Kenema 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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

in the Eastern 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 ...

. Its capital city, capital and largest city is

Kenema 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 ...

, which is the third most populous city in Sierra Leone, 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. Tongo is the second most populous city in the district. Other major towns in Kenema District include Blama and Yomboma. The district is the most populous district in the Eastern province with a population 609,873. Kenema District has an area of and comprises sixteen

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 ...

. The District of Kenema borders

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 west, the

Republic of Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

to the southeast,

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. Ton ...

and

Kono District Kono District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Koidu, Koidu Town. Motema is the second most populous city in the district. The other major towns in the district include Yengema, Tombodu, J ...

to the north,

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 ...

to the east, and

Pujehun District Pujehun District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Pujehun District is one of the sixteen Districts of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is the town of Pujehun . The other major towns in the district include Gando ...

to the southwest. The economy of Kenema District is largely based on

Farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

Diamond mining 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, b ...

and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

. The Mende is the largest ethnic group in the district, though the district is home to a significant population of many of Sierra Leone"s ethnic groups. The population of Kenema District is majority Muslim, though the district is also home to a significant Christian minority. Like the rest of Sierra Leone, Muslims and Christians collaborate and get along very well in Kenema District. Kenema District is a 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 ...

(SLPP). Since Independence in 1961 to present, the vast majority of the people of Kenema District support the Sierra Leone People's Party. Kenema District is the home district of the current

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

of Sierra Leone David J. Francis, who was born and raised in the city of

. Kenema District is also the home district of Mohamed Kallon, who was born in the city of Kenema, and is widely regarded as the most famous Sierra Leonean footballer of all time.

Major towns

Kenema District has four cities with a population of at least 40,000 *

* Blama * Tongo * Yomboma

Government

Kenema District is governed with a district council form of government, which is headed by a District Council Chairman, who is the highest local government official in the district. The District Council Chairman is responsible for the general management of the district. The District Council Chairman is elected directly by the residents of Kenema District every four years. The current District Council Chairman of Kenema District Council is Senesi Manssary of the

(SLPP), who easily won the 2012 District Chairperson election with 80.30%, defeating his main opponent Doris Saffa Nyangbe 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) who took 15.49%. Kenema District is a reliable political stronghold of the

(SLPP), the main opposition party in Sierra Leone. The District overwhelmingly supports the SLPP by a large majority in Presidential, Parliamentary and local councils elections. The SLPP have won every Sierra leone presidential elections in the District by a large majority; including the 2012 Presidential election, when the SLPP presidential candidate

Julius Maada Bio Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the current president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier general in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military head of state of Sierra Leo ...

won 77.9% of the vote in the District, as he easily defeated the incumbent 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 ...

in the District who took only 18.7%.http://www.nec-sierraleone.org/index_files/STATEMENT%20%20FROM%20NEC%20CHAIRPERSON%20(press%20district).pdf

Members of Parliament

Kenema District currently has eleven

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 ...

Representatives in the Sierra Leone House of Parliament; and ten of the eleven members belong to the

(SLPP).

Demographics of Kenema District

The estimated population of Kenema District was 515,461.World Gazetteer: Kenema - profile of geographical entity including name variants
Kenema District population 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, ...

divers, although 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. The district of Kenema enjoys religious plurality - Muslim and

Christians 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'' (Χρ ...

. Since the emergence of the Second Liberian Civil War in 1999, Kenema District along with Bo District served more than 60,000 Liberian refugees

Economy

Kenema has a mixed economy, made up of gold and diamond mining as well as agricultural production of

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

, cacao and

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

Sport

Kenema is home to Sierra Leonean Premier League club the Kamboi Eagles. The club 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 1981, 1985, and 2014.

Notable people from Kenema District

* J. B. Dauda, Sierra Leone Minister of Finance * Mohamed Kallon, football star * Paul Kpaka, football star * Patrick Daniel Koroma, Bishop of Kenema * Andrew Lungay, Politician *

Emmerson Bockarie Emmerson Amidu Bockarie (born December 23, 1980), better known as Emmerson, is a Sierra Leonean African popular music, Afropop singer. His music focuses on political topics relating to corruption in the government of Sierra Leone, and he has be ...

, Musician

Administrative divisions

Chiefdoms

The district is made up of sixteen

as the third level of administrative subdivision. # Dama – Giema #

Dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The ...

–

# Gaura –

Joru ''Joru'' () is a 2014 Indian Telugu language romantic comedy film directed by Kumar Nagendra and produced by Ashok and Nagarjuna. Ram Pasupuleti worked as assistant director for this film. The film features Sundeep Kishan, Raashi Khanna, Priya B ...

# Gorama Mende – Tungie # Kandu Leppiam – Gbado # Koya –

Baoma Baoma is a small town in Bo District 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 G ...

# Langurama Ya Chiefdom, Langurama Ya – Baima # Lower Bambara –

Panguma Panguma is a village in eastern Sierra Leone, with a population of 7965. The village had previously been the capital of Mende people, Mende chief Nyagua during the 19th century. The community includes a Catholic hospital, partially supported by ...

# Malegohun – Sembehun # Niawa – Sundumei # Nomo –

Faama Faama is a Mandinka word meaning "father," "leader," or "king". It was commonly used within the area of pre-imperial Mali. The title spread into areas conquered by Mali and was later used by the Bamana Empire and the Wassoulou Empire of Samori ...

# Nongowa –

# Simbaru – Boajibu # Small Bo – Blama # Tunkia – Gorahun # Wando – Faala

Major towns

* Barma * Blama * Boajibu * Giehun * Gorahun * Hangha *

, capital and largest city *

* Pendemu * Tokpombu * Tongo, Second largest city * Wuima * Yomboma

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070121122533/http://www.statehouse-sl.org/member-parliament.html
"Kenema District" at kenemadistrict.org

Sierra Leone Encyclopedia
(Final 2004 census data.) {{Districts of Sierra Leone

Eastern Province, Sierra Leone