Bonthe District

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Bonthe District
Bonthe District in Sierra Leone 2018.svg
Coordinates: 7°30′N12°30′W / 7.500°N 12.500°W / 7.500; -12.500
Country Sierra Leone
Province Southern Province
Capital Bonthe Island
Largest city Bonthe
Government
 • TypeBonthe Municipality
 • Mayor His Worship Mayor Layemin Joe Sandi (SLPP)
Area
 • Total
3,468 km2 (1,339 sq mi)
Population
 (2021 census)
 • Total
297,561
 • Density86/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zone UTC0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
HDI (2017)0.405 [1]
low · 5th
Website https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110241/http://www.bonthedc.net/

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 largest city is Bonthe, [2] on Sherbro Island. [3] As of the 2015 census, the district had a population of 200,730. [4] Bonthe District is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Bonthe District is subdivided into eleven chiefdoms.

Contents

The District occupies a total area of 3,468 km². The District of Bonthe borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Moyamba District to the northwest, Bo District to the southeast and Pujehun District to the south. The fifth and current President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio is from Bonthe District.

Bonthe district is largely made up of two main ethnic groups; the Sherbro and Mende. Bonthe district is the native home of the Sherbro people who make up a large minority of the district population. Bonthe district has a large population of both Muslims and Christians.

Bonthe District has one of the world's largest deposits of titanium ore (rutile) in the world. Sierra Rutile Limited, owned by a consortium of US and European investors, began commercial mining operations in Bonthe in early 1979. Due to poor mining policy, the region has little to show for this huge economic potential.

Demography

Bonthe District is mainly inhabited by the Mende and Sherbro people. The Mende are the largest ethnic group in the district; followed by the Sherbro people.

Religion

Religion in Bonthe District (2015) [5]
ReligionPercent(%)
Islam
 
85.4%
Christianity
 
13.1%
Baháʼí
 
0.0%
Traditional African religions
 
0.0%
Other
 
1.4%
No Religion
 
0.1%

Government

Bonthe District is divided into two political administrations; the district headquarters town on Sherbro Island is headed by a Municipal Mayor, and the mainland is governed by a district council Chairman based in Mattru Jong. The Bonthe District is headed by the mayor; he and the District Council Chairman are the highest local government officials in the district of Bonthe. The District Council Chairman and the Municipal Mayor are responsible for the general management of the district and for seeing that all local laws are enforced. The District Council Chairman is elected directly by the residents where the District Council is governed and also the mayor is elected by residents of Bonthe Municipality. The current mayor of Bonthe Municipality is His Worship Mayor Layemin Joe Sandi and the District Council Chairman of Bonthe District Council is Mr. Moese Jude Probyn of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). There were elected in the 2018 Sierra Leone local government election.

Members of Parliament

Bonthe District is a stronghold of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). In the 2018 Sierra Leone presidential and parliamentary Elections, the SLPP won the majority (99.9%) of the votes in the Bonthe District. The party also won all three seats in the Sierra Leone Parliament from Bonthe District.

The District has only three Representatives in the Parliament of Sierra Leone, of which all four were elected for a 5-year term in the 2018 Sierra Leone General Elections. The district is a stronghold of the SLPP party,[Sierra Leone People's Party]] ). Below is the list of Representatives in the Sierra Leonean Parliament:

NameParty
Sengepo Thomas SLPP
Moses A. Edwin SLPP
Alicen Jebbeh Kumabeh SLPP
Moses Baimba Jorkie SLPP
P.C. Badara Non party-allied

Administrative divisions

Chiefdoms

Although the headquarters town, Bonthe, is located on Sherbro Island, it is part of neither of the two chiefdoms on the island: Sittia and Dema. Instead, the town is part of the Bonthe Sherbro Municipality, outside of the chiefdom administrative structure. [7]

Major towns

Economy

The main economic activities include fishing, rice growing and palm oil plantations. Mattru is the main city, located 52 miles southwest of Bo, along the Jong River, which provides access to Sherbro Island and the Atlantic Ocean.

Effects of the civil war

Bonthe District was first among the districts in the Southern Province to undertake voluntary resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 1997 among all economic hardship and combatant activities. The District suffered the mass exodus of IDPs when Sierra Rutile Company (the largest foreign exchange earner, taxpayer and employer of mine workers) suffered damage and destruction when attacked by fighting forces in 1995, and during all phases of the war. The company terminated its operations.

Many indigenes, however, believe that the resettlement and rehabilitation activities of IDPs and the restart of mining operations will help fast-track the recovery process. They believe this could complement the government in the consolidation of peace and the drive for recovery.

