone. The city is home to all of the country's ethnic groups, though 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 pr ...

make up the largest ethnic group.

Education

As in the rest of Sierra Leone, Kenema has an education system with six years of primary school (Class 1-6), and six years of secondary school (Form 6-12); secondary schools are further divided into Junior secondary school (Form 1-3) and Senior secondary school (Form 4-6). Primary schools usually start from ages 6 to 12, and secondary schools usually start from ages 13 to 18. Primary Education is free and compulsory in government-sponsored public schools. Prominent schools in Kenema include the

Kenema Government Secondary School Kenema Government Secondary School is a government-sponsored all boys secondary school located in Kenema, Sierra Leone. The school was founded in 1952 by the Sierra Leone government to educate the children of Kenema. The school is regarded as one ...

(GSSK), The Holy Trinity Secondary School, Ahmadiyya Secondary School, Holy Rosary Secondary School, Islamic Secondary School, and the Kamboi Lebanese International School. Th
Eastern Polytechnic
situated at the main Combema Road is the highest learning institution in the city, offering certificates and degree courses.

Health

Kenema and Bo are endemic areas for a highly contagious tropical hemorrhagic fever known as

Lassa fever Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. Many of those infected by the virus do not develop symptoms. When symptoms occur they typically include fever, weakness, ...

. The

Kenema Government Hospital Kenema is the third largest city in Sierra Leone (after Freetown and Bo), and the largest city in the country's Eastern Province. It is the capital of Kenema District and a major economic center of the Eastern Province. At the 2015 national cens ...

is the centre of an international effort to combat the disease with support from the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

(WHO) and UNAMSIL. New laboratories to improve rapid diagnosis are being installed at the hospital, which admits between 250 and 500 suspected cases per year. In 2020, the World Health Organization secured a €500,000 grant from the German Corporation for International Cooperation to increase

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

testing capacity in Sierra Leone, which was already taking place at the Kenema Government Hospital. Response to COVID-19 at the hospital is challenging, because of shortfalls in protective gear for workers and due to labor strikes by hospital workers who have not received salary.

Transportation

Local car taxis, tricycles (Kekeh), and motor bike taxis called Okada. The city is served by the Kenema Airport.

Sport

As in the rest of the country, football is by far the most popular sport in Kenema. The city's most popular football club is the

which plays in the

, the top football league in country.

Media

The five main radio stations in Kenema are Eastern Radio 101.9, Radio Nongowa - SPIN FM 101.3, City Radio 103.3, Starline Radio 98.4 and Sierra Leone's national radio and television stations, SLBS TV, and SLBS Radio are on the air in Kenema. The BBC World Service,

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inte ...

, and several other international stations are on the air in Kenema on

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

only.

Notable people

, football star * Emmerson, musician * Professor David John Francis, Chief Minister of the Republic of Sierra Leone * Evans Brima Gbemeh, mayor *

, football star *

Alpha Lansana Alpha Sumoi Lansana (born October 14, 1980) is a Sierra Leonean international footballer who currently plays as a defender for Kamboi Eagles F.C., Kamboi Eagles in the Sierra Leone National Premier League. Lansana is a regular member of the Sier ...

, football star *

Brima Sesay Brima Sesay (born 27 January 1981 in Kenema, Sierra Leone – died on April 4, 2009) nicknamed Small Attouga, was a Sierra Leonean international Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Sesay played for Ports Authority F.C. in the Sierra Le ...

, football star *

, football manager * Dr

Salia Jusu-Sheriff Salia Jusu-Sheriff (1 June 1929 – 19 December 2009) was a Sierra Leonean politician. He was the Vice President of Sierra Leone from 1987 to 1991. He used to be the leader of the SLPP party. He was born in 1929 in Freetown. He is an economist an ...

, former vice president of Sierra Leone and first West African chartered accountant * J. B. Dauda, a former Sierra Leonean politician

Gallery

File:Street_in_Kenema_01.jpg File:Street_in_Kenema_02.jpg File:Street_in_Kenema_03.jpg File:CIASierraLeoneKenema.jpg

References

External links

The Kenema District Association
{{Kenema District Populated places in Sierra Leone Eastern Province, Sierra Leone