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.
The Mano River is a river in West Africa. It originates in the Guinea Highlands in Liberia and forms part of the Liberia-Sierra Leone border.
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.
The Kono language (Kɔnɔ) is a language spoken in Sierra Leone by the Kono people. The Kono District is situated in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone and contains 14 chiefdoms, each headed by a Paramount Chief. The language varies slightly between chiefdoms.
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. 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.
The Diamond Stars Football Club is a Sierra Leonean professional football club based in Koidu Town, Kono District, Sierra Leone. The club represent the diamond-rich Kono District and is a member of the Sierra Leone National Premier League, the top football league in Sierra Leone. The club is coached by a Class A Coach ZAPA.
The Sierra Leone Selection Trust was formed in 1934 following an agreement between the government of British Sierra Leone and the Consolidated African Selection Trust Ltd (CAST). CAST was formed in 1924 and was part of a much larger mining finance house Selection Trust Ltd which had been founded in 1913 by Alfred Chester Beatty. Although the Oppenheimers invested in CAST and its subsidiaries from the 1920s and had boardroom representation, CAST was independent of the Oppenheimer empire. SLST corporation which had exclusive mineral mining rights in Sierra Leone beginning in 1935 was scheduled to last for 99 years. In 1955, the SLST abandoned mineral mining and settled on mining the Yengema and Tongo Fields. However, with the creation of the Sierra Leonean parastatal National Diamond Mining Company in 1971, the diamond company was effectively nationalized, ending the SLST 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.
Alhaji Samuel Sidique Sam-Sumana is a Sierra Leonean politician who was the Vice President of Sierra Leone from September 17, 2007 to March 17, 2015. Sam-Sumana stood as the vice-presidential candidate of the All People's Congress (APC) in the 2007 presidential election, alongside presidential candidate Ernest Bai Koroma. The APC ticket defeated the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) presidential candidate Solomon Berewa and vice presidential candidate Momodou Koroma. Sam-Sumana took office as vice president on September 17, 2007.
Sia Nyama Koroma is Sierra Leonean biochemist and psychiatric nurse. She served as First Lady of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 - 4 April 2018. She is the wife of Ernest Bai Koroma, the 4th President of Sierra Leone.
Kaima is a small rural town in Kono District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. The town lies about 15 mi (24 km) to Yengema and 40 mi (64 km) to Koidu Town. The population of Kaima is estimated at 2,217 (2009).
Karamoh Kabba is a Sierra Leonean author, writer, novelist and journalist. He has written several accounts about the Sierra Leone civil war, such as A Mother’s Saga: An Account of the Rebel War in Sierra Leone and the self-published work Lion Mountain and Morquee: A Political Drama of Wish over Wisdom published by Sierra Leone Writers Series. He has published several short stories and verses of poems on the Web site, Sierra Leone Web.
Yengema Secondary School or YSS is a government-sponsored secondary school that serves the town of Yengema, in the Kono District, Sierra Leone.
Education in Sierra Leone is legally required for all children for six years at primary level and three years in junior secondary education, but a shortage of schools and teachers has made implementation impossible. The Sierra Leone Civil War resulted in the destruction of 1,270 primary schools and in 2001 67 percent of all school-age children were out of school. The situation has improved considerably since then with primary school enrollment doubling between 2001 and 2005 and the reconstruction of many schools since the end of the war. However, there is still a long ways to go. In 2004, Junior secondary school enrollment was only 17% of primary school enrollment, and senior secondary school enrollment was only 8% of primary school education.
Kai Abdul Foday was a Sierra Leonean politician who served as member of Sierra Leone's parliament representing his hometown of Kono District. He was a member of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). Kai Abdul Foday was first elected to parliament in the 2002 general elections, he again won re-election in the 2007 general election, although his political party, the SLPP presidential candidate Solomon Berewa lost the presidential election to the APC presidential candidate, Ernest Bai Koroma. Kai Foday comes from the Kissi ethnic group. Kai Abdul Foday was born on 2 March 1924, in Kamiendor, Mafindor Chiefdom, Kono District.
Sierra Leone is officially a secular state, although Islam and Christianity are the two main and dominant religions in the country. The constitution of Sierra Leone provides for freedom of religion and the Sierra Leone Government generally protects it. The Sierra Leone Government is constitutionally forbidden from establishing a state religion, though Muslim and Christian prayers are usually held in the country at the beginning of major political occasions, including presidential inauguration.
Sierra Leone is home to about sixteen ethnic groups, each with its own language. In Sierra Leone, membership of an ethnic group often overlaps with a shared religious identity.
Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh is a Sierra Leonean politician and the current Vice President of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. Jalloh is a political scientist, businessman and a former United Nations official. Jalloh is a senior member of the Sierra Leone People's Party.
Lei Chiefdom is a chiefdom in Kono District of Sierra Leone. Its capital is Siama.
