Limba People of Sierra Leone

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Notable Limba people

Siaka Stevens
Joseph Saidu Momoh
Johnny Paul Koroma
Alfred Paolo Conteh
Dauda Sulaiman Kamara
Brima Acha Kamara
Christian Alusine Kamara-Taylor
Joseph Sam Sesay
Ibrahim Ben Kargbo
Samura Kamara
Sorious Samura
Mohamed Lamin Conteh
James Bambay Kamara
Kewullay Conteh
Bockarie Stevens
Victoria Saidu Kamara
Abdul Thompson Conteh
Jongopi Stevens

Total population
566,529 - 8% of Sierra Leone's population [1]
Languages
Limba language
Religion

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History

Members of the Limba tribe believe that they have always lived in Sierra Leone in the Wara Wara mountains and were probably the first rulers of the country. It is believed by some historians that like the Temne, they are descendants of a once-powerful tribe coming from Fouta Djallon during the 12th century. They were also brilliant scholars and philosophers brought their knowledge of agriculture and trade with them and with that built a society based on this sole ideal: If you work and respect the land properly then you are worthy to enjoy the fruits of your labor. During the colonial era of Sierra Leone, many Limba people were captured and sold at Bunce Island as slaves to the Americas through the Atlantic slave trade. To escape this, many Limba people traveled to the capital city of Freetown and the Western area and as a result, most Limba are located in these places.
Culture

The Limba consider themselves to be a mountain people and have at points in their history found themselves pushed into the mountains particularly during the periods of Susu expansionism. Historically, they also had to fight off incursions from the Fula and the Mandingo. The Limba take pride in their unique language which differs from the other languages spoken in Sierra Leone. As a result, Limbas strive to be very articulate with their vocabulary as a way of sticking out among the rest. They are mostly rice farmers, palm wine brewers and stone builders. They have names similar to the Temne people. They also have a past and current interest in politics, for example Siaka Stevens as the first president of Sierra Leone from 1971-1985, Christian Alusine Karamara-Taylor as a founding member of the All People's Congress and Paolo Conteh, the current defence minister and Eric Dura Sesay as the Bombali district chairman.According to folklore, Limbas make excellent political leaders because they are descendants of the original rulers of Sierra Leone. The Limba's main sport of interest is soccer which is quite common amongst nations in West Africa. Some popular Limba soccer players are Lamin Conteh and Saidu Tibati Kanu. The Limba have a spiritual home called Kakoia and they believe all Limbas return to the mountain through the town beyond a "door" through the rock. They also have a folklore about spirits called Krifi but information about this is limited.
Religion and spiritual beliefs
Christianity

The Limba in the southern province are mostly influenced by Christianity. Portuguese Christian missionary efforts began before the Protestant Reformation but had no lasting effects on the Temne. The Protestant presence accompanied the founding of Freetown in the late eighteenth century; Church Missionary Society representatives were active up the Rokel River and elsewhere in Temne country throughout the nineteenth century. In the 1890s the Soudna Mission was the first American mission in the Temne area; American Wesleyans and the Evangelical United Brethren subsequently joined the field. Today, 65% of Limba are followers of Christianity.
Islam

The Limba in the Northern Province are somewhat influenced by Islam. Muslim contacts probably go back several centuries, and fifteenth-century Portuguese were cognizant of Muslim peoples. Early traders, holy men, and warriors brought Islam into the Temne area from the north by the Susu and northeast by the Fula and Mandinka. Through the nineteenth century, as the volume of trade grew, Muslim influences increased; in the late twentieth century a significant proportion of Temne claim to be Muslim converts.

Although 30% of Limba have converted to Islam, they still practice their traditional religion, as well.
Notable Limbas
Politicians

Almamy Suluku, powerful Limba ruler who maintained his independence as long as possible through brilliant political strategy during colonial era. (Kamabai - Northern Province)
Siaka Stevens, president of Sierra Leone from 1971-1985
Joseph Saidu Momoh, president of Sierra Leone from 1985-1992
Christian Alusine Kamara-Taylor, Sierra Leonean politician and one of the founding members * Johnny Paul Koroma, Head of State of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998
Brima Acha Kamara, the current Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP).
Alfred Paolo Conteh, Current Sierra Leone's Minister of Defence
Dauda Sulaiman Kamara, current Sierra Leone's minister of Internal Affairs Minister and Rural Development
Moses Musa Sesay, Current mayor of Makeni
Kandeh Baba Conteh, Sierra Leonean politician and leader of the Peace and Liberation Party (PLP)
Almamy Kosay Dura, Prominent chief in the town of Binkolo

Notable people

Lamin Conteh, footballer
Abdul Thompson Conteh, footballer
Kewullay Conteh, footballer

