Bombali District

Bombali District
Bombali District
	UTC-5 (Greenwich Mean Time)
HDI (2017)	0.453; low · 3rd

Bombali is a

geographical area, after Koinadugu District, and is the second most populous district in the Northern part of Sierra Leone, after Port Loko district. In the 2015 Sierra Leone national census, the population of Bombali District was 606,183.^[1] Other major towns in Bombali District include Kamabai, Karina and Binkolo

.

The District of Bombali occupies a total area of 7,985 km² (3,083 sq mi) and comprises thirteen chiefdoms. The district borders Karene District to the north, Port Loko District, Tonkolili District to the south, and Koinadugu District to the east.

The population of Bombali District is ethnically diverse, although the

Muslim, though with a large Christian

minority.

Bombali District is the

birthplace and home district of the former president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, who was born and raised in the city of Makeni. The district is also the birthplace and home district of former president of Sierra Leone Joseph Saidu Momoh, who was born in the town of Binkolo

.

The University of Makeni and St. Francis Secondary school are based in Bombali District's largest city, Makeni.

Government and politics

Bombali district is governed with a

directly elected district council form of government, which is headed by a district council chairman, who is the highest local government official in the district. The chairman is responsible for the general management of the district. The current chairman is John Shangai Koruna of the All People's Congress

(APC), following his victory in the 2018 Sierra Leone general elections.

Bombali District is a

city council. Two of the three Sierra Leone presidents from the APC party Joseph Saidu Momoh and Ernest Bai Koroma

are natives of Bombali District.

The APC has always been overwhelmingly popular in almost all parts of Bombali District since the party was founded; with the exception of the predominantly

ethnic Mandingo town of Karina and its surrounding villages, located in part of Biriwa Chiefdom, which have traditionally supported the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), particularly under the government of president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah

, who was overwhelmingly popular in Karina and its surrounding villages during his presidency.

Members of Parliament

The District of Bombali has eight Representatives in the Sierra Leonean Parliament, of which seven members were elected for a five-year term. The district is a stronghold of the former ruling government of the APC party. In the second round of the 2007 Sierra Leone presidential election, the incumbent vice president of Sierra Leone Solomon Berewa and candidate of the then ruling SLPP got 11 percent of the vote in Bombali District, while the leader of the main opposition party and current president of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) got 89 percent in the second round in the district.

Administrative divisions

Chiefdoms

Pre-2017

Prior to the 2017 local administrative reorganization, Bombali District was made up of thirteen chiefdoms as the third level of administrative subdivision.

Post-2017

After the 2017 local administrative reorganization, Bombali District has made up of thirteen chiefdoms as the third level of administrative subdivision.

Biriwa – Kamabai
Bombali Shebora – ?
Bombali Siari^[a] – ?
Gbanti^[b] – ?
Gbendembu^[c] – ?
Kamaranka^[d] – Kamaranka
Magbaiamba Ndowahun – Hunduwa
Makari^[b] – Masongbon
Mara^[e] – ?
Ngowahun^[c] – Kalangba
Paki Massabong – Mapaki
Safroko Limba – Binkolo
Makeni City^[a] – Makeni

Notes

^ ^a ^b Formerly part of Bombali Shebora Chiefdom.
^ ^a ^b Formerly part of Makari Gbanti Chiefdom; split off.
^ ^a ^b Formerly part of Gbendembu Ngowahun Chiefdom; split off.
^ Formerly part of Gbanti Kamaranka Chiefdom; split off, with Gbanti Chiefdom moving to Karene District.
^ Formerly part of Malal Mara Chiefdom; moved from Tonkolili District.

Major towns

Towns and villages

Effects of the civil war

Bombali was a principal former rebel stronghold and experienced considerable displacement, destruction and trauma as a result of the conflict. While progress has been made since the conflict, particularly in restoration of state authority, the level of social services and economic recovery remains unsatisfactory throughout the district. The provincial importance of Makeni is in contrast with the current lack of water and power supply in the township, and the bad road network and large distances in the district have meant that limited intervention has been made in chiefdoms outside of the Makeni area, particularly in the far north.

Health

Medical services are provided by a mix of government, private and

Yellow Fever and Malaria.^[3] Holy Spirit Hospital (Makeni), largest private hospital in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, is located in Bombali District in the town of Makeni

.

In 2019, the First Responder Coalition of Sierra Leone (FRCSL) was created in Makeni, the largest city of Bombali District.^[4] The five founding members included the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, LFR International, the University of Makeni, Agency for Rural Community Transformation, and Holy Spirit Hospital. 1,000 community members from Bombali were trained to be first responders by the Coalition and equipped with first aid kits between June and July 2019.^[5]

Religion

Religion in Bombali District (2015)^[6]
Religion			Percent(%)
Islam			71.4%
Christianity			26.9%
Bahai Faith			0.0%
Traditional African religion			0.0%
Other			1.2%
No religion			0.4%

Notable people

Ernest Bai Koroma, President of Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018
Joseph Saidu Momoh, President of Sierra Leone from 1985 to 1992
Almamy Suluku, was a powerful Limba ruler who maintained his independence as long as possible through brilliant political strategy during colonial era.
Edward Turay, Politician
Brima Koroma, football star
Mohamed Kamara, football star

Notes

^ ^a ^b Regina Pratt (1 April 2016). "Sierra Leone: 'Sierra Leone Population Is Now Over Seven Million'". allAfrica. Concord Times.
^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
^ "Sierra Leone: Bombali District Profile (16 November 2015) - Sierra Leone".
^ Vanguard, The Patriotic (2019-07-04). "Makeni: Coalition of First Responders formed". The Patriotic Vanguard. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
^ Thomas, Abdul Rashid (2019-07-05). "Sierra Leone's road accident First Responder Coalition to save thousands of lives". Archived from the original on 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
^ "Population structure" (PDF).

Sources

Parts of this article reproduced with permission from [3]
https://web.archive.org/web/20070121122533/http://www.statehouse-sl.org/member-parliament.html

[a-3] Formerly part of Bombali Shebora Chiefdom.

[b-4] Formerly part of Makari Gbanti Chiefdom; split off.

[c-5] Formerly part of Gbendembu Ngowahun Chiefdom; split off.

[d-6] Formerly part of Gbanti Kamaranka Chiefdom; split off, with Gbanti Chiefdom moving to Karene District.

[7] Formerly part of Malal Mara Chiefdom; moved from Tonkolili District.

[allafrica-1] Regina Pratt (1 April 2016). "Sierra Leone: 'Sierra Leone Population Is Now Over Seven Million'". allAfrica. Concord Times.

[GlobalDataLab-2] "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.

[8] "Sierra Leone: Bombali District Profile (16 November 2015) - Sierra Leone".

[9] Vanguard, The Patriotic (2019-07-04). "Makeni: Coalition of First Responders formed". The Patriotic Vanguard. Retrieved 2019-07-05.

[10] Thomas, Abdul Rashid (2019-07-05). "Sierra Leone's road accident First Responder Coalition to save thousands of lives". Archived from the original on 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-07-05.

[11] "Population structure" (PDF).

[2]

[1]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Chiefdoms and towns of Bombali District
District capital	Makeni
Chiefdoms	Biriwa Bombali Shebora Gbanti Kamaranka Gbendembu Ngowahun Libeisaygahun Magbaiamba Ndowahun Makari Gbanti Paki Massabong Safroko Limba Sanda Loko Sanda Tenraren Sella Limba Tambakha
Towns	Batkanu Binkolo Fintonia Hunduwa Kalangba Kamabai Kamakwie Kamalo Kamaranka Makeni Mapaki Masongbon Mateboi