Sheku Sheriff's Blog

Wesley School Segbwema Celebrates Diamond Jubilee

2023-02-22T20:57:00.029-06:00

Wesley Secondary School Segbwema is celebrating its Diamond Jubilee in Segbwema from March 15-19, 2023.

Wesley Secondary School Segbwema was established in 1962 by the Methodist Mission in the Eastern Region of Sierra Leone. It was one of the institutions of higher learning established in post independent Sierra Leone, just a year after the country's independence. The goal was to reduce the educational disparity between the eastern region of the country and other regions closer to the capital Freetown.

Rev KPG Conteh Late Principal of Wesley

The foundation stone of the current main school building was laid in 1963 by the Minister of Education Hon. Maigore Kallon. Wesley is located in Kabalahun, the most elevated suburb of Segbwema. It is an area of pristine beauty and because of its remote location, students are able to learn in a quiet environment away from the hubbub of the central part of the town.

In the relatively short history of the school, the institution has produced some remarkable men and women who have contributed greatly to the progress of the region and are also playing crucial roles in vital institutions all across the country.

Wesley has produced students who have gone on to become lawyers, businessmen, doctors, contractors, doctors, politicians, engineers, educators, magistrates, musicians, health care workers, civil servants and much more.

Wesley alumni have excelled in UN, the World Bank, and are employed in many institutions around the world. Many schools in Sierra Leone and colleges in the country have benefitted from having Wesley alumni as educators or administrators.

Wesley's history of excellence is remarkable given its relatively short history. Though just 60 years old, Wesley stands tall among schools in the Eastern region of Sierra Leone.

This 2023, the old students of the school have decided to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of their great school by organizing a Diamond Jubilee celebration from March 15 to the. 19th. The goal is both to celebrate the school's remarkable legacy of excellence and to restart plans for the construction of a multi-purpose building in the school.

Wesley Old Students Association (WOSA), the school's alumni organization, has been challenged by the school board and administration to organize the jubilee festivities. The WOSA executive, led by the enthusiastic Chairman Owen Kaicombey is busy organizing a school celebration the likes of which has never been seen in Kailahun district. The school alumni all over the world are fired up!

One of the great dividends of this celebration is the resurgence of the initial enthusiasm that led to the formation of WOSA.

Alumni associations all over the world are crucial the any academic organization's progress. Most alumni have fond memories of school days and lived experiences that tug at their emotional heartstrings and this develop goodwill towards the institutions that shape their formative years.

Alumni associations all over the world are crucial for academic institutions. They can assist in fundraising for schools, help students belong to a crucial network that they could rely on for progress, help publicize the school and its brand and also help the current students meet people who have gone through their current struggles and thus become more motivated to persevere.

As Wesley celebrates this golden Jubilee, we are urging every old student to join this celebration. You are who you are today because you went to a great school and made use of the facilities it provided you to become a better version of yourself. So come on board.

Climate Change and future impact on Freetown

2022-11-01T00:26:00.003-05:00

We can no longer deny the impact global warming and climate change on the well-being of humanity. Even where the causes of climate change and global warming have become the subject of much scientific and political controversy, the fact is that during the past few years, one annual heat record after the other has been broken and there seems to be no relief in sight.

Last year, heat waves in Africa, America, Europe and Asia led to scores of deaths in many countries. Flooding in Pakistan and Nigeria buried whole regions of these countries under water. Persistent drought in the USA brought the great Mississippi to historically low levels. People in areas in the Horn of Africa are once again faced with the threat of massive starvation.

From Africa to America, Europe to Asia and even in the arctic regions, drought, wildfires and floods are becoming a disturbing common occurrence. Persistent heat and the lack of rainfall in many areas have reduced the water level and surface areas of many rivers and major lakes around the world. In coastal areas, the heat is bringing rising sea levels, accelerated by the melting of the polar ice caps. In other areas protracted periods of drought is being experienced.

Last year in the United States of America, the Great salt lake in Utah was reduced to a mere 950 sq miles from its original size 3300 sq miles. In context the lake was 29% of its original size!. The Salton Sea lake in California was reduced from an area of 363 sq miles to 321 sq miles in 2022.

Great Salt Lake. ( Pixabay)

October 2022 drought conditions in the regions bordering the Mississippi reduced the depth of the fourth longest river in the world to historically low levels.

Lake Mead, the biggest artificial reservoir in the United States provides water to millions of people living in Arizona, Nevada and California. Lake Mead receives water from the Colorado River which for the past decade has been experiencing drought. Last year Lake Mead lost 30% of its volume.

In April 2022 temperatures in Antarctica and the Arctic were 47°C and 30°C above normal respectively. Melting of the polar ice caps, releasing huge volumes of water into the oceans portends serious challenges for coastal cities in the near future.

Many of the capital and primary commercial cities in West Africa grew from coastal settlements.

Freetown in Sierra Leone, Monrovia in Liberia, Abidjan in Côte D'Ivoire, Banjul in the Gambia, Dakar in Senegal, Conakry in Guinea, to name but a few, are all coastal cities bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Most of these cities developed around trade between these countries and Europe. Today, many of these cities are facing existential crises due to rising sea levels.

Freetown, Sierra Leone (Sheku Sheriff)

A 2019 World Bank report estimated that about 56% of the coastlines in Benin, Cote D'ivoire, and Senegal were eroding, with the situation only expected to worsen in the future. Much of the erosion was attributed to the direct result of rising sea levels. In many areas, salt water intrusion was contaminating inland rivers people relied upon on for drinking.

In Sierra Leone, from Freetown to Kailahun, climate change is gradually changing the geography of many areas of the country. Areas that were once known for lush vegetation are now resembling the borders of the Sahel, with trees replaced by shrubs and elephant grass.

According to a report by Abdul Brima, the West African Regional Editor for China Dialogue, the rising sea levels around Sierra Leone was leading to the loss of entire communities in the country, including some culturally significant sites. He states that people were being forced to relocate and many were losing their livelihoods. In Sierra Leone, the harvesting of mangrove for firewood, unregulated sand mining and coastal urbanization was accelerating the reclamation of areas that were once habitable by the sea.

Last year, I took a trip to Sierra Leone, to my hometown Segbwema. Growing up in the 80s in Segbwema, the river Nyeya ran through the town, roughly dividing it into two almost equal halves The river was the main source of drinking water for half the inhabitants of the town. On my visit last year, the river was gone, replaced by a small stream surrounded by dry swampland. It was such a pitiful sight, as many of our youthful memories were tied to adventures along the banks of that river.

In Minnesota USA, even though 2023 saw record amount of snow fall, the winters have been getting warmer over the past decade.

Mild winters may pose a greater danger to the world than many people imagine. This is because cold winters do help to keep the polar ice caps intact. However, mild winters may not allow the previous year's melt to freeze, accelerating rising sea levels.

In Freetown, Sierra Leone, many coastal regions like Kru Bay, Black Johnson Beach, John Obey Beach, to name but a few, are low lying coastal settlements. If current temperature trends continue, the Sierra Leone authorities need to have a serious dialogue with the inhabitants of these settlements with a strong emphasis on relocation.

In Sierra Leone, both the people and successive governments tend to be reactive. During the present decade in Sierra Leone, flooding and mudslides have already claimed hundreds of lives in Freetown. If global warming persists, these incidents are bound to occur with increasing frequency.

In a recent session with a very important political figure, the question was asked as to whether there was any plan to convince the people living in the at-risk coastal slum areas of Freetown to either move, or whether there was any plan for their relocation. The answer was that the people around these areas were very stubborn and will defy any ordered relocation.

However, if the current trends continue however, the Sierra Leone government may either have to force the evacuation of these areas, or risk significant loss of lives in these areas.

Most of the people in these settlements are blissfully unaware of the threats to their existence of rising sea levels and all major political entities in the country have to be engaged in plans to deal with the potential menace.

As most actions in Sierra Leone are viewed through political lenses, many of the major political players in the country have to be convinced of the seriousness of the threat for people to take the risks of rising sea levels seriously. However, this is going to be difficult, as Sierra Leone politicians are committed to scoring points against one another and would rather blame to the other for a tragedy than dialogue to prevent one.

Tackling the impact of rising sea levels may be difficult without significant international support, but if no action is taken now, the future of the people living along the coastal low lying areas of Freetown and other coastal settlement will be very challenging. Lives are at risk.

COVID-19 Preparedness in Sierra Leone

2020-03-20T04:17:00.000-05:00

As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy. In Sierra Leone, the Julius Maada Bio led government has been very eager to prevent a repeat of the 2014 health care crisis in the country that caught national and regional leaders flat-footed, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives.

President Bio

During the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, the country’s health care system almost collapsed under the weight of the unprecedented demand for medical services. The Ebola crisis was only brought under control as a result of the massive direct international response by many foreign health personnel, immense personal sacrifice by local health care workers and a change in the disease response strategy on the part of the country’s leadership. The Ebola debacle led to the dismissal of the Health Minister at the time and the appointment of the Defense Minister to head the Ebola response.

Paolo Conteh

With the current covid-19 epidemic wreaking havoc in countries with more advanced health care systems, President Bio, who has recently faced criticism by members of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) for frequent international travels, has stayed in the country over the last few months and taken the lead role in planning a systematic response to covid-19, were it ever to enter the country.

Primarily, the government’s effort has been geared towards developing systems that would prevent the introduction and spread of covid-19 in the country.

A few weeks ago, the President visited the country’s border posts and urged authorities at these posts to be vigilant in screening land travelers using border crossings in order to prevent cross country spread of the disease. He also assured them of his support and reminded them of the last Ebola experience, a repeat of which was to be prevented for the good of all.

Having resuscitated the domestic football league that was suspended under the previous Ernest Koroma led government, the Sierra Leone Football Association has been instructed to take the dramatic step of suspending all football activities in the country, even though there has yet to be a single case of covid-19 reported in the country.

In a move that caught even his most ardent supporters by surprise, the President this week invited members of the former Ebola response group that was then headed by some of his most bitter political rivals to a consultative meeting. The meeting was to discuss a national response to a potential covid-19 crisis. The Ebola group included Rtd Major Paolo Conteh, under whose leadership the Ebola crisis response became more structured. Paolo is however regarded by many in the country as one of the individuals who epitomized the insane level of official corruption that came to define the Ernest Koroma administration.

The invitation of Paolo Conteh to State House by the President created some disquiet among ruling party supporters and other observers, with some stating that members of the opposition APC have done everything possible to stymie development initiatives in the country, just because they were not in power. Some also believe that inviting Paolo would undermine the fight against public corruption and send a negative signal that those accused of pillaging state funds would go scot free.

However, those close to the President state that with covid-19 being potentially a national crisis that could affect many individuals regardless of party affiliation, it was prudent for all who had experience in managing crises of this sort to be consulted. They opined that if APC had involved all political stakeholders im the country during the fight against Ebola, possibly, the consequences might not have been so catastrophic. As President of Sierra Leone, Maada Bio, they argue, was focusing on more on national than political interest.

In other news, flights to the country are to be suspended from Saturday March 21st, in line with the response of other countries in the region. Visitors from countries with known covid-19 infections are being quarantined at Lungi airport, though the quarantine process has been criticized for inadequate planning. The authorities are also discouraging congregation of large groups around the country.

Sheku Sheriff

Knowing More about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

2020-03-20T01:46:00.001-05:00

The fight against the current coronavirus pandemic around the world is being complicated by the sheer amount of disinformation being spread on social media platforms.

