Koidu Town (or Sefadu) is the capital and largest city of the

diamond 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 ...

-rich

Kono District 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 N ...

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 ...

. The population of Koidu Town is 124,6

based on the 2015 Sierra Leone national census. Koidu Town is the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone by population, after

Freetown Freetown is the Capital city, 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, educ ...

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 cen ...

, Bo and

Makeni Makeni is the largest city in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The city is the capital of Bombali District, and is the economic center of the Northern Province. Makeni is the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone by population. The city of M ...

. Koidu Town is a major urban,

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 exc ...

center. Koidu Town lies approximately 280 miles east of Freetown, and about 60 miles north of

. Two of the world’s ten largest and most famous rough diamonds were found in the Woyie River that flows through Koidu Town. The

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

is officially known as Koidu City. The mayor of Koidu City and members of the Koidu-New Sembehun city council are directly elected every four years by the residents of Koidu. The current mayor of Koidu Town is Komba Sam of the Coalition 4 Change political party

Komba Sam was narrowly elected mayor of Koidu Town with 49.5% of the votes in the 2018 Koidu Mayoral election over his closest rival 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 ...

br>
Politically, Kodu Town is not a stronghold of any political party, as the city is home to a significantly large support of both the

and 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 ...

. Koidu is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse cities in Sierra Leone. The city is inhabited by significant numbers of many of Sierra Leone's ethnic groups, with no single ethnic group forming a majority. The

Krio language Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio is an English-based creole language that is lingua franca and de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 96 percent of the country's population, and it uni ...

is by far the most widely spoken language in Koidu Town and is the primary language of communication in the city. Koidu Town is the hometown of Sierra Leone's vice president

Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh 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 ...

, Sierra Leone"s

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non- monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the ...

Fatima Bio and former Sierra Leone"s vice president

Samuel Sam-Sumana Alhaji Samuel Sidique Sam-Sumana (born April 7, 1962) 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 Co ...

; as all three of them were born and raised in the city.

History

In 1995 the government of Sierra Leone signed an agreement with the South African company Branch Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Executive Outcomes (EO), a business that supplied mercenaries to governments across Africa. The agreement, negotiated under the Mines and Minerals Act of 1994, was scheduled to last 25 years. Under it Sierra Leone’s military government gave the concession to operate the Koidu diamond mine to the firm in payment for helping to suppress the

Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...

rebels in the area during the country’s civil war. They had been using the diamonds to buy weapons and ammunition from Guinea, Liberia, and the Sierra Leone army. The government of Sierra Leone retained a 60% ownership stake in the Koidu mine. The

Sierra Leone Civil War The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberian dictator Char ...

ended in 2002. Records leaked from the Panamanian law firm

Mossack Fonseca Mossack Fonseca & Co. () was a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider.Koidu Holdings, a company owned by Octea of the BSGR Resources group, for $28 million. .

2007 and 2012 protests

The 2007 Koidutown-Sefadu protest was an action by 400 protesters in Koidu-Sefadu which was aimed at the local diamond mine which the residents claimed had lowered local living conditions and environmental conditions in the area. The result of the protest was a clampdown by Sierra Leonean police, who shot two protesters. Two more protesters were shot in 2012, one of them a 12-year-old boy.

Government

Koidu town is one of Sierra Leone's six

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

and is governed by a directly elected

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

, headed by a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, in whom

executive authority The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

is vested. The mayor is responsible for the general management of the city. The mayor is elected directly by the residents of Koidutown every four years in a municipal elections. The current mayor of Koidu Town is Saa Emerson Lamina of the ruling

All Peoples 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 Apri ...

part
APC
He was suspended by the national government in 2016, following the release of the Panama Papers and publication of an article quoting him complaining about the diamond mine's operation and failure to pay taxes. The City Council then elected Aiah Bartholomew Baima Komba Acting Mayor of Koidu. Under Lamina the city had also filed suit in 2015 against Koidu’s parent company Octea Limited, claiming that the company owed $684,000 in unpaid property taxes. In April 2016 Justice Bintu Alhadi of the High Court of Sierra Leone ruled that Octea and Koidu Limited were separate entities and that Octea technically did not own the mine, so had no duty to pay its property tax. Lamina says the suspension was intended to silence him and that he continues to act as mayor because he believes the national government has no authority to remove him from office A 32-page Ministry of Finance and Economic Development audit blamed the finance and procurement officers of the Council for the relatively minor issues, according to Politico.

Ethnicity

Koidu town is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Sierra Leone. Even though the city is home of the Kono people, members of all the country's other ethnic groups and most of the foreign diamond workers in the Kono District reside in the city.

