Kalangba

Kalangba Ngangba, (in Loko)
Country	Sierra Leone
Province	Northern Province
District	Bombali District
Chiefdom	Gbendembu Ngowahun
Time zone	GMT (UTC+0)

Kalangba is the chiefdom seat town in the Gbendembu Ngowahun Chiefdom (an amalgamated Chiefdom), in the Bombali District, Northern Province of Sierra Leone. It is located about 15 miles north west of Makeni, Sierra Leone's Northern provincial city. Kalangba is a multicultural settlement with significant number of Loko, Fula and Mandingo. The people of Kalangba are primarily the Loko community, the fifth largest ethnic group in Sierra Leone, who are believed to have originated from Liberia. The name Kalangba has its origin from its founder, a fisherman known as Pa Ngangba. The British colonial administrators could not pronounce Ngangba well and so they called it Kalangba. Pa Ngangba was a member of the Loko tribesmen and used to fish along the waters of Manqwa, the name of a stream with literal meaning “if we cut ourselves” running through what is today known as Kalangba (or "Ngangba" in Loko).

Pa Ngangba’s comrade Pa Cigolo (Cigolo meant “spider” in Loko) settled on the other side of the town now used as a cemetery. A nearby settlement known as “Makambie” founded by a warrior called Kambie was merged with Kalangba. According to oral tradition, it is believed that prominent men of the slave era like Gumbu Smart and Bai Bureh (the hut tax hero) came from this humble town of Kalangba.

The inhabitants are mostly engaged in unsustainable livelihood activities - agriculture, fishing and hunting - for sustenance. The town lacks most of the basic needs and services required for modern settlements. However, Kalangba has a Junior Secondary School and a Primary health center that serves the community and the peripheral villages. Kalangba also has two elementary schools, one founded by the American Wesleyan Mission in the late forties and the other by the Sierra Leone Muslim Brotherhood in the late seventies.

It is a very religious community with converts and traditional Christians and Muslims. The town has a majestic structure imposingly located at the center of the town, the Wesleyan Church with a capacity to host more than five hundred people. There is also a Baptist church and two Mosques.