In countries where people are not very skilled at distinguishing between good and bad information on these platforms, or where the public authorities are not being vigilant about educating their populations about the true nature of covid-19 infections, there is the risk of people being misled by the preponderance of false information, potentially resulting in very negative consequences.

Fortunately, communities eager to educate their people about the epidemic have some very reliable sources of information. Two excellent sources of information about the coronavirus epidemic are the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC reports that some people with the covid-19 infection have suffered only mild symptoms, whilst others have had very severe symptoms. For some of the more unfortunate individuals the disease has been fatal. The organization therefore offered some guidelines for public education.

According to the CDC, the following symptoms may manifest themselves in an individual about 2-14 days after being exposed to the virus:

Fever
Cough
Shortness of breath

The CDC also advises that if an individual develops difficulty breathing, or there is persistent pain or pressure in the chest, or the person becomes confused or unresponsive, or the lip or face changes color, medical attention should be sought immediately.

In order for individuals to protect themselves and those around them, it is recommended that the following be done:

Handwashing: Frequent and proper handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is recommended anytime you come home, blow your nose, cough or sneeze. If soap is not available, an alcohol based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol is to be used. Also avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth if your hands are unwashed.
Avoiding Close Contact: Individuals are encouraged to avoid close contact with people who are sick and not going very close to others in areas where there is know outbreak of the infection.
Cleaning and disinfecting: Frequently touched surfaces such as doors, switches, table tops, fridges, toilets, etc., should be frequently cleaned and disinfected.
Staying Home when Sick: Individuals who are sick are encouraged to stay home, avoid using public transportation and maintain distance with family members until tested. They are also encouraged not to share utensils. Theu should avoid public transportation and get in touch with the doctors or contact a clinic. They should also have a face mask if available.

Here in Minnesota there has been 3038 tests with 89 confirmed cases and 24 recoveries as of March 19, 2020. Because of the shortage of testing kits in the state, only people experiencing severe symptoms, vulnerable groups and health care workers are currently being tested.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday March 19, 2020 Minnesota Governor Tim Walz stated that he is not yet ready to order a shutdown of the state as other areas are doing. As of now, Minnesotans are stocking up on supplies of essentials. Some retailers are raising workers pay to encourage them to come to work and Amazon is currently hiring at its distribution facility in the state.

Sheku Sheriff.

COVID-19: Our Own Pandemic

2020-03-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

The Covid-19 outbreak becomes the first truly global flu pandemic of our own lifetime.

As of today, March 17, 2020, there has been 198,373 reported cases around the world with 7,981 deaths and 82,763 recoveries.

China, from which the first cases of the virus were reported, currently stands at 80,894 reported cases with 3,237 deaths, followed by Italy, with 31,506 cases and 2,503 deaths. China quickly adopted very stringent control and quarantine measures when the infection initially became publicized, and they seem to have gotten the disease under control, with only 13 new cases reported, while Italy seems to still be struggling, with 3526 reported new infections.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Iran, Spain and Germany round up the top five high infection countries, with South Korea, France and USA following behind.

In USA, the current number of infections stand at 6,482, including 1819 cases and 111 deaths. In our state Minnesota, the current number of cases officially reported by the department of health is 60, all active. It was reported this afternoon that health care workers are now among those infected, and the state government has created new testing criteria that would limit the number of tests given, due to a shortage of coronavirus test kits in Minnesota, according to local news channels and the health department.

Earlier today, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) circulated a letter instructing health care providers in the state to focus coronavirus tests on specimens with the highest priority, namely those from hospitalized patients, health care workers and people living in settings such as nursing homes, assisted living and other similar facilities.

As of Tuesday about 2,336 people have been tested in Minnesota. In neighboring Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reports 72 positive cases with 1038 negative tests so far.

In Minnesota, 13 counties have now reported positive coronavirus cases including the two most populous counties of Hennepin and Ramsey which are home to the state capital St. Paul and the neighboring twin city of Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Department of Health has advised all residents being evaluated for COVID-19 to practice self isolation and self monitoring.

Self isolation guidelines involve; staying at home, separating yourselves from other inhabitants in the home-including the use of separate bathrooms, wearing face masks, not sharing household items and washing hands frequently with soap and water or using an alcohol based hand sanitizer.

Self monitoring involves checking yourself for worsening symptoms, which include having increased difficulty breathing or developing shortness of breath. The state advises those who are having severe symptoms to call 911 for immediate emergency medical attention.

Long-term care facilities in the state have also been instructed to develop stringent measures to prevent potential acquisition and spread, as the population of these facilities comprise mainly the elderly, the population of individuals most vulnerable to COVID-19. Some facilities have already entirely prohibited visitors and staff are monitored daily before they are allowed access to their work sites.

With the increasing number of cases in the country and the seriousness with which the disease is now being taken by President Trump, more people are now taking the outbreak seriously. Dire warnings from national health experts cautioning that if Americans do not modify their ways of life, significant numbers of cases and fatalities could result, have also motivated the change in public behavior.

Stores in our Saint Paul neighborhood are quickly running out of supplies of crucial items like canned foods, cereals, and sanitary supplies, which are quickly picked up by anxious shoppers, as soon as they are stocked. Paper towels, toilet tissues and hand sanitizers are now precious commodities in our neighborhood.

Last evening, I visited the local Midway Target and couldn't find a single roll of toilet tissue or paper towel, but was met with rows of empty shelves in the aisles that usually carry the items. There were also very little household cleaning items, with rows and rows of aisles standing eerily empty.

This evening I had no luck at my local Aldi's, where canned food items were being rationed to 4 cans per household per day. State resident being advised to give early morning shopping hours preference to elderly people, in order to prevent them coming in contact with large crowds.

For a country in which we are always on guard about violations to our freedoms and rights, the coronavirus is making even the most intransigent listen very keenly and comply willingly with directives from the state leadership and national leadership. The coronavirus is bringing the rare feeling of we are all in this together.

Sheku Sheriff

Segbwema Blogger

Debit vs Credit Cards: Which is Better to Use?

2019-11-06T22:55:00.003-06:00

A debit card is issued by your financial institution, allowing you to make charges against your deposit. If you have a thousand dollars in your checking account, your debit card allows you to pay for goods and services up to the thousand dollars you have in deposits. Your bank or debit card issuer may allow you to spend more than the thousand dollars deposited and impose overdraft fees. Fortunately, overdraft charges are no longer automatic, individuals have to opt in as a legal requirement.

A credit card on the other hand is issued by lenders and allows the holder to pay for goods and services up to the limit determined by the lender; the credit limit. Credit cards are issued based on the basis of creditworthiness and in most cases have no relationship to the money the card holder has saved, with the exception of secured credit cards. Secured credit cards are issued against your savings in a bank and are issued to help the holder develop a credit history. With a secured credit card you are loaned and pay interest on your own money.

Both debit and credit cards have their advantages and disadvantages. Different financial advisers may give opposing advice regarding the use of both. Comparing the two, debit cards represent income you own and use. Therefore, you pay no interest and incur no liability when you use a debit card, as the income you are using is yours. With credit cards from companies like Capital One, HSBC, or American Express, they are loans from these financial institutions to the card holder. The card holder has a liability to pay both the amount charged on the card and any monthly interest accruing on unpaid balances. These interests, commonly known as APR, may be very high in the cases of people with bad credit. Some credit card companies not only charge interest on the credit card loans, but users may pay annual fees many other associated fees. One typical example of a really bad credit card is the Continental Finance Mastercard which provides cards to people with bad credit. This card charges a $200.00 finance fee upfront, a $50.00 annual fee, a $12 monthly account fee and a $25.00 fee for credit line increases. Unfortunately, these are some of the options available to people with very bad credit.

So, which is better to use, a debit card or a credit card? As debit cards involve the use of money that is yours, some financial advisers encourage their use and discourage the use of credit cards. Credit card interests, they argue, enrich only the card issuers and the interest paid on these cards by borrowers could be used to invest in something else or saved for a rainy day. For people with poor financial discipline or little understanding of credit use, credit card use can impose huge financial burdens. Many individual bankruptcy filings are related to poor credit card use.

However, the case for debit cards may not be so clear cut and simple. The main disadvantage of debit cards is that they do not provide the user with a credit history. In America, having poor credit or no credit history is very expensive in the long run. People with poor or no credit history are considered high risk financial risks to investors and are typically charged high interest on mortgages, car loans and even insurance. Some employers will even reject applicants with poor credit. People with bad credit who face urgent financial need may have no option but to resort to predatory lenders who typically charge astronomical fees and interest rates. Having no or poor credit history is expensive.

Some credit cards also have substantial rewards. Some credit cards may give users cash back on purchases, may have car rental discounts, air mile rewards, roadside assistance, car rental insurance, discounts at certain retail outlets, and so on. Some cards from companies like Chase and Capital One offer very attractive rewards. As long as users of these cards pay their outstanding balances on time and use the cards wisely, they can benefit from the rewards without paying much in interests.

Concluding, deciding to use a debit or credit card has no single answer for everybody. There is no on size fits all advice. Whether to use one or the other depends mainly on the individual card holder. For people who are cautious about their finances, pay their balances on time and do not carry huge balances month over month, a credit card may be their best option, as it allows them substantial advantages in rewards, while helping them build a solid credit history. For people who overlook bills, shop compulsively and do not understand the risks associated with credit card use, credit cards can be a debt trap that may cause immense financial and emotional strain. For the latter individuals, debit cards could be their better bet, until they become more financially literate.

Sheku Sheriff

Tegloma Washington DC Fulfilling Childhood Dreams

2019-04-18T23:10:00.000-05:00

Tegloma Washington DC headed to
Disney World

For many children of hardworking immigrant parents in America, some with barely enough time for even a short vacation, the thought of making a trip to Disney World often remains just an unfulfilled dream.

On the Road to Orlando

This week however, for the children of the members of the Tegloma Washington DC Chapter, the dream of a trip to Disney World just became a reality, thanks to tenacity of the very hardworking President and Chief of their chapter, the dynamic Rosaline Bangura.

Taking a Food Break

Rosaline is just into her second term as Chief of the Washington DC chapter, having won the chapter election last month unopposed.

In an organization in which there is a struggle to recruit younger members, Rosaline is the youngest leader and also the leader of the first and largest chapter.

Rosaline's "go get it" style has occasionally put her at odds with some of the more traditional minded members of the organization, especially those at the federation level, who are busy trying to sabotage her leadership of the chapter at all cost.

Trip Organizers

Asked about the reason for this wonderful initiative, Chief Rosaline Bangura said that about a year ago she noticed that Tegloma as an organization was all about adult members who grew up in Sierra Leone, with little attention paid to attracting youths or getting them involved. She noted that the future of any organization depended on its capacity to attract the millennial generation and young children who will become the leaders of tomorrow.
To address the issue of youth involvement, she decided to explore various ways of getting the children of her chapter members excited about Tegloma.

After brainstorming with members of her executive and chapter, they conceived the idea of a weekend trip with the kids to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, the home Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

Chief Rosaline Bangura

In order to make the plan a reality, Chief Rosaline Bangura launched a massive fundraising campaign among acquaintances and social media, with the goal of raising $5,000.00 for a road trip with the children. The campaign ultimately proved to be successful.

On Thursday the April 18, Rosaline Bangura, her dynamic executive and some chapter members left Washington DC metro area with a bus load of well over 30 excited children headed for Orlando Florida. This is going to be the trip of a lifetime for most of these children, who will get to see their favorite Disney characters up close.

