Imperi Chiefdom Has a new Paramount Chief
By Dadson A. Musa
The long wait is over in a mineral-rich , agriculturally viable and marine-blessed chiefdom in the Bonthe district, south of Sierra Leone. The chiefdom had been run by a female Paramount Chief for 39 years. And in all of these 39 years mining had been going on. The mineral, rutile (titanium dioxide) had supplied European and American markets but the people and land had nothing to show for it. Therefore, there has been desperation for change especially from the ruling house that had dominated chiefdom for decades. So on Saturday, 2nd May, in the chiefdom headquarter town of Gbangbama tribal authorities (TAs) flocked in in their numbers to elect a new paramount chief.
Six candidates contested from five ruling houses (Kpanaboms. Katekpe, Harvey, Korge and Bearbom) and the election went into run-off because non of them could get the mandatory 55%. At first ballot, James Brown Katekpe emerged victorious with Alfred Solomon, son of the late female paramount chief in close second. In the run -off , only a simple majority could determine the winner and not the 55% any more. The run-off went into the night and the voters were determined to effect change in the chiefdom. As the polls closed , theballot boxes wee brought in the open and counting was done in full glare of the chiefdom people. When the counting ended and the administrative protocols were observed, James Brown Katekpe, a headteacher and clergy man emerged as winner with 591 votes while Alfred Solomon, the contender in the run-off got 489. As per security protocol the winner was whisked away by armed police personnel to an undisclosed location.
The election came with huge relief especially for the change of a ruling family. An elder in the chiefdom remarked that the “decades of mining has not in any way reflected positively on the chiefdom and its people due to inept and deft leadership by the past female paramount chief.” She was a stark illiterate who could not read and write and who never questioned what the mining company did but accepted hook line and and sinker what ever the mining company did. Worst still , the mineral deposits at the chiefdom has almost been depleted to the annoyance of especially the chiefdom youths whose future looks bleak One good takeaway from the election as remarked by acting regional electoral commissioner of the south was that “the election was the most peaceful yet in the whole of Sierra Leone.”
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Monday, 11th May 2026 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
