CHAPTER ONE AN INTRODUCTION TO KABALA TOWN.

Kabala was the base for the majority of my fieldwork observations, so I shall sketch its development and present day layout.

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i. The journey to Kabala. On a good run, during the dry season, the 78 mile journey by transit bus from Makeni northwards to Kabala takes some two and a half hours; the terrain swiftly alters from the flat open bolilands of the Makeni plain (*1), to undulating hillsides. Even at the height of the dry season the hills remain green and lush, with only the occasional charcoal blackened hill, a visual feature of slash and burn agriculture, or strangely weather moulded inselberg, to break the pleasant monotony of the verdurous landscape. On the bus itself, no one shows much interest in the passing scenes, although, once in a while, heads may turn to view the swamp rice farms, as the road sweeps across a cultivated valley bottom. These rural scenes form a stark visual contrast to the wide iron grey tarmac road that cuts and sweeps its way to Fadugu, through settlements, which have grown astride the road, that range in size from clusters of four to five traditional grass huts, to small 'towns' of fifty or more rectangular mud brick houses; rusty red clusters of corrugated iron roofs. Along the road, the bus sweeps past the occasional man or woman going to or from their farm and groups of brightly clad primary school children, exercise book and 2B pencil in hand, who scream greetings or abuse at the passing travellers. The drivers seldom feel a need to apply the brake on this section of the journey. Errant sheep or goats are left to make up their own minds as to which direction they plan to leave the road, and it is only when the occasional small herd of unattended cows are encountered that the driver accepts the need for greater caution. The tarmac road, completed in 1980, terminates a quarter of a mile beyond Fadugu, some twenty-five miles short of Kabala. From here on the road is constructed partly of red laterite and partly of earth. It is full of twists and turns, deep bone-bruising potholes and steep bouldered ridges. This part of the journey, in the rainy season is necessarily driven at little more than walking pace. There are few settlements of more than twenty houses along this stretch of the road; and as the scale of the settlements reduces, so does the view! The narrowness and twistiness of the road, necessitates frequent use of the horn, and the increasingly steep hillsides, which seem to draw closer the now more extensive undergrowth, constrict one's view of the country to what lies on the road ahead, and what one has passed. A number of rude wooden bridges are crossed with caution; over-confident drivers are reminded by vociferous passengers of recent fatal accidents. This latter stretch of the journey is seldom completed in under an hour and a half, so it is usually with pleasure and a sense of relief, which passes visibly amongst the passengers, that the overcrowded, and certainly misnamed, 'comfort bus' climbs the last ridge and turns down towards Kabala. The bus halts at the police check point of 'One Mile' just outside Kabala, and conversation, subdued by the painful tedium of the journey, begins again. Limbs are stretched, luggage is checked, children retrieved from helpful companions, and the fare money is collected, amid much protest and complaint. Finally, when all the financial wranglings are settled, the bus completes the last mile, and comes to a halt near the market centre.

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ii) Kabala Kabala, by Sierra Leonean standards, is a largish town. With a total population of about 15,000 people it is probably the tenth largest town in Sierra Leone. (See map 1:1) It is the administrative, commercial, educational, medical, and even the developmental centre for the whole of the Koinadugu district, which is, incidentally, the largest district in the country. There is no other town approaching it in size or importance in the North. However, within three-quarters of an hour, it is possible to wander through all its main sections. As you walk around the pitted laterite roads you realise that the town is largely residential with few shops or 'industries' outside the market and commercial centre. The openness of the town, the presence of many small plots and gardens, and even areas of rice swamp within its confines, the ubiquitous presence of scurrying sheep and goats, and the overlooking greenness of the surrounding hills, reinforce the impression that Kabala is a small urban dot on a very large rural landscape. Historic Kabala is indeed 'ensconced in its cradle of great hills' (*2). The sheer rock-face of a massive inselberg provides a severe and impressive backdrop to any views westward across the rooftops. From the surrounding hills the town has no visible discontinuities, one section of the town appearing much like another. (*3) Apart from the government quarters, residential areas are not clearly defined, although dotted here and there on the outskirts of Kabala, the whitewashed residences of absentee politicians and development workers are easy to recognise. Within the town proper, there is an apparent homogeneity of house-types. There is also an obvious uniformity in the style of dress. (cf. Hjort 1979,48 and passim.) Krio is the lingua franca, and widely spoken, not merely in the market place but also in the home. Nonetheless, the population is, in fact, ethnically heterogeneous. Within the town, are representatives of all the major ethnic groups of Sierra Leone, although the basic pattern of this complex mosaic is made up from members of six ethnic groups: the local Kuranko and Limba, as well as Yalunka, Temne, Mandingo, and Fula. However, Kabala is not simply a melting pot, but provides a small town cosmopolitan arena for the continued expression of certain 'traditional' values, as well as being a focus for social change, 'modernisation' and, to some extent, incorporation. iii. A brief history of the development of Kabala.(*4) Whilst it is possible to trace the history of settlement back to the mid-nineteenth century (*5) the development of Kabala as an administrative and commercial centre stems from around the turn of the century. Harvey notes that even as late as 1895, the year before the British proclamation of the Protectorate over the hinterland of Sierra Leone, Kabala is not shown in Cardew's map of the country's internal trade routes. (map 1:2) (*6) The increasing importance of Kabala appears to be directly linked to the relative decline of the more northerly Yalunka towns of Falaba, Musaia and Sinkunia, which had themselves been flourishing administrative and commercial centres from around 1825. (*7) Their decline in the latter part of the nineteenth century was, in the main, due to two not entirely unrelated factors. Firstly the Sofa wars of the 1880's seriously affected these Yalunka polities. The wars not only disrupted the lucrative caravan trade that formerly ran between the Niger Basin and the north-western coast of Sierra Leone, but more directly resulted in the sacking and burning of the Yalunka towns following military defeats. Secondly the decline of these

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MAP 1:1. Sierra Leone; town size