With such innovation and ideas, many people are starting to note that Rosaline may be an ideal candidate to head Tegloma Federation in the future, in order to bring the organization into a more forward looking era.

The Passing Away of an African Musical Legend: Oliver Mtukudzi

2019-01-25T12:44:00.000-06:00

I happened on Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi purely by coincidence.

Many years ago, a friend of mine from Togo came over to visit while I was living in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and met me playing a beautiful Youssou N'dour album I had gotten from the international section of CDs at Best Buy.

My friend, like the majority of Francophone Africans, was a big fan of Youssou N'dour. The friend was adamant that he must borrow my Youssou N'dour CD for a few days and I could tell by the degree of unadulterated Youssou N'dour fanaticism in his eyes that there was no saying no. So we struck a bargain; give me one African CD and I will let you have my Youssou N'dour CD for a few days. It was one of the best bargains I ever struck, as he handed me a CD entitled "Tuku Music" by a Oliver Mtukudzi, a Zimbabwean musician I'd never even heard of. The CD just blew me away and up to this day it is one that has never left my collection.

I never asked my friend for my Youssou N'dour album again, opting instead to go back to Best Buy and buy another copy. He also never gave me back my Youssou N'dour album. Those were before the days of iTunes. My friend probably thought that he had outsmarted me, but I will always rest with the assurance that I had the last laugh.

Oliver Mtukudzi is one of those historic African musicians that never became big in West Africa and I really do not know why. Maybe it was our addiction to Prince Nico, Franco, Samangwana or western pop music.

Mtukudzi's "Tuku Music" I can safely say is one of the best Albums of indigenous African music ever made. A self taught musician with a deep golden voice and great skills with the guitar, Mtudkuzi is among the unique group of musicians whose music never grows old. They get better with the passing of time.

For a perspective, just like Youssou Ndour was to Senegal, Salif Keita to Mali and Fela Kuti to Nigeria, so was Oliver Mtukudzi to Zimbabwe. He was a national legend, whose music was on the landscape of his country's music scene during the bitter struggle for independence and became a constant voice of hope during the initially hopeful and later turbulent times of Robert Mugabe, one of the giants of post colonial Africa who hang on to power for far too long.

Oliver Mtukudzi died on Wednesday January 23rd 2019 after a career spanning many decades. I guarantee that he will be one of those musicians who will gain more prominence after his death, as the news and the significance of his music,make more people listen to his unique style.

The Planned Demonstrations against President Bio are Pointless

2018-08-30T11:58:00.000-05:00

While in government, the All Peoples Congress (APC) party in Sierra Leone brought the country disastrously close to the brink of economic collapse. Now in opposition, the antics of some members is starting to make the party look almost ridiculous.

Kholifa Koroma
Escaped Ex-Immigration
Boss

Members of the APC party in USA, instigated by the former Minister Plenipotentiary to the Uniter Nations, Rev. Leeroy Kabs Kanu and some ex government officials fleeing justice in the country, are planning to organize demonstrations against Sierra Leone's new President Julius Maada Bio during his trip to the United States to attend this year's UN General Assembly.

Rev. Kabbs Kanu, is a notorious sycophant and schoolmate of former president Ernest Bai Koroma who before the elections in 2007 that elected Koroma, set up an online "Cocorioko" forum that was devoted to a campaign of misinformation then President Ahmed Tejan Kabba, while promoting the candidacy of his friend Ernest Bai Koroma. While an opposition candidate at the time, Koroma leveled unproven charges of incompetence and corruption against President Kabba, condemned his economic and reform programs and promised to use his business skills to make Sierra Leone a paradise in West Africa. He even promised to make Sierra Leone a donor country before the end of his tenure.

Ex-President Koroma

Koroma raised the people's hope with his smooth talk and would go on to win the 2007 elections. Kabs Kanu, for his effort, was rewarded the position of Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Nations for Sierra Leone, a role he used purely for propaganda purposes.

In seeking to define his ambiguous role, Kabbs Kanu embarked on what he termed a rebranding effort, with the purported aim of changing the negative image that Sierra Leone had in the international community, into a more favorable image of the country. But the whole sham exercise was just an effort to promote the image of Ernest Bai Koroma, portraying him as a formidable leader, while vilifying the country's political opposition and painting them as unpatriotic.

Rebranding simply came to mean denying the insane levels of corruption and other atrocities perpetrated by the Koroma government, while labeling the opposition members as malcontents and enemies of progress. Ernest Bai Koroma was portrayed as the "World's Best" president, even as millions of hardworking people in Sierra Leone saw no escape from poverty; with mismanagement, a lack of direction and poor governance pushing the educational and healthcare sectors into a precipitous decline.

The country's main opposition politician at the time, Julius Maada Bio, became the main target of the rebranding vilification. Over the last ten years, Kabs Kanu used his propaganda outlet to paint Maada Bio as clueless, unpatriotic, power hungry and desperate. Even the decision by Maada Bio as a military leader in 1996 to handed over power to a democratically elected civilian government after just three months in office, was painted as bowing to pressure and inevitable.

RT. Brigadier Julius
Maada Bio
President of Sierra Leone

However, in spite of the effort of Kabs Kanu and the negative propaganda against Maada Bio by many Koroma appointed press attaches in diplomatic missions abroad, many of whom were mere APC partisan hacks masquerading as journalists, Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio was elected President of Sierra Leone in March, much to the consternation and chagrin of these political operatives and some APC members in the diaspora, who had been misled 0that there was no way Maada Bio would ever win an election in Sierra Leone.

All the years of paid propaganda by APC does not hide the fact that the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma would go down in history as one of the most corrupt governments in the history of West Africa.

In just ten years, the value of the local currency, the Leone fell by over 200%, as central bank reserves were raised to fund the opulent lifestyles of the APC political class. Revenues collected by government agencies were diverted from state coffers into the pockets of Koroma, his cronies and family members. Millions of dollars were spent on overinflated third rate road projects that are already being eroded. Millions more were spent on bogus electricity schemes that never materialized. President Koroma's own brother was recorded during a drunken tirade stating that the only essence of life under APC was personal enjoyment. They did not care that millions didn't have the same privilege of living only for enjoyment.

During the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, millions of dollars in domestic and foreign aid went unaccounted for, while hundreds of workers at the forefront of the crisis were not being paid their entitled wages. Up to this day many nurses and other Ebola workers have not recieved the monies they were promised, despite the deaths of hundreds of their colleagues during the epidemic. Funds meant for Ebola survivors were also squandered. Many renowned doctors in the country died for lack of proper equipment to fight the virus, even as politicians siphoned resources meant to acquire such equipments.

It was also during the Ebola crisis that a group of President Koroma's cronies who were advocating for him to rule beyond his two term limit, made bogus charges of anti-party activities against the elected Vice President Sam Sumana. They then claimed to have stripped him of his party membership, paving the way for the president to illegally remove him from office without any due process. He claimed that as the Vice President did not belong to any political party, he was disqualified from holding office under the constitution of Sierra Leone. Unfortunately, the country's Supreme Court, filled with the President's allies, sided with him against the Vice President. In a judgments that will go down as one of the worst in the judicial history of Sierra Leone, they ruled that the President could remove the Vice President even though the constitution granted him no such powers.

As the excesses of President Koroma's syndicate became even more outrageous the cult of personality around him continued to grow. Many Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora became alarmed at the path towards which the the country was heading. Many saw parallels between Koroma tactics and the same practices that led to the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 90s. Many also saw the squandering of Ebola funds and the illegal removal of the elected Vice President as particularly egregious acts that needed to be strongly condemned.

A group of concerned Sierra Leones thus coordinated and planned massive demonstrations during the President's visit to the UN General Assembly in USA at the time. Demonstrations against the president also took place in Europe.

The demonstrations against President Koroma at the time were genuine, had a purpose and represented a concerted response to the real problems of bad governance, corruption and mismanagement in the country. They were not just an act by political opponents to embarrass him on a foreign trip. Previously, President Koroma had made many trips to America before the Ebola and VP crisis and he was warmly received by a considerable section of the Sierra Leone diaspora.

Unfortunately, the demonstrations being planned against President Maada Bio by Kabbs Kanu with backing of some of the politicians and political appointees who have left the country to escape corruption charges are purely politically motivated.

These planned demonstrations have no other purpose but to further the campaign of misinformation that has become the main tool of a shell shocked political party that was ill prepared to leave office when it did in March of this year.

The negative picture of current situations in Sierra Leone that APC operatives in the USA are trying to paint, simply do not exist. Ordinary Sierra Leoneans are going about their business, opposition Newspapers are continuing to print their attacks on government and independent radio and TV stations continue to give APC a platform to defend their decade long corrupt practices under the Koroma administration.

When President Bio assumed office after the elections in March, it soon became clear to all why President Ernest Koroma had insisted to have his own handpicked President and Vice President succeed him. In just ten short years, Koroma and his cronies had practically robbed the country blind. Samura Kamara was to be the willing coverup agent.

Under Koroma, many political allies and family members had been awarded lucrative government contracts on which they did not deliver. The government commercial banks were used as personal lines of credited from which unlimited loans were obtained for private use without much in the way of collateral security. Family members and political escorts were given diplomatic passports even when they didn't have any public status. Funds given as Grant's to the government for pilgrimage to Mecca were swindled with intending pilgrims left hanging high and dry. The corruption was unending.

Corruption, has always been the main impediment to development in Sierra Leone. Under President Koroma corruption was finally blessed and legitimized. Facing mounting criticism, Koroma famously remarked that his opponents were "flies and he would swat them without even turning his head," to the cheers of many of his gullible supporters.

Even when the the international corruption watchdog Transparency International had for many years labeled Sierra Leone as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, President Koroma's brigade of propaganda journalists, many from his part of the country, continued to attack those raising the alarm, instead of investigating corruption in the country.

Earlier in Koroma's Presidency, Sorious Samura, an internationally acclaimed journalist had investigated corruption among the top brass in the country, including the Vice President. Instead of doing follow up investigations, the government encouraged Sylvia Blyden a notorious tabloid journalist, to discredit the investigation and attack the character of the journalists who led the investigation. For the successful hatchet job, Sylvia Blyden suddenly became one of President Koroma's favorites and was made an assistant to the President and later a minister, until she was fired during the President's President last year on accusations of massive embezzlement by her deputy minister.

President Julius Maada Bio has after the receipt of a government transition report detailing absurd levels of corruption under the past regime decided to set up a judicial commission to investigate and prosecute these acts. He has revitalized an APC compromised Anti Corruption Commission and given it fresh mandate to tackle the country's entrenched corruption.

Unfortunately, some of the main players in the Koroma criminal exercise have fled the country and are now working with APC operatives to embarrass the President during his visit to New York. After peddling false rumors that the President was unable to come and would be represented by his Chief Minister, APC members are now claiming harassment and political opposition in a country that is largely peaceful. Many desperate claims are being made.

Earlier in the month APC social media activists came out with news last month that the president was very sick during a trip abroad. A few days later, he landed in Freetown, as vibrant as a brand new penny. Some of the more uncultured APC supporters use social media daily to insult the President and his family. They continue peddling the same lies about him that they did when he was in opposition. Just a few days ago, someone ordered an old Rolls Royce into Freetown and that suddenly was described as his.

The APC party, not really sure what to oppose seem to be in complete breakdown on message. Losing an election you are 100% sure of winning is mentality devastating. It is starting to show.

Demonstrations are integral to public expression in a democracy. But the planned demonstrations by Kabbs Kanu's followers can only be described as rabble rousing at its worst. It is like " the boy that cried wolf."

