Makeni is the largest city in the Northern 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 , Sierr ...

. The city is the capital of

Bombali District Bombali is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Makeni, which is also the largest city in the north. The Bombali district is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Bombali is one of the lar ...

, and is the

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 Northern Province. Makeni is the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone by population. The city of Makeni had a population of 80,840 in the 2004 census and a 2013 estimate of 112,428. Makeni lies approximately 110 miles east of

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 p ...

. Makeni is home to the

University of Makeni University of Makeni (formerly known as the Fatima Institute and often known as UNIMAK) is the first private, Catholic, university located in Makeni, Sierra Leone. History It was founded as the Fatima Institute on October 8, 2005, by the Emer ...

, the largest

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

in Sierra Leone. As with 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 is the most widely spoken language in Makeni.

Government

The city of Makeni 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 by a

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 ...

which is 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 ...

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. The mayor is responsible for the general management of the city and is elected directly by the residents of Makeni in

municipal elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

held every four years. The current mayor of Makeni is

Sunkari Kabba-Kamara Sunkari Kabba-Kamara (born May 29, 1969) is a Sierra Leonean politician and the current mayor of the city of Makeni. Political career In surprising fashion, she defeated the incumbent Mayor of Makeni, Moses Musa Sesay, in a landslide victory i ...

of the

All People's Congress The All People's Congress (APC) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other being its main political rival the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). The APC has been the main opposition party in Sierra Leone since 4 Ap ...

(APC). Sunkari Kabba-Kamara first defeated the incumbent Mayor of Makeni

Moses Musa Sesay Moses Sesay is the current Mayor of the City of Makeni in the Bombali district of Northern Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberi ...

in a primary election; and she went on to win easily in the 2012 Makeni mayoral election with an overwhelming majority of 86.95%, defeating the main opposition SLPP candidate Abu A Koroma, who took only 5.79%. Like most parts of Northern Sierra Leone, Makeni is a reliable

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

stronghold of the ruling

(APC)

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. The city and the entire Bombali District overwhelmingly support the APC in a large majority in Presidential, Parliamentary, and local councils elections.

Demographics

The population of Makeni is

ethnically An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

diverse, though the

Temne people The Temne, also called Atemne, Témené, Temné, Téminè, Temeni, Thaimne, Themne, Thimni, Timené, Timné, Timmani, or Timni, are a West African ethnic group, They are predominantly found in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone.

make up the largest ethnic group in the city. The

is used as the primary language of communication among the different ethnic groups in the city. The population of Makeni is predominantly

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, though with a large

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

minority population in the city. The

Wesleyan Methodists The Wesleyan Church is a Methodist Christian denomination aligned with the holiness movement. Wesleyan Church may also refer to: * Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia, the Australian branch of the Wesleyan Church Denominations * Allegheny We ...

are the largest and main Christian denomination in Makeni.

Sport

Like the rest of Sierra Leone, Football is by far the most popular sport in the city. Makeni is home to one of Sierra Leone's biggest and oldest football clubs called the Wusum Stars. The club plays 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 ...

, the top football league in the country. The club represents Makeni and the entire Bombali District. They won the

Sierra Leonean FA Cup Sierra Leone FA Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is the national knockout cup competition in Sierra Leone. It was established in 1967. The competition is run by the Sierra Leone Football Association. Cup winners qualify for the CAF Confederation ...

in 1979. Makeni has also played host to matches of the

Sierra Leone National football team The Sierra Leone national football team represents Sierra Leone in men's international association football and it is governed by the Sierra Leone Football Association. The team's nickname is Leone Stars. The team is affiliated to the West Afr ...

's under-17 and under-20 teams at the city's Wusum Sports Stadium.

Media

The local radio station that serves Makeni and the Bombali District is Radio Mankneh 95.1. Sierra Leone's national radio and television stations, SLBC (Sierra Leone Broadcasting Cooperation) are on the air in the city, as well as The

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

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 private stations are on the air for those who have

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 radioisotope ...

Education

Like the rest of Sierra Leone, Makeni has an education system with six years of primary school (Class 1–6), and seven years of secondary school (Form 1–7); secondary schools are further divided into Junior secondary school (Form 1-3) and Senior secondary school (Form 4–7). 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. The city is home to the

, the largest

in Sierra Leone.