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The All People's Congress is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other is the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). The party was founded in 1960 by a breakaway group from the Sierra Leone People's Party who vehemently opposed the idea of election before independence, but instead supported the idea of independence before elections., the All People's Congress (APC),was formed at 5,Elba Street,Freetown, and they consisted of the late Alhaji Chief Mucktarru Kallay, First Chairman and Leader and who gave the name and the symbol. Allieu Badarr Koroma, Deputy Chairman, C.A. Kamara-Taylor, First Secretary General, Alhaji Sheik Gibril Sesay,Treasurer, Kawusu Konte, Organiser, S A T Koroma, Public Relations,Kotor AbuBakarr S Bangura, The Artist, drawings of the Symbol, first seventh and later add six to thirteen, may their souls rest in perfect peace and bliss. these were the first seven and founders members of the All Peoples Congress Party.The next Members are Siaka probyn Stevens, Nancy Steele, S.I.Koroma, Bob Allen, Mohamed Bash-Taqui and Ibrahim Bash-Taqui. Sir. Albert Margai who would later return to the SLPP and become Prime Minister, and Siaka P. Stevens who would also later become Prime Minister and subsequently President of Sierra Leone. The APC governed the country from 1968 to 1992, and became the ruling party again in 2007, after the party presidential candidate Ernest Bai Koroma won the 2007 Sierra Leone presidential election.
Overview

Following a heavily manipulated plebiscite in 1978, the APC became the sole legal party in the country, a status it retained until 1991. Former presidents Siaka Stevens and Joseph Saidu Momoh were members of the APC. Momoh was overthrown in a military coup in 1992, and during the long civil war that followed, the party was severely weakened.

In the parliamentary election held on 14 May 2002, the party won 19.8% of popular votes and 22 out of 112 seats. Its candidate in the presidential elections, Ernest Bai Koroma, won 22.3% of the vote; he was defeated by Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

For several years Koroma's leadership was challenged by some in the party, who took the issue to court; the dispute was said to be resolved in April 2007, with Koroma being accepted by party dissidents as the party's leader ahead of the 2007 election.[1][2] He is the party's candidate for president in the election, the first round of which was held in August 2007. In the first round he took first place with 44.3% of the vote, ahead of Solomon Berewa of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) with 38.3%, but did not receive enough votes to win outright, and a second round was necessary. In the parliamentary election, held concurrently with the presidential first round, the APC won 59 out of 112 seats and became the largest party in Parliament.[3]

Koroma was victorious in the second round of the 2007 presidential election, held on September 8, winning 54.6% of the vote against 45.4% for Berewa.[4][5] He was sworn in as President on September 17.[6]

APC has traditionally been based amongst the Temne and Limba people in the north.[citation needed] (History of the APC)www.awoko newspaper, September 07, 2007.( Late Siaka Probyn Stevens joined the APC today in 24Th September, 1960) We Yone newspaper, September 24, 2010

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The People & Culture »

Today, there are at least 17 ethnic groups in the country. These groups have been divided into three language categories – Mande, Mel and Others. The Mende, Vai/ Gallinas, Kono, Loko, Koranko, Soso, Yalunka and Mandingo belong to the Mande. The Temne, Bullum/ Sherbro, Kissi, Gola, and Krim form part of the Mel group. The Others are Limba, Fula, Krio and Kru. The two largest communities are the Mende and Temne, each accounting for about 31 percent of the population.

The Mende, who are believed to be descendants of the Mane, were originally in the Liberian hinterland. They began moving into Sierra Leone slowly and peacefully in the eighteenth century. The Temne claim to have come from Futa Jallon, which is in present-day Guinea. The Limba are the third largest and one of the oldest communities in Sierra Leone. They have no tradition of origin and maintain that they have always lived in Sierra Leone. It is believed that their settlement was around the Wara Wara hills in the northern interior. The Vai and the Kono are related people who split up some time ago. Oral tradition states that there was shortage of salt in Konosu, the original home of the Vai and the Kono, which is somewhere in present-day Guinea. The people therefore decided to set out en masse in search of salt water. After travelling for many months, some of them got tired and decided to settle in approximately the present Kono homeland. The Loko are akin to the Gbandi of Liberia and the Mende. It is believed that the Loko were offshoots of a Mane expeditionary force sent against one of the defected Mane viceroys in the 1550s. The Koranko are related to the Mandingo. They are believed to have began arriving in Sierra Leone from Guinea in about 1600. The Soso and the Yalunka are a branch of the same people. Soso and Yalunka tradition maintains that they arrived in Futa Jallon some time after the Temne and Baga had created a powerful state to the east of Futa. As a result of the increase in population, the Soso began to spread out into north-western Sierra Leone in about the seventeenth Century. The Bullum are among the oldest inhabitants on the Sierra Leone coast. They were invaded by the Mane warriors in the Sixteenth century who in the process “cut the Bullum tribe into two parts”. The northern branch were assimilated by the Temne and the Soso. The Southern branch came to be known as Sherbro, a name which was derived from Sherabola, a Mane viceroy who imposed his rule on them towards the end of the Sixteenth century. The Krim are a coastal people akin to the Sherbro and live to the south- east of the Sherbro. The Gola, the majority of whom live in the Liberian hinterland, are also among the earliest inhabitants of Sierra Leone. They occupy some land east of the Gallinas on the present-day Guinea. The Kissi say they migrated from upper Niger before the fifteenth cenutry. They were attacked by the Koranko who pushed them towards the eastern border with present-day Guinea. The Mandingo and the Fula began arriving in Sierra Leone in the seventeenth century. The first immigrants were mostly traders and Islamic teachers. the Mandingo came mainly from the Sankaran region in Guinea while the Fula came from Futa Jallon and Senegal. They subsequently settled in various parts of the country. The Krio community, who largely inhabit the Western Area, came into being in the mid-nineteenth century as a result of the integration of such disparate groups as the Original Settlers, Nova Scotians, Maroons, Recaptives and immigrants from the Sierra Leone hinterland. The Kru began arriving in the Sierra Leone colony from Liberia in the 1790s. They were mostly seamen. As their numbers increased, land was acquired for them near the shore beyond Sanders Brook in the west end of Freetown.