Maada Bio has consistently stated that everybody should go about their normal activities in Sierra Leone without fear of intimidation. Opposition politicians have just this month held two very large rallies in the country without incident. So the only purpose of these demonstrations is to paint the investigation into corruption in the country as a witchhunt. The question is if acts of corruption at this magnitude are not investigated and prosecuted, then why even have an Anti Corruption Commission?

All well meaning Sierra Leoneans should reject the antics of the APC-NA, Kabbs Kanu and their financiers. If these people are truly patriotic they should be helping locate some of their APC top brass who have fled the country with millions of dollars in stolen public loot. Kabbs Kanu and his cohorts are just poor losers who are not ready to accept the fact that a new direction of true progress is in the air and is not just a mere agenda on paper.

Sierra Leone Political Updates: APC Parliamentary Vocabulary

2018-06-03T01:04:00.001-05:00

President and 1st Lady Bio

Politics in Sierra Leone is now in full swing. Both of the major parties, the Sierra Leone Peoples Party and the All Peoples Congress, have taken turns at being in opposition and government over the past two decades.

Currently, SLPP, the party that brought Independence to Sierra Leone is back in power after ten years in opposition and APC, the party that brought the one party system that led to the civil war in Sierra Leone is back in opposition, this time through the power of the ballot.

APC Top Men

Due to a lot of political shenanigans of the last regime, involving the creation of new districts and constituencies under the immediate past president Ernest Bai Koroma, APC has more seats in Parliament than any other party. This being the case, many in the country have been expecting a very formidable opposition to the new government, as two new parties, the National Grand Coalition, led by political newcomer Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella and the coalition for change, led by erstwhile APC Vice President Sam Sumana whose removal is reminiscent of a three hour episode of the Game of Thrones, also has some seats.

So the hope for many in the opposition was that President Julius Maada Bio would for the first time in the history of Sierra Leone, face a very formidable opposition in Parliament, opposition in both numbers and quality.

Alas, currently, three things seem to be working in President Bio's favor which effectively dilute the effectiveness of the opposition, particularly opposition from the APC parliamentarians.

One of the advantages the Sierra Leone Peoples Party is currently benefiting from, which many of us criticized at the time, was the decision, just before the allocation of symbols, by the new SLPP Leader and Chairman Dr. Prince Harding for the party executive to have a large role in deciding who should get parliamentary symbols for the party. Dr. Harding's reasoning was that there had been parliamentarians in the past whose loyalty to the party, once they entered parliament became questionable, as some became more interested in pursuing parochial personal agendas at the expense of the interest of the party. So Dr. Prince Harding and his team were able to screen the SLPP candidates at the constituency level both for loyalty and excellence. It was not a very popular decision at the time.

The second thing that seems to be working in the favor of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party is the decision by many APC top politicians not to run for Parliament, with the mistaken belief that they were going to win the election anyway and would be considered to be in top position for ministerial, ambassadorial and other top political appointments. So, many of the APC top brass were involved in campaigning and declimed to run for political office. The few that ran were given symbols and won. With the top people deciding to wait for lucrative appointments, President Ernest Bai Koroma decided to award symbols to second level political operatives and fanatical supporters of his chairman for life agenda. These were considered to party political stalwarts and agitators who would just rubber stamp the party agenda without even bothering to read or understand what they were signing in Parliament. However, that decision is proving to be a bad miscalculation, as I will elaborate later.

APC's third mistake was to suddenly decide to enforce the dual citizenship clause in the Sierra Leone constitution which barred Sierra Leoneans with dual citizenship from running for Parliament. The unexpected and sinister move was a strategy to handicap the candidacy of Dr. Kandeh Kandeh Yumkella who was making a lot of political noise at the time and was seen as someone with the capacity to erode support for APC in the party's strongholds. APC members were convinced that Dr. Yumkella still held US citizenship.

However, Kandeh Yumkella, it was revealed, had renounced his US citizenship prior to the election-maybe he had gotten wind of the plan. Unfortunately, the decision to ban dual citizens boomeranged on many APC parliamentary aspirants in the diaspora who would have been vocal opponents in parliament, as they were automatically disqualified from contention. Dr. Yumkella did not turn out to be the giant killer that many supposed he would be, but the handicap was done.

So, a combination of the decision by Prince Harding to have loyal parliamentarians, the decision by strong APC members not to run for parliament, the decision to stop dual citizens from participating in the process and the propensity of Ernest Koroma to award those who would suppo

Mr. Speaker!

rt his chairman for life agenda rather than those who would become formidable parliamentarians have led to a situation in which the new breed of APC Parliamentarians are quickly becoming the new butt of jokes in Sierra Leone.

Now that Parliamentarians have started to debate issues of national significance, the poor quality of many of the candidates Ernest Koroma pinned the APC symbol on is quickly becoming apparent and many APC members are not happy.

A few days ago, a two term APC member of Parliament, spent almost seven minutes trying to simply explain that oil explorations became unattractive in the country after the fall in oil prices. Unfortunately, he spent the whole time shouting "Mr. Speaker," and bumbling so badly that he was told to stop and promised to be given another day and opportunity to explain himself, to a chorus of laughter from other parliamentarians and spectators. It was a national embarrassment.

Unfortunately for APC, this does not seem to be an isolated case, as the audio recordings of other parliamentarians struggling to articulate their views is now the becoming the trending joke on social media. Parliamentary debates are slowly becoming more of a dictation and comprehension class than the exchange of ideas on crucial issues affecting the lives of so many people.

People with nothing to do are now starting to go to parliament with the cellphones on record to partake of the country's new national comedy show, parliamentary debates.

What is the real travesty is that there were many young, well educated and highly articulate aspirants for the APC symbol who were refused the party symbol because the former president, a man with a known weakness for sycophancy, wanted to use the party symbol as a goodbye gift to his close admirers. From the Presidential candidate of the APC to the last parliamentary symbol, the process was almost entirely a one man show, with loyalty to President Koroma seen as more important than any other criteria. The effect is that old fellows like IB Kargbo spend their days sleeping in parliament while people like Mohamed Bangura think it is secondary school on a lunch break, while others think it is a place for adult education.

The effect is that APC opposition is fast becoming a primary school dictation contest and the newest popular attraction in town.

The Sierra Leone Inauguration and Much Ado about Nothing

2018-05-15T00:04:00.002-05:00

President Julius Maada Bio

The Sierra Leone Inauguration went on as planned, on Saturday May 12th 2018. Surrounded by regional leaders, visiting dignitaries and a stadium filled beyond capacity with the people of Sierra Leone, President Julius Maada Bio was inaugurated as the leader of Sierra Leone for the next five years. Though the President had organized the cheapest inauguration in the modern history of Sierra Leone, it was still an amazing spectacle.

However, the inauguration did not however proceed without some significant hiccups and some deliberate hanky panky. On the day before the inauguration, fire mysteriously broke out at the Presidential Pavilion at Lungi International Airport where foreign leaders and dignitaries were to be received. It was blamed on a Plasma TV and faulty wiring, but many Sierra Leoneans saw it as a deliberate act of sabotage tactically intended to embarrass the new leader in front of his visiting dignitaries.

Tragically on the day of the inauguration, security lapses around the stadium led to a stampede by people to enter and witness the spectacle, leading to the loss of lives and some people sustaining serious and minor injuries. So it was a bitter sweet day.

Passing the Torch

However, for opposition APC detractors of the new President, the main complaint now in the country and on social media is that the ex-president, Chairman and Leader for Life of the All Peoples Congress, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma was not given a chance to make a public handing over statement on the day of the inauguration.

APC members ,who have suddenly found their voices after ten years of obedient compliance, are now all over social media lamenting the travesty of not allowing EBK, their hero to speak at the inauguration of President Julius Maada Bio.

A New President

Silvia Olayinka Blyden, the fired ex-Social Welfare Minister under President Koroma and the new "Pied Piper of APC," went on TV claiming that she had personally helped the ex-president draft a statement for the inauguration, editing it to reduce the number of pages, and helped him embellish his main achievements. She lamented that the Ex-President Koroma not being allowed to read his more than 20 page speech at the inauguration of President Julius Maada Bio was a travesty.

I think all the furore about EBK not being allowed to speak at Maada Bio's inauguration is simply misguided and much ado about nothing. It is simply making a mountain out of a molehill. Most of the complaints are misleading at best.

An inauguration is about the new President and his message to the People. It is his vision about the future, the problem he wants to tackle, the actions he intends to take to solve these problems and the outcomes he intends to see. During the inauguration, the new President basically lays out a roadmap for the next five years, as is the case of Sierra Leone.

If the ex-president has a speech he wants to make at the end of his presidency, he can print the speech for dissemination or arrange another program with the President to do so and not on the day of the inauguration.

I think Maada Bio and Ernest Koroma have always behaved to each other like gentlemen, in spite of the Al Qaeda mentality of some of their most ardent supporters. But imagine where two candidates have a very bad election and one wins and gives the other the platform to talk at the inauguration. What if the defeated candidate uses the opportunity to further divide the country?

I listened to the first public interview of Ex-President Robert Mugabe and wondered what would have happened if he had been allowed to give a speech at the inauguration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

An inauguration is about the new President, the celebration of his victory and the future of the country. Ernest Bai Koroma had ten years to give speeches and the people of Sierra Leone had ten years to listen to his speeches and decide that this time they were following a new direction. If the Ex-President wants to tell the people of Sierra Leone about his many successes, he can write a book for the historical record. For now Sylvia Blyden and all other agitators need to find something to do or help make the country better. Sierra Leone is for all whether you are with "One People" or "Tolongbo."

They even complain about
Cleaning the City

NGC Strong Man Bayoh comes Back to SLPP in Dramatic Fashion

2018-05-14T21:57:00.000-05:00

One of the more memorable social media spectacles of the past election in Sierra Leone was the public defection of Sierra Leone Peoples Party North America (SLPPNA) strongman S. K. Bayoh to the National Grand Coalition (NGC) Just a few months before the election. Mr. S. K. Bayoh, a strong supporter of Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella at the time felt so angered at Kandeh's inability to clinch the SLPP presidential candidacy that he decided to defect from SLPP in a very public and dramatic fashion.

New Jersey SLPP welcome
A repentant Bayoh

In a now infamous video clip he recorded specifically for the event, a video that could be a very Drserious contender for a dramatic award consideration, Mr Bayoh, in full SLPP regalia, gave his personal history in SLPP and the reasons why he thought the SLPP no longer had his support. He then painstakingly removed every bit of SLPP paraphernalia that he had on him and proceeded to don the ornaments and colors of Kandeh's Yumbellas NGC party.

Unfortunately, it seems as if Mr. S. K. Bayoh's romance with the NGC was as unfulfilling as it was brief. In a new video he posted this past weekend on social media before heading out to a SLPP celebration event in New Jersey, Mr. S. K. Bayoh, in full prodigal fashion, has announced resignation from NGC and his return to SLPP, the party he claims he has always belonged to. He promised to make an elaborate video this Monday detailing his reasons for leaving the NGC and coming back home to his beloved SLPP.

However, at the public SLPP event in New Jersey, S. K. Bayoh gave some hints as to why he thought his short personal sacrifice for NGC had been for nothing, focusing mainly on the ingratitude of Dr. Yumkella. Mr. Bayoh lamented that from the time he lost the Presidency and became an MP, Dr. Yumkella had not personally called him to thank him, Mr. Bayoh, for his enormous personal role in NGC campaign. He vowed he had more to say and of course we are eager to listen.

