Chiefdoms of Sierra Leone

History and organisation

The paramount chiefs and the ruling families in the chiefdoms were recognized and empowered by the British colonial administration when it organized the Protectorate of Sierra Leone in 1896. Typically, chiefs have the power to "raise taxes, control the judicial system, and allocate land, the most important resource in rural areas."

The hereditary paramount chiefs and their sub-chiefs were the sole local government in Sierra Leone until 2004, when the World Bank sponsored the creation of elected local councils. Local notables, known as the Tribal Authority, elect paramount chiefs for life from among the ruling families in each chieftaincy recognized by the British administration in 1896.

Some chieftaincies have several ruling families, and the differences among them in terms of economic progress has been subject to study in 2013. They found there was a positive relationship between the number of ruling families in a chieftaincy and educational, health and economic outcomes in terms of human capital.

The districts of Sierra Leone are divided into 149 chiefdoms of chieftaincies, as listed below as of 2011.