Sierra Leone’s Government through the Minister of Local Government and Community Affairs, Tamba Lamina is set to separate several chiefdoms in the provinces due to in-fights and disunity.

Lamina has said they are working on de-amalgamating chiefdoms where he said there is a power struggle and persistent disunity.

Lamina was updating newsmen of his ministry’s activities at the government’s weekly press conference held at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Freetown on 28th May 2024 and made this proclamation.  “The Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs is working on de-amalgamating some chiefdoms, a process that was started on the previous government,” he added.

He described the process of becoming, paramount chief as a “difficult one, which he said is obtained through birthright. He went on to highlight that there are currently twenty-two local councils and 190 chiefdoms across the country, emphasizing the safeguarding and protection of paramount chieftaincy

as one of the entrenched causes in the National Constitution. On the twelve newly-crowned paramount chiefs from different chiefdoms across the country, he described the event as colorful due- to the coronation of two female paramount chiefs. “Chieftaincy is based on the customs and traditions of the locality Where the customs and traditions are, and females can contest for the position Lamina noted how one of the female paramount chiefs from Kova Chiefdom in Yomaba District and the other from Nongoba Bullom Chiefdom in Bonth.

He went on to explain the government salaries of paramount chiefs and chiefdom speakers.  He added their government has also said that  45 paramount chiefs have vehicles and that the remaining paramount chiefs would have theirs after the second consignment of vehicles arrives.

These vehicles he said will be used to facilitate chiefdoms activities.