The members of SLPP New Jersey gave Mr. S. K. Bayoh a welcome befitting a repentant member who had lost his way in the midst of the NGC euphoria.

Opinions within SLPPNA are however split about the rapidity with which S. K. Bayoh has abandoned the NGC ship. Some people state that if NGC had won, S. K. Bayoh may not have quickly abandoned the party even if he had not gotten a personal call from Kandeh, but would have stayed. Others are of the opinion that a lot of then SLPP and now NGC members captivated by the allure of Dr. Yumkella particularly in North America should be welcomed back to the SLPP fold. The party needs more hands on deck to ensure future electoral victories.

As SLPP eases into the driver's seat in Sierra Leone, there are bound to be more defections from other parties and the return of some past defectors. It is just the Sierra Leone way, some people always want to be near the seat of power. SLPP should accept them, as our people say, "there is no bas forest forest to throw away a bad family member. You just have to accept them for the sake of family and continue sleeping with one eye open.

Sierra Leone Getting Ready for Presidential Inauguration

2018-05-09T23:36:00.001-05:00

President Julius Maada Bio

Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio is a very lucky man. Probably very few people give the thought to just how lucky one has to be to become the leader of an African country twice. African leaders typically do not have graceful exits. However, many of the African countries where individuals have become leaders at two different periods are in West Africa.

During the period in our continent's history when military dictatorships were common, Julius Maada Bio took over the reins of power in Sierra Leone and shortly hereafter handed the country over to civilian rule without any fussing or fighting. It was a very selfless decision.

APC Parliamentarian IB

Many of President Maada Bio's primary detractors love to say he had no option at the time he gave up power. They state that at the time, it was the pressure and agitation of the civil population and the international community that forced him to give up power. In my opinion these statements can be attributed to the fact that in the midst of the hardship that has come to characterize our country Sierra Leone, one of the attributes that has helped the people stay resilient is the possession of a relatively short memory span.

If the average Bio detractor did not have a very short memory, he/she would remember that Johnny Paul Koroma, a more recent military leader in a very similar position refused to hand over to the country's elected civilian government, even when he had massive multinational forces arrayed against him, while facing substantial domestic civil and military resistance. Johnny Paul held on to power until he was practically chased out of the capital Freetown, later dying in obscurity and buried without pomp and pageantry.

APC Inauguration Seat
Dumped in Backyard

It is said that some people create their own luck. Maada Bio is one of those people. Leading up to the 2007 elections, Maada Bio tried his hand at being the presidential candidate of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party. He was defeated so comprehensively that many thought his foray into politics was over. However he came back for the 2012 elections and managed to clinch the party presidential candidacy, only to lose to the incumbent Ernest Bai Koroma.

After the 2012 loss, Maada Bio left to study for a doctoral degree in the United Kingdom. While in the UK, he was simultaneously engaged in his studies while fighting challenges from all quarters within the SLPP to his candidacy as party flagbearer in 2018. Maada Bio's singular determination, the tenacity of the President's Paopa group within the party, his name appeal, the defection of some of his primary opponents to form the National Grand Coalition (NGC) and early support from some other aspirants put him in pole position to win the leadership of SLPP the second time around.

In the general election the much hyped support for the NGC and their candidate Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella did not materialize. Many people saw the NGC as a party of elitists and bourgeoisie supported by Sierra Leoneans living abroad. The APC party, while being plagued by poor economic performance in the country, also had a very lackluster candidate, Dr. Samura Kamara, whose credentials were more impressive on paper than in person. Samura had the unfortunate tendency of easily falling asleep during public appearances. APC's problems were compounded by the dismissal of the elected Vice President some years ago, which myopic action succeeded in cannibalizing support for the APC in the highly populated Kono district from which the dismissed VP hailed.

Having been marginalized by President Ernest Bai Koroma, many strong past APC campaigners showed little public enthusiasm to campaign for Samura. So Ex-President Koroma did most of the campaigning with the delusion that he was still massively popular in the country, in spite of his failed policies. The common belief among the APC elite was that APC was too strong a party to lose and Maada too weak a candidate to win. This belief proved to be a catastrophic mistake, as was evidenced by APC’s shellacking.

So on Saturday May 12th, 2018, as world leaders descend on Freetown to celebrate the Presidency of a man who was vowed by many to never become President of Sierra Leone ever again, Maada Bio will be taking in all the sights and saying to himself, "never say never."

President Bio and Weah
Of Liberia.

President Bio Makes Very Impressive Cabinet Appointments

2018-05-03T08:59:00.000-05:00

Julius Maada Bio
President of Sierra Leone

For those who have been advocating for excellent leadership in Sierra Leone, the list of complete cabinet appointments made by President Julius Maada Bio brings much needed relief.

Even though the attainment of regional balance, a key failure of the Koroma administration, seems to have played heavily in the president's consideration of his cabinet nomimees, President Julius Maada Bio has above all else, focused on the knowledge, expertise, and experience of those he has appointed to crucial political positions in order to help him chart the course of the nation.

Former President Koroma
A Victim of Sycophancy

From Vice President Juldeh Jalloh to the last named cabinet appointee, Sierra Leone's new cabinet is characterized by individuals with proven track records of excellence in their chosen academic and professional endeavors. Many of the cabinet members also have extensive experience working in reputable international developmental NGOS.

Where former President Ernest Bai Koroma was more comfortable assembling a motley crew of personal loyalists, self professed apprentices, untamed sycophants, and the strongest advocates of his ill fated "more time" agenda, President Julius Bio has focused on the selection of individuals who will once more bring respect to ministerial positions in the country, while bringing their knowledge to bear on charting the course for national development. The finance minister is solid, the foreign minister is concrete, the chief minister is exceptional, and so on down the list.

Sierra Leoneans can now be rest assured that the ship of state is once again in very able hands and one will just pray that the new cabinet does not fall prey to the curse of Sierra Leone; corruption, hedonism and hubris.

One thing Ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma would be remembered for is his poor judge of personal character in his appointments to public positions. Ministers in the last administration became the public champions of immorality. A government minister was accused of raping a student in broad daylight, got off free and even had the audacity to put his name forward as a presidential candidate for the APC party in the just concluded election, Instead of being banned from public appointments for life. Two ministers in the Ministry of Social Welfare welfare, Moijueh Kaikai and his visually impaired deputy Mustapha Bai Attila, were recorded quarreling in the ministry in front of their subordinates, using language so crude and foul that we cannot reproduced it verbatim on this blog. Even though the two ministers were hastily fired, their two female replacements decided to up theirs a notch, taking to the country's airwaves and accusing each other of corruption and embezzlement, to the astonishment of a mortified public. Even the President's own Chief of Staff was fired from his post, accused of forging the signature of the chief executive in order to facilitate clandestine illegal business.

Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, one of the sacked APC ministers accused by her deputy of embezzling millions of Leones, and who over the years has positioned herself as one of the greatest political foes of the current President Julius Bio, has grudgingly admitted on social media that President Bio has made very excellent cabinet choices.

Over the years, Silvia, a sensational tabloid journalist turned politician, has made it her public mission to ensure that President Bio never again ruled Sierra Leone.

Sylvia Blyden currently has a quixotic case in court, seeking to overturn the electoral victory of Julius Maada Bio in favor of the APC's Samura Kamara, the lackluster personally handpicked candidate of Ernest Koroma, who failed to excite people even in his own political backyard. Samura's campaign speeches were as boring as they were forgetful and he was trounced by Bio in both the first election and the runoff.

Many view Sylvia's praise of Bio's appointees as an indication that she is slowly starting to accept that her case will is going nowhere. Others believe that public is once again starting to see her chameleon style of political opportunism. Before and after the 2007 elections, Sylvia Blyden was one of the toughest critics of the former President Ernest Bai Koroma. But by the end of Koroma's first term, Blyden was one of his loudest praise singers, for which effort Koroma awarded her with two cabinet level political positions.

Maada Bio in winning the election and selecting a cabinet on the basis of excellence and inclusiveness has put to rest all the allegations made against him in the past that he would embark on a politics of divisiveness if he was ever elected. The cabinet is not only regionally diverse, but is also composed of some individuals who have been strong political rivals of the President in the very recent past.

One former Presidential candidate, Mohamed Kamaraimba Mansaray whose running mate was appointed to the cabinet the past day became so incensed that he put out an audio clip promising to lecture the new President on the Constitution.

Kamaraimba briefly became a notable political opponent to former President Ernest Bai Koroma after he was kicked out of the APC party for not following party instructions. His party even posed some serious challenge to the APC in byelections and he believed he will be a serious challenger in the 2018 elections. However, his ADM party was trounced so heavily in the past election that it's survival is now questionable. Kamaraimba has now been reduced to producing angry clips on WhatsApp attacking political opponents and stating that he is employing a long term strategy, as he is still very young.

Happy 57th Independence Anniversary to all Sierra Leoneans

2018-04-27T08:24:00.002-05:00

We here at the Segbwema Blog would like to wish every Sierra Leonean at home and abroad a happy 57th Independence Anniversary. We pray that the next few years will bring positive and lasting changes in the country.

This 57th year, our celebration of Freedom coincides with the election of a new leader and the promise of a new direction. Just a month ago, the people of our country looked at the many candidates before them vying for national leadership and decided to settle for a familiar face.

Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, who had briefly led Sierra Leone during the bitter years of the war and initiated the first dialogue with the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) that ultimately led to the attainment of peace was chosen among the lot to help steer the country in a different direction for the next five years.

We wish the new President success. Unless the people of Sierra Leone have decided to embrace suffering and misery as their destiny among the countries of the earth, we are of the fervent belief that with politics aside, Sierra Leoneans of all stripes should pray for the success of this new government. We are not just saying this because we believe in the Presidency of Julius Maada Bio, but because we believe that after 57 years of suffering, after decades of blood, sweat and tears, the people of Sierra Leone need to see some improvement in their daily lives and in their standards of living. The people simply need a break.

A small country like Rwanda, even more densely populated than Sierra Leone, went through years of tense political strife that culminated in the death of over half a million of its citizens. Much like Sierra Leone there was also destruction on a large scale.

Rwandan society was more fragmented, with tribal divisions deeper than they will ever be in Sierra Leone. Because were the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda largely avoided each other socially, in Sierra Leone all tribes coexist together, we marry each other, go to the same schools and have the same religiond. Political divisions in Sierra Leone are largely the machinations of failed politicians who try to incite ethnic and regional tensions and hatred with the sole desire of getting votes, as most of the time they have no tangible record to show after spending years in power. However, the people of Sierra Leone have decided and for the next five years we implore the politicians who have failed the country to join the new leaders in working for a peaceful and prosperous country. It is the only we we can put Sierra Leone first.

To the outgoing All Peoples Congress Party (APC), you employed many shenanigans to perpetuate your rule, even after years of failed promises. You promised cheap food, and saw the increase in food prices by more than free fold. You promised to improve education and presided over the greatest decline in the status of our premier educational institutions since independence. Late President Tejan Kabba implemented an ambitious plan to professionalize the country’s police force and you succeeded in a few years to make it a tool for the suppression of the masses. Our foreign ambassadors, instead of representing all the citizens of their countries abroad became party agents, interested in spending time with only people who belonged to diaspora chapters of the APC party. In spite of all these you paid journalists to write glowing reviews about Koroma calling him the world's great, you harassed members of the opposition and gave crucial out appointments to unqualified people.

As the Accountant General reports of the past few years and the current transition team is discovering, APC robbed Sierra Leone blind, while giving pittances to their supporters and sycophants.