St. Francis Secondary School ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

is also located in Makeni, one of the most prominent secondary schools in Sierra Leone.

Health

Diseases endemic to Makeni are

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

and

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. Healthcare in Makeni is provided by a mix of government, private and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) shifted to a decentralized health system structure after the end of the civil in war in 2002, in an effort to increase coverage. One regional government hospital and the

Holy Spirit Hospital Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center is a 307-bed non-profit Catholic community hospital located in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and serves as the primary facility for its related health system. History ...

provide most healthcare services, in addition to private clinics. The

is the largest private hospital in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Traditional medicine forms part of the primary health care system in Makeni. In 2019, the

First Responder Coalition of Sierra Leone The First Responder Coalition of Sierra Leone (FRCSL) is a coalition of Sierra Leonean and international organizations dedicated to expanding prehospital emergency care and developing emergency medical services in Sierra Leone. It aims to address ...

(FRCSL) was formed in Makeni by five national and international organizations: the

Sierra Leone Red Cross Society Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) was established in 1962 by an act of the Parliament of Sierra Leone and is a national society. It has its headquarters in Freetown. The SLRCS is to render medical and humanitarian assistance to the Armed Force ...

LFR International LFR International (Lay First Responders) is an American international nonprofit organization focused on prehospital emergency medical research and emergency medical services development in sub-Saharan Africa. LFR launches sustainable prehospita ...

Agency for Rural Community Transformation Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

, the

of Makeni, and the

. 1,000 community members from Makeni were trained as first responders and equipped with a first aid kit by the Coalition. 4,529 lay first responders were trained in total between July and December 2019, who went on to treat 1,850 patients over the following six months. City Garden Clinic (CGC) is a self-sufficient non-governmental medical institution with a philanthropic mindset hospital in Makeni, Sierra Leone and is registered with the Ministry of Healthcare. It is dedicated to providing quality patient care with unrelenting attention to clinical excellence, patient safety and unparalleled passion and commitment to assure the very best health care for those we serve. It has a capacity of 64 beds, an outpatient clinic, a small basic laboratory, an operating theater and a local staff of around 50 employees. The target group is the population of Makeni and the surrounding area (more than 250,000 residents).

Aid from China

In March 2010, the Chinese ambassador to Sierra Leone, Qiu Shaofang traveled to the city on an official visit to donate one 16 kVA generator and nine sewing machines."China Donates to Makeni Council" ''

Sierra Express Media Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin ''wikt:serra#Latin, serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a ...

'' 27 March 2010, accessed 11 October 2010

Notable people from Makeni

Makeni is the

hometown Hometown, HomeTown, or Home Town may refer to: *A hometown, the town where someone lives or the town that they come from, typically their place of birth. *In developing nations particularly: native place, village of origin in newly urbanized soci ...

of former Sierra Leone's president

Ernest Bai Koroma Ernest Bai Koroma (born 2 October 1953) is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018. Born and raised in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, Koroma spent more than 24 ...

, as he was born and raised in the city. Additional notable people from Makeni are: *

Daddi Cool Daddi Cool (born in Makeni, Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean-born Guinean reggae musician. He was born and raised in Makeni, Sierra Leone. Daddi Cool served in the Sierra Leonean army, but fled the country during the early years of the Sierra Leo ...

, Sierra Leonean-born Guinean reggae musician *

, politician *

Mohamed Kamara Mohamed Kamara (born 16 November 1987), widely known as Medo, is a Sierra Leonean professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder for IF Gnistan, Gnistan and Sierra Leone nation ...

, football star * Brima Koroma, football star * Sylvanus Koroma, the father of Ernest Bai Koroma *

Edward Turay Edward Mohamed Turay is a Sierra Leonean politician and diplomat. He was leader of the opposition All People's Congress (APC) from 1996 to 2002. He has been Sierra Leone's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since 2010. Background Education a ...

, lawyer *

Michaela DePrince Michaela Mabinty DePrince (born Mabinty Bangura, 6 January 1995) is a Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer, currently dancing with the Boston Ballet. She rose to fame after starring in the documentary ''First Position'' in 2011, following her an ...

, international ballerina

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Sierra Leone Northern Province, Sierra Leone