Bonthe District


Bonthe District is a district comprises several islands and mainland of the Atlantic Ocean in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Bonthe is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Its capital is the town of Mattru Jong and its largest city is Bonthe, on Sherbro Island. As of the 2015 census, the district had a population of 200,730. Bonthe District is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Bonthe District is subdivided into eleven chiefdoms.
The District occupies a total area of 3,468 km². The District of Bonthe borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Moyamba District to the northwest, Bo District to the southeast and Pujehun District to the south. The fifth and current President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio is from Bonthe District.
Bonthe district is largely made up of two main ethnic groups; the Sherbro and Mende. Bonthe district is the native home of the Sherbro people who make up a large minority of the district population. Bonthe district has a large population of both Muslims and Christians.
Bonthe District has one of the world's largest deposits of titanium ore in the world. Sierra Rutile Limited, owned by a consortium of US and European investors, began commercial mining operations in Bonthe in early 1979. Due to poor mining policy, the region has little to show for this huge economic potential.

Demography

Bonthe District is mainly inhabited by the Mende and Sherbro people. The Mende are the largest ethnic group in the district; followed by the Sherbro people.

Government

Bonthe District is divided into two political administrations; the district headquarters town on the Sherbro Island is headed by a Municipal Mayor, and the main land is governed by a district council Chairman based in Mattru Jong. The Bonthe District is headed by the District Council Chairman; he and the Municipal Mayor are the highest local government officials in the district of Bonthe. The District Council Chairman and the Municipal Mayor are responsible for the general management of the district and for seeing that all local laws are enforced. The District Council Chairman is elected directly by the residents of Bonthe District. The current District Council Chairman of Bonthe District Council is Mrs. Rita Savage of the Sierra Leone People's Party. She was elected in a landslide victory in the November, 2012 Sierra Leone local government election.

Members of Parliament

Bonthe District is a stronghold of the Sierra Leone People's Party. In the 2012 Sierra Leone presidential and parliamentary Elections, the SLPP won the majority of the votes in Bonthe District. The party also won all of the three seats in the Sierra Leone Parliament from Bonthe District.
The District has only three Representatives in the Parliament of Sierra Leone, of which all three were elected for a 5-year term in the 2012 Sierra Leone General Elections. The district is a stronghold of the main opposition party, the Sierra Leone People's Party. Below are the list of Representatives in the Sierra Leonean Parliament:
NameParty
Sengepo ThomasSLPP.
Brima ContehSLPP
Kaine P. ThomasSLPP
P.C. KaipomaNon party-allied

Administrative divisions

The district is made up of eleven chiefdoms as the third level of administrative subdivision. Although the headquarters town, Bonthe, is located on Sherbro Island, it is part of neither of the two chiefdoms on the island: Sittia and Dema. Instead, the town is part of the Bonthe Sherbro Municipality, outside of the chiefdom administrative structure.

Chiefdoms

Major towns

The main economic activities include fishing, rice growing and palm oil plantations. Mattru is the main city, located 52 miles southwest of Bo, along the Jong River, which provides access to Sherbro Island and the Atlantic Ocean.

Effects of the civil war

Bonthe district was first among the districts in the Southern Province to undertake voluntary resettlement of internally displaced persons in 1997 among all economic hardship and combatant activities. The District suffered the mass exodus of IDPs when Sierra Rutile Company suffered damage and destruction when attacked by fighting forces in 1995, and during all phases of the war. The company terminated its operations.
Many indigenes, however, believe that the resettlement and rehabilitation activities of IDPs and restart of mining operations will help fast track the recovery process. They believe this could complement government in consolidation of peace and the drive for recovery.