Yonibana is a small rural town in Tonkolili District

Tonkolili District

Tonkolili District is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Magburaka. The other major towns include Mathora, Magbass, Yonibana and Mile 91...

 in the Northern Province

Northern Province, Sierra Leone

The Northern Province is one of the four provincial divisions of Sierra Leone. It comprises five Districts and covers an area of 35,936 km² and with a population of 1,718,240 . Its administrative and economic center is Makeni...

 of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

. The population of Yonibana is primarily from the Temne ethnic group. The town is best known for being the birthplace of two of Sierra Leone's prominent politicians: Zainab Bangura

Zainab Bangura

Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura is a Sierra Leonean politician and social activist. She is currently Sierra Leone minister of Health and sanitation. In 2007 Bangura became Sierra Leone's foreign minister in the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma of the All People's Congress Party...

 who is currently the country's foreign minister

Foreign minister

A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...

 and Momodu Koroma

Momodu Koroma

Momodu Koroma is a Sierra Leonean politician. He is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party . He became foreign minister in May 2002, as part of a new cabinet appointed following President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah's re-election earlier in the month...

who was the country's foreign minister from 2002 to 2007.

Yonibana is also known for its dynamic and vibrant secret society, "the Poro Society".