Koindu

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Koindu
Koindu (Sierra Leone)
Koindu
Koindu
Coordinates 8 ° 28 ′  N , 10 ° 20 ′  W Coordinates: 8 ° 28 ′  N , 10 ° 20 ′  W
Basic data
Country Sierra Leone

province

Eastern Province
District Kailahun
ISO 3166-2 SL-E
Chiefdom Kissi Teng
height 351 m
Residents 16,751 (2013)
politics
mayor Moses F. Foryoh

Koindu is a small town in the east of the African state of Sierra Leone . It is located in the Kailahun District and is 458 km from Freetown and 153 km from Kenema . The state borders with Guinea and Liberia are less than 5 km away. It is just over 1 km to the Mano River .

population

Koindu had 8,238 inhabitants in 1985 and 16,751 inhabitants in 2013. A large part of the population belongs to the West African people Kissi . The majority of the population is of the Muslim faith. The literacy rate is below 50%.

politics

Mayor of Koindu is Moses F. Foryoh. He was elected on April 17, 2014.

The Koindu center is illuminated by solar-based street lighting at night . This has been in operation since July 2013. In addition, parts of the road to Yenga , a village on the border with Guinea and Liberia, are also illuminated by photovoltaic lighting.

economy

In the 1930s an international market was founded in Koindu, which was later operated by the West African Economic Union MRU . This developed into an important hub for goods from West Africa. The location in the triangle of Sierra Leona, Guinea and Liberia favored its development and also enabled cultural exchange. Among other things, fish, fruit, fruit, rice, coffee, cocoa, textiles, diamonds and jewels were traded. During and after the civil war in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002, the economic situation deteriorated fundamentally, and the market only played a subordinate role. The European Union and other international donors are trying to restore the market to its former importance. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) financed the complete overhaul of the Koindu border customs post, which has been in operation since February 2010. The improved relations of Sierra Leone with the neighboring countries are another important prerequisite for improving the economic situation of the city and the surrounding area.

While Sierra Leone is basically rich in different raw materials, only the mining of diamonds plays an important role in the Koindu area . During the civil war, 3,000 children kidnapped by the RUF rebel army were trained and then forced to mine diamonds. The diamonds obtained were mainly used to finance the costs of the war. Only a minority of the population benefits from the profit from today's diamond mining.

Koindu is the seat of the Koindu Community Bank. It was opened in 1978 to handle the financial transactions of traders and farmers and to have a positive influence on the economic development of the city and the surrounding area. Due to the civil war, the bank had to cease operations in March 1991 and could only be reopened after its end.

Agriculture is of great importance and is the livelihood of the majority of the population. It is not infrequently practiced as a subsistence economy . Fishing in the nearby Mano River also plays a role.

Ebola epidemic 2014

In the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak Koindu was severely affected. To combat the epidemic, a treatment center was set up in Koindu, among other places. The first patient to contract Ebola in West Africa in 2013 was a two-year-old child from Meliandou, a village in the Guéckédou prefecture in Guinea which is about 43 km from Koindu.

photos

  • Traditional dance in Koindu

  • Diamond prospectors in Sierra Leone

  • School in Koindu destroyed during the civil war

sons and daughters of the town

Individual evidence

  1. ^ M. Alpha Bah: Fulbe presence in Sierra Leone: a case history of twentieth-century migration and settlement among the Kissi of Koindu . P. Lang, New York 1998, ISBN 978-0-8204-2180-3 . (engl.)
  2. ↑ Albert CT Dupigny, Ibrahim Kargbo G., Alimamy Yallancy: Republic of Sierra Leone, 2004 Population and Housing Census. Analytical Report on Education and Literacy, 2006, pp. 16, 22 (Eng.)
  3. ↑ Awareness Times Newspaper: Sierra Leone News from May 7, 2014: "Moses Foryoh Crowned Koindu Chief" ( Memento of the original from November 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 12, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / news.sl
  4. ↑ Awareness Times Newspaper: Sierra Leone News of July 24, 2013: "God Bless the Kissi People" ( Memento of the original of November 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 12, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / news.sl
  5. ^ Helga Kreutzinger: "Der Markt von Koindu", 1966
  6. ↑ 22nd yearbook of the Heinz Kühn Foundation, p.233 , accessed on October 26, 2014
  7. ^ Sierra Leone: Koindu Border Post Opens Today, February 8, 2010 , accessed October 26, 2014
  8. ↑ Bridget Hynes: " 179 Children of the Borderlands: Young Soldiers in the Reproduction of Warfare " Dissertation at Conflict Resolution Institute, University of Denver, engl., P. 179, accessed October 26, 2014
  9. ^ ESE Leigh: "The Sierra Leone Financial System", 2004, p. 127 and p. 128, accessed on November 1, 2014
  10. ↑ Ebola in West Africa: Epicenter shifts to Sierra-Leone Doctors Without Borders, July 24, 2014 , accessed on October 26, 2014
  11. ↑ Ebola is spreading in West Africa - MSF sends further teams, June 4, 2014 , accessed on October 26, 2014
  12. ↑ Awareness Times Newspaper: Sierra Leone News: Ebola kills 80 in Koindu, August 1, 2014 ( Memento of the original from October 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 26, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / news.sl
  13. ↑ BOBERNER OBERLÄNDER Zeitung: In the village of "Patient Null", October 25, 2014 , accessed on October 26, 2014