Just recently, a sacked Minister of Sicial Welfare Sylvia Blyden, was on private TV accusing her colleagues around the President Ernest Bai Koroma of being a corrupt lot. Sylvia’s deputy minister publicly accused her of massive embezzlement, nothing was ever investigated. The same drama had played out in the same ministry during the ill fated period of ministers Moijueh and Atilla.

During the deadly Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, while the whole world was rushing to save Sierra Leone from the ravages of the virus, members of the APC government were busy squandering resources meant for the fight against the terrible scourge and stealing funds that were to be used in alleviating the plight of the victims. Positions awarded for pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Mecca were routinely sold not to the righteous among the Muslims in the country, but to those who saw the titles of Alhaji and Haja as status symbols devoid of any religious piety.

In a country that depends on loans for public administration, new districts were created for political purposes, even though the cost of administering these districts would become a huge burden on the very limited resources of the country.

So it is but a shame to hear these same group of politicians vow to make the country ungovernable again because of reasons they can seek solutions to in court if they so desire.

We pray that whatever residual evil political machinations the APC lot have up their sleeves for Sierra Leone shall not come to pass. For most of our history in Sierra Leone, APC has been in leadership. In all those years they have only succeeded in giving us mediocre leadership and institutionalizing a legacy of corruption, declining living standards and decline of public institutions.

Under years of failed APC leadership, Sierra Leone now looks like the failed prodigal brother of almost every country in West Africa. We we hope that members of the historic APC party do not continue to be the barriers to the progress that this country so badly needs. If only for the sake of the welfare of their supporters, APC members should say yes to progress and no to stagnation and backwardness.

Our prayers and good wishes are with the great and resilient men, women and children of Sierra Leone. Happy 57th Anniversary!

Mohamed Bangura and the Sierra Leone Constitution

2018-04-24T06:33:00.000-05:00

I listened to Mohamed Bangura, the SLPP turned PMDC, turned UDM, turned APC spokesman and truly, he sounded like a born joker trying to be serious. This very bloke who just a year ago was threatening to block social media in Sierra Leone is now preaching the virtues of the Constitution to others.

Honestly, APC members shouting about respecting the constitution of Sierra Leone is like a pickpocket preaching the Ten Commandments in church and skipping the line about, "Thou shalt not steal."

When APC was in power, they deprived lawfully elected politicians from their seats in parliament, stating they were paid from the consolidated fund. APC members created a legal loophole to get rid of the Parliamentary speaker, removed the Vice President by trickery, appointed the same Mohamed Bangura with bogus educational certificates, even though they had allegedly removed Sam Sumana for doing the same.

APC even arrested our SLPP member of Parliament for Kailahun Constitution 007, Robin Faley, on a trumped up charge of false voter registration, locked him up and forced him to switch to the APC party, dropped the case, awarded him the APC symbol to contest in the same constituency and the made him deputy National Campaign Manager.

In the last election members of the APC could not even vote for their own presidential candidate in a democracy, but had that choice made for them in communist fashion by the then President Koroma, who also appointed himself chairman and leader of the party for life.

APC calling on others to respect the Constitution leaves on to ask the question; did APC even know that Sierra Leone had a Constitution? Were they not crying "more time" even when the Sierra Leone Constitution imposed term limits? Did President Koroma not say if he wanted more time he would do so and nobody would stop him, in blatant disrespect of the constitution?

Was this not the same APC that locked up respected opposition and political activist Allie Kabba, a Muslim, on charges of bigamy?

Mr. Bangura we know you are a born opportunist and a charlatan. But please stop talking about the Sierra Leone Constitution. It's a joke to you.

Two Tegloma International Inc. members Bag Impressive Awards in the USA

2018-04-23T23:13:00.001-05:00

Mrs. Alice Karpeh

Mrs. Alice Karpeh, a Nurse Midwife, pioneer and founding member of the Sierra Leone based- Minnesota, USA health care nonprofit Rural health Care Initiative (RHCI) will receive a Distinguished Humanitarian Award from the National Organization of Sierra Leoneans in North America (NOSLINA) on Saturday May 5th, 2018.

The very competitive Distinguished Humanitarian Award is given by NOSLINA in recognition of outstanding contribution to poverty reduction, national reconstruction and rehabilitation, and supply of educational and health resources in ways that improve access and service to groups of needy, impoverished Sierra Leoneans at home. Mrs. Alice Karpeh was also the Vice President of Tegloma Minnesota chapter.

Rural health Care Initiative works with the people of Tikonko chiefdom in Sierra Leone to provide culturally appropriate health care and improve quality of life by increasing access to family focused care.

The organization recently inaugurated the Mbao-Mi Birth Waiting Home, the first such service in Sierra Leone, where pregnant women in the chiefdom can receive crucial health care monitoring in the last few weeks of pregnancy, thereby reducing the incidence of infant and maternal mortality in a country ranked among those with the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world.

RHCI also provides support to the government run Community Health Clinic in Tikonko, has organized professional training for Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), operates a weekly Outreach Motorbike Clinic to bring health care to remote villages, and is involved in farm based agriculture to supplement the nutritional needs of patients and the local population.

Mr. Moses Baryoh, the former President of Tegloma Indiana Chapter has also been named recipient of the distinguished Paul Harris Award from the Rotary Club of Naperville.

Mr. Moses Baryoh

The first Rotary Club was established in 1905 by Paul Harris with the aim of providing an opportunity for professionals and business men to engage in fellowship and friendship. Today the Rotary Club is a world wide organization that promotes friendship as an opportunity for service, promotes high ethical standards in business and professional life, promote personal development,international understanding, goodwill and peace.

Mr. Moses Baryoh is deemed by the Rotary Club of Naperville to have met all the standards set by Rotary Club founder Paul Harris. Members of Mr. Baryoh's organization bring modern health care technology and training to many areas of the world.

Ex-Vice President Retires from Politics in Sierra Leone

2018-04-19T14:42:00.003-05:00

Former VP
Victor Foh

Sierra Leone's outgoing Vice President, Ambassador Victor Bockarie Foh, has in a letter written to his All Peoples Congress (APC) party, tendered his resignation from active party politics in the country.

Victor Bockarie Foh who was the former Secretary General of the All Peoples Congress party and also very instrumental in that party regaining its former glory, was the Sierra Leone Ambassador to China prior to being given the Vice President portfolio following the scandalous removal from office of the then Vice President Alhaji Chief Sam Sumana.

Vice President
Chief Sam Sumana

The role that Victor Foh played around the removal of his immediate predecessor still remains murky and shrouded in mystery, as he was initially seen as being very close to Chief Sam Sumana. However, many Sierra Leone political pundits agree that the decision to remove the then vice president may have cost the the APC party the presidency, as many of the people from Sumana's Kono district defected from APC in droves during the past elections. Sumana was a presidential candidate in the last election, but his party only gained traction in his home district.

In a country where shifting political affiliations are very common, Victor Foh holds the distinction of being among the few politicians in the country who never changed political parties. Even at the time when his APC party was buried in the political mud after the military coup of 1992, he was one of the few who did not abandon APC.

APC Candidate
Dr. Samura Kamara

Last year, Victor Foh's decision to contest as a presidential candidate of the the All Peoples Congress party in the hope that the party will have the very first candidate who was not from the north of the country led to what he has publicly described his public humiliation at the Makeni convention. On the even of the selection the then President Ernest Bai Koroma stated publicly that he had no regional consideration of whom he wanted to replace him, but then went about to select both presidential and vice presidential candidates from the north of the country.

After the decision Victor Foh felt very humiliated, as rumors had been afloat that the president had assured him not to worry and that many of the party top brass had thrown their weight behind him, praising his loyalty to the party. After the convention, VP Foh largely disappeared from public view.

In recent days, VP Foh had publicly endorsed the current President, Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, a man who he had known for more than forty years. He praised the president's character and removed himseld from all court cases brought against him by members of the opposition APC party. Victor Foh also urged members of his APC party to drop all frivolous lawsuits challenging the legitimacy of Brigadier Bio, reminding them that, "power comes from God" and "the voice of the people is the voice of God."

Victor Foh, in a shortly worded letter to the leadership of the APC, wrote that he was retiring from active party politics, but would always be available to help in the national interest.

There are currently court cases brought by the defeated presidential candidate of the APC Dr. Samura Kamara and the journalist turned APC political hack, Dr. Sylvia Blyden, both seeking to nullify the votes of the recent elections and probably find a legal loophole to instal Samura Kamara as president, even though all foreign and domestic election observers have described the results of the elections as reflecting the will of the people and APC had won the majority of the parliamentary seats.

APC's removal of Sam Sumana with the support of the Supreme Court has emboldened members of the party to think that the courts of Sierra Leone will rule in their favor against the will of the people of Sierra Leone.

Vice President Foh is seen by many as a man with many political lives and many are waiting to see whether he will just hibernate or go into political retirement for good.

Democracy Can be Beautiful When it Works

2018-04-10T00:37:00.002-05:00

Sierra Leone President
Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio

When it works, democracy can be truly beautiful. For many years in West Africa, the only way you could get leaders out of power was through military coups, natural deaths or violent and sometimes bloody political insurrection.

Vice President
Dr. Juldeh Jalloh

Most post-independent West African leaders only left power dead or exiled. Those that stayed in power for long left legacies of political disappearances and the graves of their political adversaries. Up til now, Gambians are still coming to grasp with the legacy of their last President Yahya Jammeh, even as mass graves are discovered on a regular basis.

In the past few years there have been democratic transfers of power with the defeat of ruling parties in polls in Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Liberia and now Sierra Leone. In West Africa of the 60s, 70s and 80s, this was mostly unheard of. But these days, it is becoming the norm, and West Africans are liking it.

In the past, West Africa's intellectual elite who advocated for changes in leadership or the conditions of the people such as Ken Saro Wiwa in Nigeria and Jim Fornah in Sierra Leone, paid with their lives, for trying to upend the status quo. Many others either fled, dropped out of politics for the sake of their families, or gave up and joined those in power.

In many of these countries the leaders just formed one party states. After the 1977 national election in Sierra Leone, President Siaka Stevens declared the country a one party state and made all political opposition illegal. His All Peoples Congress party was in power unchallenged, until it was forced out of leadership by a military coup in 1992.

People all over the world have aspirations for a better life, and Africa is no exception. With increased globalization and a revolution in communication, media outlets and platforms, the people in West Africa are seeing the living conditions of people in other areas of the world and asking themselves why their own societies are stagnating or regressing, while there was progress in so many other areas of Africa.

In this day of Facebook and WhatsApp, the young people are acutely aware of the possibilities that their societies can achieve through better governance, especially now that migration to the West is becoming much more difficult than in the past. Young Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora frequently travel to the country and educate their folks about the fact that Sierra Leone has too much resource potential for the people to remain mired on poverty.

Past African governments had tight controls over both the source and the distribution of information in the country. In the past, national radio stations, television stations and many newspaper outlets were controlled by either the governments or the agents of those in power. Those days, the governments fed the population a steady dose of propaganda and public corruptiom scandals were few and far between.

Unfortunately for African leaders the emergence of social media has made the control of information practically impossible. Even when ex-president Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone sent many good journalists in the country as press attaches to overseas embassies where they effectively became propaganda agents, most of them only succeeded in becoming subjects of ridicule, as ordinary citizens with cellphones became the most trusted reporters in the country. Cellphone recordings of a fight between the former Social Welfare and his visually impaired deputy where they used some pretty unsavory language led to the dismissal of both of them.

