[3] Kailahun is a trade center, and is one of the major towns in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone.

The current chairman of Kailahun district council is Tom Nyuma of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

Nyuma won the July 2008 Sierra Leone local council elections in a landslide with 75% of the vote.

Nyuma replaced fellow SLPP member Augustine Kortu who was the District Council Chairman until July 2008.

The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) television and radio station, are on the air in Kailahun.