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The Limba of Sierra Leone have a population of 442,000. They are part of the Atlantic people cluster. The global population of this people group is 443,500. Their primary language is West-Central Limba - (lia). The primary religion practiced by the Limba is ethnic religion. Ethnic religion is deeply rooted in a peoples ethnic identity and conversion essentially equates to cultural assimilation. Their GSEC status is 2, which means this people group is less than 2% evangelical but there has been initial or concentrated church planting among them within the past two years.

Bible Translations: Available

Jesus Film: Available

Gospel Recordings: Available

Radio Broadcast: Not Available

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National Secretary General of ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) Youth League has said it is when politicians fail because of their unpopularity that they resort to tribalism to buy support and sympathies.APC’s Comrade Alie Conteh who is bonafide Limba from Tonko Limba chiefdom in Kambia district spoke to Awareness Times yesterday May 1st 2013 in Freetown in order to deny reports that ahead of today’s APC National Delegates Convention, a rebellion is being planned by Limbas in order to divide APC for allegedly sidelining the Limbas from various leadership positions within the APC.



According to Conteh, “the APC is a party of inclusion in which all tribes, all ages and all gender are respected whilst Limbas have no problems with any other tribe including Temnes”.



“How many Limbas are complaining of tribal exclusion inside APC? Who are these unknown persons wanting to rebel in name of my law-abiding, peaceful Limba people? Do they exist outside imagination of unpopular politicians & journalists they’ve hired?dentify them please so we know they exist,” Conteh confidently said as he dismissed the reports as “the work of frustrated politicians who having failed to convince others to choose them, now want to play the tribal card”.



Mr. Conteh said he was moved to react to end the wish of ill-motivated people claiming to be APC members but trying to use tribal sentiment to bring division into the well organized and structured APC Party. He furthered that, at the newly constituted Youth League there is no tribal thinking but competency.



“Out of the entire 20 key executive positions in the APC Youth League, nine are held by Limbas of which I, a Limba man born of a Limba mother and a Limba father in a Limba chiefdom, hold the position of Secretary-General. So what’s the fuss over choice of a Temne man like Bai Mahmoud Bangura as National Youth Leader?” he queried



Furthermore, on the issue of regional and district heads of the APC, he said such heads are elected or selected due to competency, capability, ability to work as a team and propagate the ideologies of the party for the entire good of Sierra Leone.



“All the district and regional heads are well known in their areas and have worked tremendously well for the good of the party and Sierra Leone,” Conteh said.



He said the APC Chairman and Leader, President Ernest Koroma, is a man of, for and by the people and as such, he seeks the interest of all devoid of tribal affiliation or orientation, adding that, in all current government positions will be found a mixture of all tribes, all gender and all ages which has seen all tribes including Limbas holding key positions in governance.



He noted that, no single tribe can rule a country so people should stop preaching tribalism in politics and let their works speak for them.



“Let them show their competency, capability and ability to do what they want to use tribalism to achieve. When we were being formed as humans, we did not beg God to put us into the womb of a particular tribe or a country, it was his wish that we belong to a certain tribe and country so we should not use that to score political goals. Let our works speak for us”, he said, adding that, the President was re-elected due to his previous hard works and not because he is a Temne or a Limba.



To Limba Development Organization (LDO), he advised they should not allow selfish politicians to use them but should work within objectives of the LDO. He also advised politicians belonging to LDO to use their political know-how to reach intended political destination and leave the organization to operate as an independent NGO as it was against this backdrop that the organization was formed.



He also frowned at some independent media houses allowing themselves to be misused by ill-fated politicians. For the pro-SLPP and pro-opposition media, he smirked that they spent five years accusing the APC of being a Limba man party only for them to now say it is a Temne man party.



“SLPP propagandists are confused but let me tell them that Limbas are a united force in and out of politics.There is no political divide within the Limbas as a group. We also do not have problems with Temnes or any other tribes. We are a peaceful and law-abiding group of Sierra Leoneans. Finally, let me assure that there is absolutely no political divide inside APC,” Alie Conteh ended.

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The third largest ethno-linguistic group in Sierra Leone who today occupy a wishbone-shaped territory in the north-west of the country. They have no traditions of migration and appear to have been settled in the interior of Sierra Leone as early as the 16th century. Until recently they have been one of the groups least affected by colonial and post-colonial development and they have a reputation for conservativism. Their distinctive cultural traditions remain relatively intact.

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