Campaigning

A massive corruption scheme around last year's pilgrimage to the Muslim holy land of Mecca made many people lose faith in the present government, as people just did not believe that public servants would descend to the level of corruption that would involve selling places for pilgrimage to such a religiously revered place.

When Mohamed Bangura, the intellectually challenged information minister of the outgoing government boasted that he would ban social media in the country, he became the butt of many jokes, as he had no idea the challenges that would entail and was a man known for talking before thinking.

Against all odds the opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party SLPP over the past weekend won the election in Sierra Leone. After pouring massive public resources into a campaign in which the President personally hand picked both his successor and the running mate, the ruling party lost, even though they had embarked on a campaign that they were very confident of winning and describing the opposition party of being penniless and broke. They were buoyed by the defection of the last chairman of the SLPP Chief Somano Kapen, a man seemingly cursed to die in opposition.

SLPP Turncoat
Chief Somano Kapen

The reading of the country's election results had to be variously delayed, as the outgoing government wanted to engage in every known political shenanigan in order to ensure that Dr. Samura Kamara, the president's own choice was elected by hook or crook.

However the electoral commissioners held firm. Many people became increasingly aware that the tides were turning when government agents ridiculously started accusing election observers and foreign agents of trying to rig elections. It was an act that smirked of desperation.

When the election results were announced and Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio the opposition candidate was declared the winner, the losing Dr. Samura went on TV to say he will challenge the outcome. However, nobody in the country paid him much attention. It was like someone cooking soup and then blaming others for its poor taste. Samura lost a historic opportunity to behave like a gentleman. However he seem to be accepting reality and went to church with the President where he acknowledged him as the President.

The new President, Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio has many challenges. He is inheriting a country that is now more corrupt than at any time in its history, with an economy that is in the doldrums. The saving grace is that Maada Bio is no political novice and there are people around him with serious experience who can proffer good advice. His main challenge will be how to distribute leadership positions among his many supporters without alienating many at this crucial time. One only hopes he has been planning for this outcome.

Proud Defector
Kapen

Regardless of what happens, democracy in West Africa is maturing. Probably in our lifetime the people all over that area of Africa will be able to choose their leadership unhindered and hold them accountable to their promises.

In spite of the fact that it occasionally leads to tyranny of the majority, democracy is beautiful when it works.

Sheku Sheriff.

Maada Bio Becomes President of Sierra Leone

2018-04-05T02:05:00.001-05:00

His Excellency
Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio
President of the Republic of Sierra Leone

Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio is once again the leader of the Republic of Sierra Leone! As they say, you can never put a good man down. He may stumble, but he will always rise up again.

Yesterday, His Excellency, our President, the Fountain of Honor, Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Wonnie Bio was sworn into office by Sierra Leone's Chief Justice immediately after the results of the runoff elections were announced and he was declared victorious.

Many of Maada's political adversaries never truly believed that he would lead the country again. Many had long ago written his political obituary. But like a bad dream, he is back. Ready to lead.

With singular determination and tenacity, Maada has weathered all the storms of doubt and has given a new meaning to the adage "who God blesses no man can curse."

In these days of WhatsApp and Facebook, Sierra Leone like many other countries, has seen an unparalleled introduction of nastiness into the country's politics. Maada Bio became a prime target.

Those who claim to have know Maada's private and personal life were all over social media with their stories, smears and allegations. Tonight many Sierra Leoneans will quietly delete many of the intensely personal things they either wrote or spoke about the Brigadier. Thankfully, he will have the last laugh.

What many naysayers and Maada's critics failed to grasp was that APC had nothing more to offer to the people of Sierra Leone, nothing, but the same broken promises and lies.

After ten years of mismanagement and corruption, even the man in the village wanted change. With nothing to offer many ardent APC supporters turned to tribalism and sectionalism. It was a failed strategy, as every tribe in Sierra Leone had suffered under the failed promises of the outgoing government. People wanted change and preferred a familiar face.

The Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) can learn a lot from the mistakes of APC. People everywhere in the world want a better future and not just some token act of goodwill when you need them. APC operatives thought that a few bags of rice, some small money, alcohol and preaching tribalism was all it took for the people to forget the suffering of the last ten years.

After the Ebola mess, mudslide mess, cholera mess, bus-gate, hajj-gate and the corruption, cronyism and negativity of the last 10 years, the people had had enough and said no to the outgoing President's hand chosen successor Samura Kamara who has said he is going to court.

All we can say is this; it will rain once more in Sierra Leone as the people take shelter from the sun and enter the green shade of the palm tree. Let us turn over a new leaf.

Ghanaian Ex-President John Dramani Mahama Addresses Bogus Allegations of Election Interference

2018-04-03T21:05:00.001-05:00

Ghanaian Expressed
John Dramani Mahama

I arrived in Accra this evening to a flurry of social media stories and other worrying reports attributed to officials of the Sierra Leonean Government, that I had cut short my mission and left Freetown because of my support for one of the Candidates and Political Parties in the just ended Presidential Run-off election.

As Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group to the Sierra Leone Election, I was officially due to complete my Mission and leave Sierra Leone on Monday April 02, 2018, via Kenya Airways as per the ticket bought and issued to me by the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.

Following multiple issues that arose just when the tallying of the result from the run-off began, I was requested through a call from the Secretary General of The Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland, to stay one more day to work with my colleague Heads of International Observer Missions to resolve issues that had stalled the tallying process.

My departure was therefore delayed until Tuesday April 03, 2018.

With this extension in mind, I joined my colleagues in multiple meetings with the political stakeholders on April 01, 2018 until well after midnight to achieve consensus in order to have the tallying process proceed. All these meetings were chaired by Professor Amos Sawyerr, Head of the ECOWAS Observation Mission.

In the afternoon, just before my departure from Freetown, I joined my colleague former Presidents, Amos Sawyer of Liberia, Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas at the Presidential Lodge to brief President Ernest Bai Koroma on our efforts in reaching an agreement between the political parties and the National Electoral Commission in order that the tallying process could proceed.

I bid farewell to President Koroma before I drove to the sea coach to leave for Lungi Airport.

My departure from Freetown was not sudden and when I bid farewell to President Koroma I did not get any indication in word or deed that I was not wanted anymore in his country.

I was leaving because by my agreement with The Commonwealth my mandate as Head of Mission had ended. The Commonwealth technical team were also due to leave Freetown on April 03, 2018 but a cancellation of their Air France flight is keeping them there till Wednesday April 04, 2018.

International Observers have no capacity to change the will of the people, in any election. I, John Dramani Mahama, have no interest in who governs the people of Sierra Leone. The long nights, early mornings, long meetings, diplomatic shuttles were all aimed at helping Sierra Leone choose their leader freely, maintain the peace and consolidate their democracy.

As President of the Republic of Ghana and Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in 2014, I visited Sierra Leone when all others abandoned the country and foreigners were leaving. I offered my country as the staging post for the fight against Ebola.

I have expressed openly to anyone who would listen the progress Sierra Leone has made since I last visited when the country was at its most vulnerable, at the height of the Ebola crisis. I have absolutely no interest in who becomes President of Sierra Leone at the end of this elections. I just believe that a credible election would consolidate not only Sierra Leone's democracy but also its peace, bearing in mind it's past gruesome civil war.

If my presence, in the midst of a volatile and violent situation, at Goderich during the first round of voting to prevent what would have clearly marred a beautiful day of election, or my actions in conducting my mandate as head of my mission has so angered some people so much, as to throw such accusations at me, I can only respond that, I wish Sierra Leone well and that on this exhausting mission, I put my best experience at the service of that nation's democracy and I pray that the in the end, whoever emerges as leader will continue to consolidate this process and continue to build on the good works of his predecessors.

Let us all continue to join the good people of Sierra Leone in prayer.

John Dramani Mahama

Bubu King Ahmed Janka Nabay Passes Away in Sierra Leone

2018-04-03T18:35:00.001-05:00

Ahmed Janka Nabay
"King of Bubu Music"

Ahmed Janka Nabay, who popularized the uniquely Sierra Leone "Bubu Music" has sadly passed away in his country of birth Sierra Leone at the age of 54.

Bubu is traditional music of the Temne ethnic group of Northern Sierra Leone, but it's infectious horns and captivating beats always made it a popular form of music in all corners of the country.

For those of us who grew up around the Sierra Leone capital Freetown, Bubu was the staple music of the popular lantern parades that were part of the Muslim festivities associated with the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Bubu added a unique Sierra Leonean flair to the Muslim festivities.

Many people occasionally associate Bubu as being somehow affiliated with Islam, but Bubu Music predates Islam in Sierra Leone and is part of the indigenous musical landscape of the country.

Ahmed Janka Nabay rose to prominence in Sierra Leone during the tough years of the civil war when he released a popular hit "Somebody" that infused the traditional horns and drums of Bubu music with western instruments, giving Bubu Music a modern feel

Bubu is not for the slow, it both fast paced and groovy, requiring arduous quick dust raising movements. Bubu combined with the local brews of Sierra Leone was a potent mixed that had people gyrating from dusk to dawn.

Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang

Ahmed Janka Nabay moved to the USA around 2003. Between odd jobs here and there, he joined with some local musicians on the US scene to form a band called Janka Nabay and the Bubu gang that recorded several songs and was very popular in the indie music performance circuit.

Last year Janka Nabay went back to Sierra Leone and died last night after some stomach illness. He will be buried tomorrow April 4th in Freetown as his label reports.

Because of his pioneering work in pioneering Bubu Music, Ahmed Janka Nabay will always be remembered as the King of Bubu Music. He joins a revered list of Sierra Leone musicians such as Dr. Oloh, Ebenezer Calendar, Salia Koroma, and S.E. Rogie, to name but a few, who introduced the world to the tapestry of music that is at the heart

of the cultural heritage of Sierra Leone. We will miss him.

The Gambian Coalition: A Coalition Against What?

2017-03-21T02:21:00.001-05:00

President Adama Barrow

The brouhaha surrounding the election of the current Gambian President Adama Barrow over long-term dictator Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh Babili Mansa and Jammeh's inital acceptance and later rejection of the election results and the determination of ECOWAS to ensure that Jammeh had to go by love or by force, hid a major problem with the victorious Gambian Coalition; it's inherent instability.

The Gambian Coalition that trounced Yahya Jammeh in December 2016 was a loose collection of eight political parties, bonding together by necessity, in spite of their personal and ideological differences, to ensure that their common enemy, Yahya Jammeh, was defeated in the Presidential elections of that December.

Halifah Sallah

The Coalition Presidential candidate Adama Barrow, in a grand compromise, had to resign from his own party, the United Democratic Party, and contest as an independent candidate, so that no one party could lay a legal claim to the coalition presidency.

However, the coalition agreement could not negate the fact that these were individuals, many of whom had been political rivals for decades, each with different economic and political ideologies. As is usually the case with African politics, many of these parties also had different ethnic loyalties. It was a chaotic mix of parties, personalities and opinions, managing to temporarily coexist in an unstable equilibrium.

Ousainou Darboe

In fighting against a common enemy, the Gambian Coalition had managed to present a united front throughout the pandemonium that followed Jammeh's defeat, followed by his intransigence and refusal to step down from office and his ultimate exile deep into the interior of the relatively unknown Central African country of Equatorial Guinea, where it is reported, he is contemplating going into farming.

Unfortunately, now that the coalition has gotten rid of their common enemy, Jammeh, the common bond that held them together has been severed. In the clamor for positions and influence in the Barrow regime, there were already signs of strains in the coalition's cohesiveness. With legislative elections in the country coming up, the coming days and weeks will be the first major trial of the coalition and already the cracks have appeared and are only destined to widen.

