Other major towns in the district include Newton, Benguema, Leicester, Tombo and Regent.

In October 2009, the Sierra Leone government officially moved the Rural District capital from Freetown to the city of Waterloo, after the completion of the newly built government complex for the rural district council.

The current district council chairman is Joseph Holland Cole of the All People's Congress (APC).

[4] The Western Area Rural District is traditionally a swing district, with about equal support for both of the two main political parties in Sierra Leone, the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) and the All People's Congress (APC).

In the 2018 Sierra Leone Presidential election, Samura Kamara of the APC won 59% of the votes in Western Area Rural District, while Julius Maada Bio of the SLPP received 40% of the votes in the Western Area Rural District.