Moyamba 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 ...

, with a population of 318,064 in the 2015 census. Its capital and largest city is

Moyamba Moyamba is the capital and largest city of Moyamba District, in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. There has been a recorded population of 11,485 in the 2004 census. The city is ethnically diverse, although the Mende people make up the majo ...

. The other major towns include Njala, Rotifunk and

Shenge Shenge is a coastal fishing town along the Atlantic ocean in Moyamba District, Southern Province, Sierra Leone. Shenge is the seat of the Kagboro Chiefdom, part of the third level of administration. The dense coastal jungle has prevented devel ...

. The district is the largest in the Southern Province by

geographical area The geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a spherical or ellipsoidal coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on the Earth as latitude and longitude. It is the simplest, oldest and most widely used of the various ...

, occupying a total area of and comprises fourteen

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 ...

. Moyamba District borders the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in the west,

Port Loko District Port Loko District is a Districts of Sierra Leone, district in the North West Province, Sierra Leone, North West Province of Sierra Leone. It is the most populous District in the North and the second most populous District in Sierra Leone, after t ...

and

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,

Bo District Bo District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. 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 ...

to the east and

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 south. The main economic activities include

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 ...

(

rutile Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer Polymorphism (materials science), polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite. Rutile has one of the highest ...

and

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

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

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 ...

plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

. Moyamba District is one of the most ethnically diverse Districts in Sierra Leone. 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 ...

are the largest ethnic group in Moyamba District; However, there is a large population of ethnic minority groups in the district that make up closer to 50% of the District population, including 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.

Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

, Sherbro, Kissi, Mandingo, and Kuranko. Moyamba is home to a significantly large population of ethnic Temne minority, and is home to the largest ethnic Temne population in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Moyamba District is the

birthplace The place of birth (POB) or birthplace is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. Practice regarding whether this place should be a cou ...

of many of the country's highest profile politicians who helped guide the country to independence in 1961 from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, including

Milton Margai Sir Milton Augustus Strieby Margai (7 December 1895 – 28 April 1964) was a Sierra Leonean medical doctor and politician who served as the country's head of government from 1954 until his death in 1964. He was titled chief minister from 1954 ...

Albert Margai Sir Albert Michael Margai (10 October 1910 – 18 December 1980) was the second prime minister of Sierra Leone and the half-brother of Milton Margai, Sir Milton Margai, the country's first Prime Minister. He was also the father of Sierra Leone ...

John Karefa-Smart Dr. John Albert Musselman Karefa-Smart (17 June 1915 – 26 August 2010) was a Sierra Leonean politician, medical doctor and university professor. He served as the first Foreign Minister under Sierra Leone's first Prime Minister, Sir Milton Mar ...

and

Siaka Stevens Siaka Probyn Stevens (24 August 1905 – 29 May 1988) was the leader of Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1985, serving as Prime Minister of Sierra Leone, Prime Minister from 1967 to 1971 and as President from 1971 to 1985. Stevens' leadership was ofte ...

. Politically, Moyamba District is a 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 do ...

(SLPP), as the vast majority of residents in the District support the SLPP. The SLPP has won every presidential election in Moyamba District including the 1996, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2018 Sierra Leone Presidential elections.

Administrative divisions

Chiefdoms

The district is made up of fourteen

as the third level of administrative subdivision; they are listed with their capitals: # Bagruwa – Sembehun #

Banta Banta Soda, or Banta, also Goli Soda or Goti Soda and Fotash Jawl, is a popular carbonated lemon or orange-flavoured soft drink sold in India since the late 19th century in a distinctly shaped iconic Codd-neck bottle. The pressure created by ...

– Gbangbantoke # Bumpe – Rotifunk # Dasse –

Mano Mano may refer to: People * Mano people, an ethnic group in Liberia * Mano (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Mano (Mozambican footballer) (born 1984), real name Celso Halilo de Abdul * Mano (Portuguese footballer) ...