A lot of ordinary Gambians around the country and in the diaspora failed to see the coalition as nothing more than a marriage of convenience. They truly wanted the Gambian coalition to have some permanence, to be a symbol of ethnic and national unity. In their minds, the coalition would demonstrate to the world that somehow, Gambians were unique and could work together, in harmony for the future of their country. Of course this was always nothing but a sweet illusion.

Given the competitive nature of the human being and the innate competitiveness of multiparty politics, the notion of a coalition of eight parties working together in harmony, in the absence of their common enemy, was never going to truly work as expected. With their common enemy, Yahya Jammeh gone into political oblivion, at least for the near future, the founding purpose of the coalition no longer exists.

Mai Fatty

The Gambian coalition was an ad hoc arrangement that worked, and will always remain an example to other African opposition groups. However, any view that it could be a permanent institution symbolizes a deep lack of understanding of human nature in general and politics in particular. Any expectation that eight African political parties can continue working together, when the glue that held them together no longer exists, is simply political naivete. At the end of the day, Gambians are just as humans as the rest of mankind and multiparty politics will always be a battle of different interests and different world views, and the two will always be uneasy bedfellows.

With Gambian Coalition spokesman Halifa Sallah deciding not to take part in the country's executive and erudite lawyer Ousainou Darboe freed from incarceration and now in power, these are two political and intellectual heavyweights with political ideologies so diametrically opposed, that I just do not see a way that they can continue reading from the same playbook. Throw into that mix all the other political and ideological heavyweights both within the country and abroad, with different views of the future and different ideas on good governance, it would be a miracle if the cohesiveness of the coalition survives more than a year.

Vice President Fatou Tambajang

The coalition worked when it needed to and is still in a strong position to do a lot of good before the cracks become permanent. They can set the stage for what happens in the Gambia of the future and can ensure that the human right violations that occurred under Jammeh will never happen again. The coalition's common purpose now will be to rewrite the rules of the country, guaranteeing the citizens real political freedom. They can also ensure the establishment of a thriving democracy with real checks and balances. They can guarantee the respect for human rights and the rights of minorities, and can ensure that the mistakes of the past 22 years will never be repeated again.

Together, the coalition can determine the the rules for future political engagement in the country, ensuring a level playing field for all and probably become a model for good governance in the sub-region. The coalition can also ensure education for most and set up institutions that will encourage youths to develop skills for formal and self employment. With all the parties currently working together, the future of Gambia looks bright. However, power and politics has a way of clouding good dreams, and I hope the coalition stays the course and continue the good fight, at least for now.

Tegloma Washington DC Inaugurates First Female Federation Leader

2017-03-10T00:15:00.002-06:00

First Female Leader of Tegloma
Chairman Julia Hawa Conteh

Founding Member and First Tegloma
Chairman Benjamin Blake

Tegloma Federation Inc, is the largest Sierra Leonean nonpolitical organization in the diaspora. Tegloma which means "Togetherness for Progress" was founded in Washington DC in 1975, to promote the culture, welfare and interests of Sierra Leoneans of Southeastern descent living in the United States.

Displaying the Staff of Office

The Tegloma Washington DC Chapter was the first of the more than twenty chapters which today comprises Tegloma Federation International Inc, an organization that has now spread to three continents.

At its inception, Tegloma was primarily a Mende organization, as was common with many of the cultural organizations of the period, which were founded along ethnic lines.

Tegloma Federation Vice Chairman
Mrs Elizabeth Saidu Momoh

However, given the interest in the organization by people who were not Mendes, the Tegloma organization has since evolved to open its door to all Sierra Leoneans and nationals of other countries who were interested in the culture and traditions of Southeastern Sierra Leone.

Tegloma Land Committee Members
Seisay and Janneh

Tegloma has also become a nonprofit organization engaging in charitable causes in USA and Sierra Leone and was one of the first Sierra Leone diaspora organizations to respond with material assistance during the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone.

Chiefs Summit Host Washington DC
President Moiforay

Secretary General Amos Allie

Tegloma as an organization is comprised of several semi-autonomous chapters in many states in the USA, with chapters also in Canada, Gambia and Sierra Leone. All Tegloma chapters are subject to the authority of the Tegloma Federation Inc, which is the umbrella organization for all chapters.

Some Current and Past Chapter Chiefs

Over the years, many Tegloma chapters in varous states have been led by women. However, the leadership of the main Tegloma Federation administration has been the sole preserve of men, a legacy of the patriarchal nature of Sierra Leone organizations and society. Sierra Leone has always had male Presidents and Vice Presidents throughout its history.

Presenting the Tegloma Staff of Office

Tegloma New England President
"Mama Africa"

However, in September 2016, Julia Hawa Conteh, the former President of Tegloma New York Chapter took a hammer and to the male reinforced glass ceiling of the organization, shattered it and became the first female Tegloma Federation Chairman and President in the 41 year history of the organization.

Hawa Julia Conteh had previously lost a Federation Chairman election,but remained undeterred in her quest to make history. On the second try she succeeded as the first lady to win a Tegloma federation election for chairmaan. Julia Hawa Conteh and Vice Chairman Elizabeth Saidu Momoh finally brought an end to the decades of male domination of Tegloma, under the likes of Benjamin Blake, Lansana Nyallay, Sam Saidu, Allie Foh, Alfred Jamiru and many other past male leaders of the organization.

Julia's election was a calculated and determined effort that has brought into the organization what the female members of the organization are now calling "Woman Power!" A lady at the inauguration of Julia Hawa Conteh stated that women would lead the organization for the next 40 years. That is yet to be seen.

Tegloma Patrons

Julia Hawa Conteh Recognizing
Chapter Chiefs

Being the first female leader of a male dominated organization, and coming from a culture used to male leadership has not been easy for the new leader of the organization in her first few months in office. Already come of the male members of the organization with strong traditional mentality are in strong opposition to her leadership. Some of the older chapter leaders opposed to her leadership boycotted her inauguration this past weekend in Washington DC.

Hail to the Chief

Tegloma Federation Treasurer
Deborah Bockarie

In spite of the testosterone fueled obstacles, Tegloma's first female leader Julia Hawa Conteh was, in the presence of her husband and family, publicly presented to the friends and members of the Sierra Leone community, at a Tegloma Chiefs Summit on March 4th 2017, at an elaborate inaugural ceremony that was organized by the Tegloma Federation and the hardworking men and women of Tegloma Washington Chapter, led by their dynamic Chief Brima Moiforay.

Former Tegloma Board Chairman
Abu Bhonapha

Julia Hawa Conteh who is a member of Tegloma New York chapter decided to have her inauguration in Washington DC, to symbolize the fact that the first female leader of the organization was formally unveiled in the founding chapter of the organization.

Julia Hawa Conteh with Proud
Family

Tegloma Chiefs and members from all over the continental USA flew to Washington DC to witness and participate in the historic Chiefs Summit and Inauguration. The Vice Chairman of the Federation Mrs. Elizabeth Momoh, was also in attendance, including many former and present executive members of the Tegloma Federation administration and board of directors.

Woman Power

Pouring Libations
Rose Mustapha

The Chiefs summit was a mixture of old meets new, with the Keynote Speaker being the first ever Chairman of Tegloma Federation Mr. Benjamin Blake, who spoke of the history of Tegloma and its enormous role in the sociocultural history of the Sierra Leone diaspora. The rest of the Chiefs summit was devoted to contemporary issues such as organizational assistance to Sierra Leone's educational and health sectors, fundraising initiatives and organizational sustainability.

Former Board and Administration Chairmen
Mustapha & Jamiru

Minnesota & Missouri Chapter
Presidents

Out-Going Tegloma Dallas Chief
Elizabeth Mamie Bockarie

Dinner Break

Tegloma Founding member
Ernest Pekanyande

The ceremonial inauguration was presided over by the former Board Chairman Abu Bhonapha, as the current Board Chairman was not able to attend the occasion. The MC for the inauguration were Dr. Lawrence Sandi and Miss Rosaline Bangura.

MC Rosaline Bangura

MC Dr Lawrence Sandi

The Sun Sets on Jammeh Babili Mansa

2017-01-19T19:13:00.001-06:00

Yahya Jammeh is now slowly starting to realize that the base of his castle was built on a foundation of sand.

One of my Nigerian friends who knows President Buhari very well told me some days ago that the Nigerian President did not like stubborn people. So when President Buhari came last Friday to Gambia and left very hastily, leaving behind the other members of his delegation, it was very clear that things had fallen apart. My friend told me in no uncertain terms that Yahya Jammeh had made a grave and existential mistake.

Today, as Senegalese troops entered Gambia and rolled through the empty roads of the country easily, meeting no military resistance but people in the villages cheering them on, it was very clear that all the loud threats made by Yahya Jammeh over the past few weeks had just been a load of hot air.

Even though it is rumored that military elements loyal to Ex-President Yahya Jammeh were planning surprise night attacks on the foreign troops, such an action would be extremely foolhardy, as the mass of troops arraigned against them is just too overwhelming.

One thing Jammeh failed to realize in all this period of saber rattling and making loud noises was the distinct disadvantage his country had when it came to defensive warfare. Other countries in the region like Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast have a lot of tropical jungle in which guerilla elements can hide and mount protracted small scale military campaigns.

Unfortunately for Jammeh, his country is completely in the Sahel. Almost the entire country has no major forest. Vegetation is very sparse in most of Gambia. During the dry periods, you can see miles and miles of dry flatlands filled with dried scorched grass that crumbles just when touched. Some areas of Gambia are so hot that nobody can stay anywhere that is not near a known source of drinking water. In essence there is almost no jungle in the country for his overrated "Junglers" to hide in. Jammeh has a brave military, but they could only be realistically used to control the people of his country and the occasional foreign peacekeeping mission.

There was no way Jammeh could fight Senegal, let alone West Africa.

Gambia is also a very small country with an area of about 4,127 square miles. By comparison, Sierra Leone, another small country in West Africa is about 27,699 square miles. As small as Sierra Leone is, it is more than 6 times the size of Gambia and Sierra Leone is one of the smallest countries in West Africa! The widest part of Gambia is less than 30 miles. It is a long and narrow country swallowed entirely by Senegal, except along its coastal boundary with the Atlantic Ocean.
Senegal is 75,951 square miles!

Given these distinct geographical disadvantages and a military that was less than 2000 men, why Yahya Jammeh boasted that he can defeat any force sent to fight him will forever remain a ministry. Probably, by suppressing the small population of his country for 22 years, Jammeh had either forgotten the true size of his country or he truly believed that Allah would intervene on his behalf.

However, many of Jammeh's allies have been more realistic. Almost his entire cabinet, including his Vice President have now resigned. The only ones still holding out are those who believe everything their Marabouts tell them, the ones that probably believe that Jammeh csn actually cure AIDS. Even members of the military, including the Chief of Staff are now reported to have switched their allegiance to Barrow. Stubbornness is a lonely place.

Things are fluid at the moment, with conflicting news coming out of the country. What has been confirmed is that foreign troops are now in the country with UN Security Council and AU blessing and under ECOWAS command to kick out the stubborn Jammeh. World diplomats have shifted recognition of presidential status from Jammeh to Barrow. Gambian troops have so far refused to engage the foreign troops. Jammeh is still in the country.

We will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds. But currently,things do not look good for the king of Kanilai, Babili Mansa Professor Sheikh.