Salia Koroma (1903-)

Salia Koroma was born in Segbwema although his parents had come from Kpa-Mende country. As a young man, Salia’s father left him in the care of his mother while he went to seek his fortune elsewhere. Salia was anxious to go to school but his uncles, who were responsible for him in the absence of his father, did not feel disposed to send him to school. Rather, they sent their own children. The young Salia therefore went in search of his father whom he finally found at Boajibu in the Sembaru Chiefdom. He expressed his desire for education and his father promised that he would indeed “send him to school.” He then proceeded to give young Salia an accordion and said, “This is your school.”

Salia was bitterly disappointed at first, but on the insistence of his father he settled down to playing the accordion “to the warriors and not for Europeans.” From then on, Salia took his “education” seriously. Through hard work, determination and an innate poetic talent, he taught himself to play the accordion. Although his father was a renowned accordionist himself, Salia learnt by his own experience. He spoilt many accordions in the process but his father always bought him a new one.

Gradually, Salia’s reputation began to spread, first in Mendeland and later all over Sierra Leone. He travelled from place to place entertaining chiefs and people with his stories and songs. After serving several chiefs, he moved to Rotifunk where he was court entertainer to Chief Albert Caulker for some time. After his stay in Rotifunk, he moved to Moyamba to work for the famous Chief Julius Gulama.

Always searching for knowledge and true to the spirit of minstrels, Salia was constantly on the move. He eventually ended up in Freetown where he joined the Sierra Leone Police Force until the outbreak of the Second World War. Up to this day, Salia remembers distinctly that his number in the police force was 377. His police duties did not stop him from playing the accordion.

Salia has composed hundreds of songs and entertained people in all walks of life all over the country. He has been a symbol of the artist in our traditional society, and he has spent all his life trying to establish the fact that there is dignity in art — especially indigenous art. He is disappointed that Sierra Leone does not give enough appreciation to the efforts of indigenous artists. But he remains optimistic, and believes that even in his old age, he can still contribute to his art and to the nation’s cultural development.

Ebenezer Calendar (1912-1985)

Ebenezer Calendar was a cultural musician, historian and social commentator who used his popular maringa music to entertain and educate his fellow countrymen.

He was born in Freetown on November 19, 1912 of a Jamaican father and a Sierra Leonean mother. Calendar had an interrupted primary school career, attending Bishop Edwin Tabernacle and U.B.C. primary schools. According to some sources, this was the result of the hard times which the family experienced after the death of Calendar’s father. Calendar left school at the age of fifteen because his mother could not afford to pay his way through secondary school. Other sources, however, suggest that Calendar dropped out of school of his own free will, influenced largely by his young friends. He joined the Public Works Department (P.W.D.) in 1927 as an apprentice carpenter. By 1930, he had become a qualified carpenter, and he was employed by Pa Alimamy Boungie, an undertaker at Kissy Street. Pa Boungie’s undertaker shop used to conduct wake-keeping ceremonies for bereaved families. Thus Calendar would learn coffin-making during the day, and at night he would be among the men Pa Boungie would send to sing at wake-keeping ceremonies.

About this time, Calendar and two of his friends formed a small musical group. They practiced on open grounds, and on-lookers would sometimes give them money. Later, they began getting invitations to perform at weddings, parties and other festive occasions. All this was just part-time, reserved for evenings, as Calendar continued working for Pa Boungie. Before finally embarking on a full-time musical career, Calendar worked for some time with the Sierra Leone Railway, opened and ran an undertaker shop, and then was employed as cabinet-maker for the United African Company Limited (U.A.C.).

A versatile musician, Calendar learnt to play several different musical instruments, including the mandolin, the cornet, rhythm guitar and the trumpet. Calendar’s group in the 1940s and 1950s relied upon a combination of locally-produced instruments like the bata (hand drum) and the triangle, and Western instruments like the guitar and the tambourine to produce his distinctive maringa rhythm. In 1951, he was commissioned by DECCA Recording Company to record a song commemorating the launching of the newly-introduced double-decker buses. The tune was an instant success, and Calendar established his reputation as a popular songwriter/musician celebrating contemporary events of the period. From this point of view, he can be looked upon as a social historian, commenting on contemporary happenings.

