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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 th ...
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 city, 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, educ ...
. Makeni is home to the University of Makeni, 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 ...
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 coun ...
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 ...
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 held every four years. The current mayor of Makeni is Sunkari Kabba-Kamara 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 in a
primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
; 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 studi ...
stronghold of the ruling
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)
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 ideological or p ...
. 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 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
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 ...
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 are the largest and main
Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...
in Makeni.


Sport

Like the rest of Sierra Leone,
Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
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 Wusum Stars of Bombali commonly referred to as simply Wusum Stars, is a Sierra Leonean professional soccer, football club based in Makeni, Sierra Leone. They are member of Sierra Leone National Premier League, the top football league in Sierr ...
. 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 in 1979. Makeni has also played host to matches of the Sierra Leone National football team's under-17 and under-20 teams at the city's
Wusum Sports Stadium Wusum Sports Stadium is a 5,000 capacity soccer stadium based in Makeni, Sierra Leone. It was built in the 1970s by the All People's Congress (APC) and the grandstands were renovated in 1994, costing over Le10 million. The stadium is mostly used f ...
.


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 broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...
,
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 inter ...
, 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 radioiso ...
.


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 University of Makeni, 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. St. Francis Secondary School 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. ...
. Healthcare in Makeni is provided by a mix of government, private and
non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
(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 provide most healthcare services, in addition to private clinics. The Holy Spirit Hospital 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 (FRCSL) was formed in Makeni by five national and international organizations: the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, LFR International,
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 s ...
, the Holy Spirit Hospital of Makeni, and the University of Makeni. 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 Qiu may refer to: *Qiū (surname), Chinese surnames *Qiú (surname), Chinese surnames *Qiu County Qiu may refer to: *Qiū (surname), Chinese surnames *Qiú (surname), Chinese surnames * Qiu County, in Hebei, China *Kǒng Qiū (), better known as ...
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 '' 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 mountain range i ...
'' 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 soc ...
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 L ...
, Sierra Leonean-born Guinean reggae musician * Sunkari Kabba-Kamara, 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 defensive midfielder for Gnistan and Sierra Leone national team. He also holds Finnish citizenship ...
, football star *
Brima Koroma Brima Koroma (born 8 July 1984) is a professional Sierra Leonean Association football, footballer. Career Koroma played as a striker for Anagennisi Dherynia in the Cypriot First Division. He has also played for Sierra Leone, scoring a goal ...
, football star * Sylvanus Koroma, the father of Ernest Bai Koroma * Edward Turay, 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


See also

* Holy Spirit Hospital (Makeni)
City Garden Clinic


References


External links

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