Kono District | |
---|---|
![]() Location of Kono District in Sierra Leone | |
Coordinates: 8°45′N11°00′W / 8.750°N 11.000°W | |
Country | Sierra Leone |
Province | Eastern Province |
Capital | Koidu Town |
Largest city | Koidu Town |
Government | |
• Type | District Council |
• Council Chairman | Sahr Solomon Gbondo (C4C) |
Area | |
• Total | 5,641 km2 (2,178 sq mi) |
Population (2015 census) [1] | |
• Total | 505,767 |
• Density | 90/km2 (230/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
HDI (2017) | 0.391 [2] low · 7th |
Kono District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Koidu Town. Motema is the second most populous city in the district. The other major towns in the district include Yengema, Tombodu, Jaiama Nimikor and Sewafe. The district is the largest diamond producer in Sierra Leone. The population of Kono District is 505,767. [1] Kono District borders Kenema District to the southwest, The Republic of Guinea to the east, Koinadugu District to the northeast and Kailahun District to the southeast. Kono District is divided into fourteen chiefdoms. [3]
Kono District is one of the most ethnically diverse Districts in Sierra Leone and is home to a large population of many of Sierra Leone's ethnic groups, with no single ethnic group forming a majority.
Kono District population is religiously diverse among Muslims and Christians, though Muslims make up the majority of the population in Kono District.
Before the civil war, Kono District had a population well over 600,000 [ citation needed ]; however, it experienced devastation during the Sierra Leone Civil War, which forced many of the residents out of the district. The district was heavily looted and constantly fought over due to the rich diamond reserves in the area.
Kono District is governed with a district council form of government, which is headed by a District Council Chairman, who is responsible for the general management of the district. The District Council Chairman is elected directly by the residents of Kono District in every four years. The Kono District Council Hall located in the district capital Koidu Town, is the official Hall where members of the Kono District Council meet. The current chairman of Kono district council is Richard Abdulrahman Koninga of the (All People's Congress) (APC) who was sworn in on January 26, 2012, after winning the Kono District Local Council Elections. [4] Richard Abdulrahman Koninga inauguration at the Kenema City Hall in Kenema Town was attended by president Ernest Bai Koroma. [5] He succeeded Finda Diana Konomanyi of the All People's Congress (APC) whose tenure of office expired in 2012, leading to the 2012 Local Council Elections. The city of Koidu Town is a municipality and has its own city council, led by Mayor Saa Emerson Lamina.
Each one of the fourteen chiefdoms in Kono District is led by a paramount chief, who is highly influential. Paramount Chiefs hold significant powers and are highly respected across Sierra Leone.
Kono District is similar to swing states in American politics, as the District is not considered a political stronghold of any political parties in Sierra Leone. This is primarily due to the ethnic diversity of the district's population and the fact that two of Sierra Leone's largest ethnic groups the Mende and Temne do not form a significant portion of the Kono District population . The Kono District representatives in the Parliament of Sierra Leone is about equal between SLPP and APC members. Kono District is a major campaign stops in Sierra Leone Presidential election.
The District has recently lean towards the APC in municipal and local elections held in 2008 and 2011, though the SLPP still maintain strong support in the District. The SLPP previously controlled the Kono District Council local government and the Koidu city council, until 2008 when the APC took control. The SLPP has won Kono District in the last three Sierra Leone Presidential elections held in 1996, 2002 and 2007.
In the 2007 Sierra Leone presidential election, the SLPP presidential candidate Solomon Berewa won the district over the APC candidate Ernest Bai Koroma, despite the fact that Koroma's vice presidential candidate Alhaji Samuel Sam-Sumana and Koroma's wife Sia Koroma are both natives of Kono District. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP won the District both in the 1996 and 2002 Sierra Leone Presidential elections.
Kono District is the largest diamond producer in Sierra Leone. Other important economic activities include gold mining and agricultural production of rice, coffee and cacao.
Prominent Secondary Schools are:
Kono is home to Sierra Leonean Premier League club the Diamond Stars of Kono. The club is one of the oldest, biggest, and most popular football clubs in Sierra Leone. The club have won the Sierra Leonean FA Cup once, in 1992. Famous local football clubs are Flamingo FC, Rangers FC, Cosmos FC & Farmers FC.
Prior to the 2017 local administrative reorganization, Kono District was made up of fourteen chiefdoms (and there are 72 sections across the district) as the third level of administrative subdivision. [7] Each chiefdom has one traditional ruler known as paramount chief.
After the 2017 local administrative reorganization, Kono District has made up of fifteen chiefdoms as the third level of administrative subdivision; with the newest unit in Koidu Town Chiefdom being de-amalgamated from Gbense Chiefdom.
Kono District was the setting for much of Blood Diamond , an Academy Award-nominated film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Honsou.
The name Kono was also used in the 2005 film Lord of War as the cover name for the sea vessel Kristol to fool Interpol agents searching for an illegal weapons shipment hidden in the Kristol's cargo.
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(help)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 dominated Sierra Leone's politics from its foundation in 1951 to 1967, when it lost the 1967 parliamentary election to the APC, led by Siaka Stevens. Originally a centre-right conservative party, since 2012 it identifies as a social democratic party, with a centrist tendency.
Koidu Town is the capital and largest city of the diamond-rich Kono District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. The population of Koidu Town is 124,662 based on the 2015 Sierra Leone national census. Koidu Town is the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone by population, after Freetown, Kenema, Bo and Makeni. Koidu Town is a major urban, business, commercial and diamond trade center. Koidu Town lies approximately 280 miles east of Freetown, and about 60 miles north of Kenema.
Julius Maada Wonie Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the current 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). As the candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), Bio defeated Samura Kamara of the ruling All People's Congress (APC) in the runoff vote of the 2018 Sierra Leonean presidential election with 51.8% of the votes to Kamara's 48.2%. International and local observers declared the election free and fair. He succeeded Ernest Bai Koroma as president.
Yengema is a town in Kono District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone, lying approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Koidu Town, and about 142 miles (229 km) east of Freetown. The major industries in and around Yengema are diamond mining and agriculture. The town is home to Yengema Airport, the main airfield serving Kono District. A 2012 estimate of Yengema population was 13,358 people.
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Ernest Bai Koroma is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018.
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Kenema District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Kenema, which is the third most populous city in Sierra Leone, after Freetown 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 6,053 km2 (2,337 sq mi) and comprises sixteen chiefdoms.
General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 11 August 2007. Seven candidates competed in the first round of the presidential election; no candidate received the necessary 55% of the vote to win in the first round, and a second round was held between the top two candidates, Ernest Bai Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) and Solomon Berewa of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), on 8 September. According to official results, Koroma won the election with 54.6% of the vote.
The following list is of events that happened during 2007 in Sierra Leone.
The Kono people are a major Mande-speaking ethnic group in Sierra Leone at 5.2% of the country's total population. Their homeland is the diamond-rich Kono District in eastern Sierra Leone. The Kono are primarily diamond miners and farmers.
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Tamba Songu M'briwa was a prominent Sierra Leonean politician and paramount chief from the Kono ethnic group, who formed one of the few political parties in Sierra Leone before independence.
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