Calendar’s early songs formed part of the dance music of the fifties and sixties, and most of his compatriots will remember the swinging  rhythm of the hit song “Fire, Fire.” As he grew older, his music became more philosophical, and he began to consider himself more as a teacher with the responsibility of imparting the lessons he gained from life to a younger generation. Wrapped in delightful music, Calendar preached the morality of a Krio-Christian society, with the rhythm making it easy for the people to identify with him and the values he advocated.

Ebenezer Calendar also helped popularise the radio when he joined the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service in 1952 as a programme officer. He performed with the Sierra Leone National Dance Troup at the Commonwealth Arts Festival in 1965 and 1966. On April 19, 1983 he was awarded the Certificate of Honour by the President of Sierra Leone for his meritorious service in the field of indigenous music. When he died in 1985, music groups from all over Freetown converged on his home at the foot of Mt. Aureol and played his songs continuously for twenty-four hours. Thousands gathered  to remember the man they all loved and admired.

Ebenezer Calendar’s place in Sierra Leone’s history is assured because of his significant contribution to the development of a distinctively Sierra Leonean musical tradition.

John Akar (1927-1975)

John Joseph Akar was born in 1927 at Rotifunk, Bumpe Chiefdom in what is today Moyamba District, where he attended the E.U.B. school. Subsequently he went on to the Albert Academy before proceeding to the United States and Britain to continue his studies. During his sojourn abroad, he distinguished himself as a good scholar and a versatile communicator and entertainer. He studied commercial radio and television in America, Britain, France and the West Indies, and appeared on television and in films.

In 1960, he was appointed the first indigenous Director of Broadcasting, and during his tenure he brought creative programme leadership to the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service. Through him, Sierra Leone broadcasting was raised to the highest professional standards that became the envy of the region. His aim was to get the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service to reflect more and more the true image of the country, its music, its songs and its talent. His influence was clearly distinctive in these area  — he was the writer of the music of the Sierra Leone National Anthem.

He founded the National Dance Troupe and used it as a vehicle to encourage Sierra Leoneans to be proud of their rich cultural heritage. He led the troupe on many successful performances around the world. After the troupe’s participation in the 1964 New York World’s Fair, the following report was made: “This talented folk dance troupe imposed a vivid image of Sierra Leone on the minds of thousands of Americans when it took the New York World’s Fair by storm in 1964.” In fact, it was voted the best dance ensemble at the fair, and was presented with a gold plaque. In 1965, the troupe performed at the Commonwealth Arts Festival in London, where it had a great success. The following year, the troupe performed at the Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, after which they did a four month tour of Western Europe.

The pioneering role played by John Akar awakened cultural consciousness among rural as well as urban populations, and firmly established Sierra Leone’s place on the world cultural map. The immense potentialities of our indigenous cultures to rouse the people to action, cement national unity, and to open out to the wonderful realities of our times lay dormant, and if there is one things that John Akar achieved for his countrymen, it was to instill in them a sense of pride, a love for country and an awareness of their rich cultural heritage.

McCormak Charles Farrell Easmon (1890-1972)

M.C.F. Easmon was a medical doctor who fought against racial discrimination in the Sierra Leone medical service for many years. He was also the founder and first curator of the Sierra Leone Museum.

McCormack Charles Farrell Easmon was born in Accra in the Gold Coast (Ghana) where his father, a prominent Krio doctor, was working at the time. He was educated at the CMS Grammar School in Freetown and later at St. Paul’s Preparatory School in London. He attended Epsom College in Surrey and, after graduating in 1907, was awarded scholarships to study medicine at the Medical School of St. Mary’s Hospital in London. He qualified in medicine and surgery in 1912, and the following year passed the examination of the London School of Tropical Medicine.

When Dr. Easmon returned to Sierra Leone in 1913, he was refused a post in the West African Medical Service because of his colour. There were then two categories of doctors — Europeans in the “colonial service” and Africans in the “local service.” Dr. Easmon, forced into the separate and lower category despite his excellent qualifications, became Country Hospital Native Medical Officer. But he campaigned for years against racial discrimination in the medical service, earning the antipathy of the British authorities who called him the “Yellow Peril.” During World War I, Dr. Easmon enlisted in the army and served as a medical officer in the Cameroons. After the war, he returned to England for further study and, in 1925, was awarded a medical qualification in obstetrics and gynaecology.