See also

Related Research Articles

Sierra Leone first became inhabited by indigenous African peoples at least 2,500 years ago. The Limba were the first tribe known to inhabit Sierra Leone. The dense tropical rainforest partially isolated the region from other West African cultures, and it became a refuge for peoples escaping violence and jihads. Sierra Leone was named by Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra, who mapped the region in 1462. The Freetown estuary provided a good natural harbour for ships to shelter and replenish drinking water, and gained more international attention as coastal and trans-Atlantic trade supplanted trans-Saharan trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherbro Island</span> Place in Southern Province, Sierra Leone

Sherbro Island is in the Atlantic Ocean, and is included within Bonthe District, Southern Province, Sierra Leone. The island is separated from the African mainland by the Sherbro River in the north and Sherbro Strait in the east. It is 32 miles (51 km) long and up to 15 miles (24 km) wide, covering an area of approximately 230 square miles (600 km2). The western extremity is Cape St. Ann. Bonthe, on the eastern end, is the chief port and commercial centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Maada Bio</span> President of Sierra Leone since 2018

Julius Maada Wonie Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician who has served as president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military head of state of Sierra Leone from 16 January 1996 to 29 March 1996, in a military junta government known as the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). Bio is the first democratically elected president of Sierra Leone born after Sierra Leone's independence from British colonial rule.

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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 Sahn Malen, Zimmi, Jendema, and Potoru. As of 2015, the district has a population of 345,577.

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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 second most populous district in Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is the city of Bo, which is also the second most populous city in Sierra Leone. Other major towns in the district include Baoma, Bumpeh, Serabu, Sumbuya, Baiima and Yele.

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Kailahun is the capital of Kailahun District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Kailahun is a major business and commercial center of Kailahun District. The population was 13,108 in the 2004 census, a 2006 estimate of 18,411 and a current estimate of about 30,411. Kailahun lies in the far east of Sierra Leone, approximately 200 miles east of Freetown, about 51 miles north east of Kenema, and near the border of Liberia.

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Bonthe is a coastal town located on Sherbro Island in Bonthe District in the southern Province of Sierra Leone. The town lies on the eastern shore of Sherbro Island, on the Sherbro River estuary. Bonthe is about 60 miles south-west of Bo and 187 miles south-east of Freetown.

The Sherbro people are a native people of Sierra Leone, who speak the Sherbro language; they make up 1.9% of Sierra Leone's population or 134,606. The Sherbro are found primarily in their homeland in Bonthe District, where they make up 40% of the population, in coastal areas of Moyamba District, and in the Western Area of Sierra Leone, particularly in Freetown. During pre-colonial days, the Sherbro were one of the most dominant ethnic group in Sierra Leone, but in the early 21st century, the Sherbro comprise a small minority in the nation. The Sherbro speak their own language, called Sherbro language.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kailahun District</span> Place in Eastern Province, Sierra Leone

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenema District</span> Place in Eastern Province, Sierra Leone

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Mattru Jong commonly known as Mattru is the capital of Bonthe District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Mattru Jung is located on the mainland of Bonthe District, along the Jong River, 52 miles southwest of Bo. The town is the seat of Mongerewa Jong Chiefdom, and is the home of Mongerewa Jong Paramount Chief Alie Badara Sheriff III. The town's current estimated population is about 20,000 people. In 2010 it was 8,199, and in the 2004 census the town had a population of 7,647.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Sierra Leone</span>

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Tihun is a small rural town in Sogbini Chiefdom, Bonthe District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Tihun is the chieftaincy seat of Sogbini Chiefdom and is about ten miles to the main commercial town of Mattru Jong. The major economic activity in Tihun is farming. Tihun is the native home of the Sherbro people who are the vast majority in the town.

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References

  1. ↑ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  2. ↑ "World Gazetteer: Bonthe". World-gazetter.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-05. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
  3. ↑ Sherbro Island is commonly known as "Bonthe Island". Smith, L. Alison; Gambette, Catherine & Longley, Thomas (10 March 2004). Conflict Mapping in Sierra Leone: Violations of Humanitarian Law from 1991 to 2002 (PDF). Freetown, Sierra Leone: No Peace Without Justice. p. 412, note 1157. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "World Gazetteer: Bonthe". World-gazetter.com. Retrieved 2017-01-21.[ dead link ]
  5. ↑ Samuel Beresford Weekes; Silleh Bah (2015). "Thematic Report on population structure and population distribution" (PDF). Sierra Leone 2015 Population and Housing Census.
  6. ↑ "The 149 Chiefdoms of Sierra Leone". Sierra Leone Web. Archived from the original on 18 August 2000.
  7. ↑ Smith 2004 , p. 412
  8. ↑ "Mattru". World-gazetter.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-05. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
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