Health

American aid workers helped rebuild the Koidu Government hospital, which has improved the previously alarming health situation in the town. Various other aid organizations, including the UN Refugee Agency,

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...

and its partners, have helped drill wells, re-build clinics and schools and regenerate livelihoods in the area, as part of a programme to support the reintegration of Sierra Leoneans who returned after living for several years as refugees in neighbouring countries.

Cultural

Media

The local radio station in Koidu Town is the Eastern Radio 96.5. The

Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) is the national radio and television broadcaster in Sierra Leone. It is owned by the government of Sierra Leone and is a branch of the Sierra Leone Ministry of Information and Communications. I ...

(SLBC) TV, and radio are on the air in the city. The

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...

, and several other international stations are also on the air in the city on

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

Sport

Sierra Leone National Premier League Sierra Leone National Premier League is a professional football league in Sierra Leone. It was founded in 1967. The league is sponsored by the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, one of the major Sierra Leonean banks. East End Lions and Mighty Blackpoo ...

club, the

Diamond Stars The Diamond Stars Football Club is a Sierra Leonean professional Soccer, 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 Leagu ...

is based in Koidu. The club represents the Kono District. Like the rest of Sierra Leone,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

(soccer) is by far the most popular sport in Koidu Town. The Sierra Leonean professional

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all ...

known as the

of Kono, which is based in Koidu Town, represents the city and the entire Kono District in the

. The Diamond Stars Football Club is overwhelmingly popular in Kono District and is one of the biggest football clubs in Sierra Leone. The Diamond Stars are the champions of the 2012 Sierra Leone National Premier League season, and the first club outside

to ever won the Premier League.Sierra Leone: Diamond Stars Win Salone Premier League Title
/ref>

Education

Notable Secondary Schools in Koidutown

* Koidu Secondary School - Founded: 1938 * Kono Model Academy - Founded: 1950 * Koidu Girls Secondary School - Founded: 1952 * Ansarul Islamic Boys Secondary School - Founded: 1974 * Ansarul Islamic Girls Secondary School - Founded: 1974 * Islamic Secondary School Koidu - Founded: 1979 * Ak-hom Secondary School - Founded: 2001

Notable people from Koidu town

, current Vice President of Sierra Leone * Fatima Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone * Saa Emerson Lamina, former

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Koidu City *

, Former Vice President of Sierra Leone *Hon. Paramount Chief Sahr Fengai Korgbende Kaimachiande , , , , former Paramount Chief Member of Parliament and former Paramount Chief of Gbense Chiefdom * Samuel Harrison Fanday, Journalist of Voice Of Kono Radio 98.0fm * Kaifala Marah, former

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

of Sierra Leone * Alimu Koula Bah, Former Secretary General of

Sierra Leone Football Association The Sierra Leone Football Association is the governing body of football in Sierra Leone. It was founded in 1960 (current association), and affiliated to FIFA the same year. It organizes and runs the national leagues, including the Sierra Leone N ...

* Diana Konomanyi, Former Sierra Leone minister of Lands * Sam Bockarie, former RUF rebel leader * Aiah Abu Koroma, Former Leader of Democratic Centre Party (DCP) * Mary Musa, First Female Mayor of Koidu City * Khady Black, Sierra Leonean

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

Musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

* Mamadi O Jalloh,

Community Activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

& Organizer,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States *

Francis Koroma Francis Zapa Koroma (born January 4, 1975 in Koidu Town, Sierra Leone) is a former Sierra Leonean Association football, footballer. He is the current manager of Old Edwardians who play in the Sierra Leone National Premier League Career He pl ...

Footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

* K-Man, Sierra Leonean Musician *

Karamoh Kabba Karamoh Kabba (born 1965 in Koidu Town, Kono District, Sierra Leone) 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 ...

Politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

Komba Yomba Komba Tawa Yomba widely known as Keeper Towa (born August 24, 1976 in Koidu Town, Sierra Leone) is a Sierra Leonean international Association football, football goalkeeper. He is the captain of the Diamond Stars in the Sierra Leone National Pre ...

, Footballer * Sidique Mansaray, Footballer * Alimamy Jalloh, Footballer * Ibrahim Bah, Footballer * Mohamed Saccoh, Rapper * Yayah Jalloh, footballer * Musa John Pujeh (Satellite Man), Reggae dancehall singer *Sahr Emmanuel Yambasu, Chief Administrator Pujun District Council *Samuel Harrison Fanday, Journalist of Voice Of Kono Radio 98.0FM

References

{{reflist Populated places in Sierra Leone Eastern Province, Sierra Leone