Makeni is the largest city in the Northern 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 to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. The city is the capital of Bombali District, and is the

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

center of the Northern Province. Makeni is the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone by population. The city of Makeni had a population of 85,116 in the 2021 census. Makeni lies approximately 110 miles east of

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, e ...

. Makeni is home to the

University of Makeni University of Makeni (formerly known as the Fatima Institute and often known as UNIMAK) is the first private university, private, Catholic, university located in Makeni, Sierra Leone. History It was founded as the Fatima Institute on October 8, ...

, the largest

private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

in Sierra Leone.

Government

The city of Makeni is one of Sierra Leone's six

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

and is governed by a

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, borough counc ...

which is headed by a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

in whom executive authority is vested. The mayor is responsible for the general management of the city and is elected directly by the residents of Makeni in municipal elections held every four years. , the mayor of Makeni is Abubakarr Kamara ("Lamtales") of 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 ...

(APC). Kamara won the June 2023 Makeni mayoral election, garnering 93.38% of the total votes cast. Like most parts of Northern Sierra Leone, Makeni is a reliable

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

stronghold of the ruling

(APC)

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

. The city and the entire Bombali District overwhelmingly support the APC in a large majority in Presidential, Parliamentary, and local councils elections.

Demographics

The population of Makeni is ethnically diverse, though the

Temne people The Temne, also called Atemne, Témené, Temné, Téminè, Temeni, Thaimne, Themne, Thimni, Timené, Timné, Timmani, or Timni, are a West African ethnic group. They are predominantly found in the Northern Province, Sierra Leone, Northern Provin ...

make up the largest ethnic group in the city. The

Krio language The Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio is an English-based creole language that is the 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, ...

is used as the primary language of communication among the different ethnic groups in the city. The population of Makeni is predominantly

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, though with a large

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

minority population in the city. The Wesleyan Methodists are the largest and main

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

in Makeni.

Sport

Like the rest of Sierra Leone,

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

is by far the most popular sport in the city. Makeni is home to one of Sierra Leone's biggest and oldest football clubs called the Wusum Stars. The club plays in the Sierra Leone National Premier League, the top football league in the country. The club represents Makeni and the entire Bombali District. They won the Sierra Leonean FA Cup in 1979. Makeni has also played host to matches of the Sierra Leone National football team's under-17 and under-20 teams at the city's Wusum Sports Stadium.

Media

The local radio station that serves Makeni and the Bombali District is Radio Mankneh 95.1. Sierra Leone's national radio and television stations, SLBC (Sierra Leone Broadcasting Cooperation) are on the air in the city, as well as The

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

CNN International Cable News Network International or CNN International (CNNi, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel and website, owned by CNN Worldwide. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates ...

, and several other private stations are on the air for those who have

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

Education

Like the rest of Sierra Leone, Makeni has an education system with six years of primary school (Class 1–6), and seven years of secondary school (Form 1–7); secondary schools are further divided into Junior secondary school (Form 1-3) and Senior secondary school (Form 4–7). Primary schools usually start from ages 6 to 12, and secondary schools usually start from ages 13 to 18. Primary Education is free and compulsory in government-sponsored public schools. The city is home to the

, the largest

in Sierra Leone. St. Francis Secondary School is also located in Makeni, one of the most prominent secondary schools in Sierra Leone.

Health

Diseases endemic to Makeni are yellow fever and

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

. Healthcare in Makeni is provided by a mix of government, private and

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

(NGOs). The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) shifted to a decentralized health system structure after the end of the civil in war in 2002, in an effort to increase coverage. One regional government hospital and the Holy Spirit Hospital provide most healthcare services, in addition to private clinics. The Holy Spirit Hospital is the largest private hospital in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Traditional medicine forms part of the primary health care system in Makeni. In 2019, the First Responder Coalition of Sierra Leone (FRCSL) was formed in Makeni by five national and international organizations: the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, LFR International, Agency for Rural Community Transformation, the Holy Spirit Hospital of Makeni, and the

. 1,000 community members from Makeni were trained as first responders and equipped with a first aid kit by the Coalition. 4,529 lay first responders were trained in total between July and December 2019, who went on to treat 1,850 patients over the following six months.

Aid from China

In March 2010, the Chinese ambassador to Sierra Leone, Qiu Shaofang traveled to the city on an official visit to donate one 16 kVA generator and nine sewing machines.

Notable people from Makeni

Makeni is the hometown of former Sierra Leone's president

Ernest Bai Koroma Ernest Bai Koroma (born 2 October 1953) is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018. Born and raised in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, Koroma spent more than 24 y ...

, as he was born and raised in the city. Additional notable people from Makeni are: *Abubakarr Kamara (Lamtales) Mayor Makeni City Council (2023-Present) * Brima Koroma, football star * Sylvanus Koroma, the father of Ernest Bai Koroma * Edward Turay, lawyer * Michaela DePrince, international ballerina

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places in Sierra Leone Northern Province, Sierra Leone