# Fakunya – Gandohun # Kagboro –

# Kaiyamba –

# Kamajei – Senehun # Kongbora – Bauya # Kori – Taiama # Kowa – Njama # Ribbi –

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

# Timdale – Bomotoke # Upper Banta – Mokelle

Religion

Notable people from Moyamba District

* Banja Tejan-Sie, Sierra Leone chief justice, speaker of the house of parliament and attorney general from 1967 to 1968. *

Ella Koblo Gulama Paramount Chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in ...

- Paramount Chief of Kaiyamba Chiefdom and Sierra Leone's first woman minister of parliament, first woman cabinet minister. *

John Akar John Joseph Akar (1927–1975) was a Sierra Leonean entertainer, writer, and diplomat. He served as Sierra Leonean ambassador to the United States. Today, he is probably best known for composing the music of Sierra Leone's National Anthem. Ear ...

, Sierra Leonean diplomat, speaker, and lyricist. *

, one of Sierra Leone's most prominent political figure and leader of the

United National People's Party The United National People's Party is a political party in Sierra Leone. In 1996, the UNPP received 21.6% of the votes in the parliamentary election, winning 17 of the 68 seats. UNPP candidate John Karefa-Smart finished second to current preside ...

Julius Gulama Julius Momoh Gulama (born Julius Foday Cole, 1893 – 8 March 1951) was a Sierra Leonean paramount chief, statesman and educator in the preindependence era. As paramount chief of Kaiyamba Chiefdom, he ruled the largest and most powerful Mende chi ...

, educator and

Paramount Chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and arch ...

of Kaiyamba chiefdom. *

Kadi Sesay Kadi Sesay (born March 4, 1949) is a Sierra Leonean politician, feminist, pro-democracy advocate and the vice presidential candididate of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). She served as Sierra Leone Minister of Trade and Industry from 200 ...

, politician, pro-democracy advocate and the Vice Presidential Candidate of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). *

Komeh Gulama Lansana Komeh Gulama Lansana was the wife of Brigadier David Lansana, Force Commander of the Sierra Leone Army until his execution in 1975. Lansana is the daughter of Paramount Chief Julius Gulama, one of the Founding Fathers of postcolonial Sierra Leo ...

, socialite. *

Lucy Gulama Madam Lucy Gulama (born 26 September 1896 - 1966) was the wife of Sierra Leonean Paramount Chief Julius Gulama. Madam Lucy was the matriarch of one of Sierra Leone's most powerful noble families. She is the mother of Paramount Chief Madam Ella K ...

, Chief consort of Paramount Chief Julius Gulama. *

Madam Yoko Madam Yoko or Mammy Yoko (ca. 1849–1906 ) was a leader of the Mende people 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 sou ...

, ruler of the Kpa Mende Confederacy. *

Momoh Gulama Momoh Gulama was a Sierra Leonean paramount chief who ruled Kaiyamba Chiefdom in Moyamba District. Early life Gulama was born in Moyamba, Moyamba District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. His was the second son of Kaiyamba, a Mende p ...

of Kaiyamba chiefdom. *

, first President of Sierra Leone. * Sir Albert Margai, attorney-at-law who became second Prime Minister of Sierra Leone from 1964 to 1967 * Sir Milton Margai, medical doctor who led Sierra Leone to independence in 1961, and became nation's first

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

from 1961 to 1964. * Solomon G. Seisay - Sierra Leone's first indigenous National Director of Prisons. * Tinga Seisay, Sierra Leonean diplomat and pro-democracy activist. *

Thomas Caulker Thomas Canry Caulker (1846–1859), ( Sherbro) was born into a prominent African family, and his father ruled as King of Bompey, an African polity established in 1820 in what is now Sierra Leone. Caulker is among an early generation of West Afric ...

(1846–1859), . Luseni Alfred Morlu Brewah- Attorney General, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

References

{{Districts of Sierra Leone Districts of Sierra Leone Southern Province, Sierra Leone