Kono District - Government and Politics

Government and Politics

Kono District is governed with a District council form of government, which is headed by a District Council Chairman, who is 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 Kono District in every four years. The Kono District Council Hall located in the district capital Koidu Town, is the official Hall where members of the Kono District Council meet. The current chairman of Kono district council is Finda Diana Konomani of the (All People's Congress) (APC) who was sworn-in on April 21, 2011 after winning the Kono District Council Bye-election. Finda Diana Konomani innauguration at the Koidu Sport Stadium in Koidu Town was attended by president Ernest Bai Koroma and vice president Alhaji Samuel Sam-Sumana. She succeeded Sahr John Yambasu of the All People's Congress (APC) who resigned as Council Charman of Kono District to take over as Sierra Leone Ambassador to Russia.

Kono District is similar to swing states in American politics, as the District is not considered a political stronghold of any political parties in Sierra Leone. This is primarily due to the ethnic diversity of the district's population and the fact that two of Sierra Leone's largest ethnic groups the Mende and Temne do not form a significant portion of the Kono District population . The Kono District representatives in the Parliament of Sierra Leone is about equal between SLPP and APC members. Kono District is a major campaign stops in Sierra Leone Presidential election.

The District has recently lean towards the APC in municipal and local elections held in 2008 and 2011, though the SLPP still maintain strong support in the District. The SLPP previously controlled the Kono District Council local government and the Koidu city council, until 2008 when the APC took control. The SLPP has won Kono District in the last three Sierra Leone Presidential elections held in 1996, 2002 and 2007.

In the 2007 Sierra Leone presidential election, the SLPP presidential candidate Solomon Berewa won the district over the APC candidate Ernest Bai Koroma, despite the fact that Koroma's Vice Presidential candidate Alhaji Samuel Sam-Sumana and Koroma's wife Sia Koroma are both natives of Kono District. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP won the District both in the 1996 and 2002 Sierra Leone Presidential elections.