For the next twenty years, M.C.F. Easmon served in a variety of medical posts in the protectorate, where he acquired a profound interest in the customs and traditions of the upcountry peoples. He published a series of scholarly articles on Madam Yoko, various paramount chiefs, the famous Massaquoi Crown, and Sierra Leone’s distinctive country cloth. He also became an accomplished amateur historian, publishing several well-researched articles on the early history of the Freetown colony.

Dr. Easmon retired from the medical service in 1945, and had the satisfaction of seeing the British finally unify the two separate medical services the following year. But at the age of fifty-five, Dr. Easmon embarked on an entirely new career. He served part-time on various government boards and was at one point a director of the Bank of Sierra Leone, but his principal interest was the preservation of Sierra Leone’s historical and cultural heritage. In 1947, he became the first chairman of the Monuments and Relics Commission, and presided over the official declaration of twenty national historic sites. As a member of the Sierra Leone Society, he spearheaded the founding of the Sierra Leone Museum in 1958 and became its first curator, working untiringly to acquire worthy exhibits for the museum and to set up attractive displays. He also worked hard to acquaint the public with Sierra Leone’s history and culture, hosting a popular radio programme called “Sierra Leone in Retrospect.” In 1954, Dr. Easmon was awarded the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.).

Dr. M.C.F. Easmon fell ill while on holiday in England in 1969 and never returned to  Sierra Leone. He had won his battle against racial discrimination in the medical service, but his work to preserve Sierra Leone’s historical and cultural heritage had only just begun. Dr. Easmon was a pioneer in the field of cultural nationalism. He leaves behind an example well worth following.

Tamba Songu Mbriwa (1910-1968)

Paramount Chief Tamba Songu M’briwa was born at Jagbwema, Fiama Chiefdom, in what became Kono District, the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. He was an active politician who formed one of the Sierra Leone’s few political parties before independence.

He was educated at a local primary school before proceeding to the Bo Government School. He worked as a government dispenser before he became paramount chief. As a paramount chief in the colonial era, Tamba Songu M’briwa did much to improve the lot of his people. He established schools in his chiefdom and was generally devoted to the education of the young.

As a politician, he formed the Sierra Leone People’s Independence Movement (S.L.P.I.M.) later renamed the Kono People’s Union (K.P.U.) As leader of his party he tried to inculcate a sense of responsibility in his followers, and did his best to educate the Kono people on their political rights. His party became so popular and famous in the Kono District that the S.L.P.P., a rival political party, never won a single seat in local government elections in the Kono District during the existence of the K.P.U.

He was a fearless leader who was highly respected for his selflessness, which won him the admiration of many positive-thinking Sierra Leoneans. Convinced of the need for unity, he did much in the way of bringing together the various and varied ethnic groups in cosmopolitan Kono into his political party.

He remained a popular politician and a prominent paramount chief until he fell out with Sir Milton Margai. He was subsequently suspended from office and banished to Kamakwie in the Bombali District, Northern Province. He was eventually reinstated and later joined forces with the A.P.C., assisting in the victory of the A.P.C. over the S.L.P.P. in the 1967 general elections.

T.S. M’briwa, the fiery Kono leader, died in 1968, a few days after winning the by-elections as Paramount Chief Member for Kono District in the Sierra Leone Parliament.

SI Koroma (1930-)

Sorie Ibrahim Koroma was born in Port Loko, Maforki Chiefdom, Port Loko District, in 1930. On of Sierra Leone’s most vibrant political figures, S.I. Koroma was also involved in the labour movement of the 1950s. He blazed the trail for the implementation of the self-help idea which was an important aspect of rural development during the 1970s.

Educated at the Government Model School, Freetown, and at the Bo Government School, Mr. Koroma worked in the co-operative department from 1951 to 1958 and took a course during that time at the Co-operative College, Ibadan, Nigeria. In 1958, he resigned from government and went into private business while also becoming the first secretary-general of the Sierra Leone Motor Transport Union.

He was one of the founder members of the A.P.C., formed in 1960, and became the party’s first National Propaganda and Organising Secretary. In this role, Mr. Koroma did his best to educate the people about their political rights, and won astounding success in bringing the A.P.C. to the people and increasing the popularity of the party. In 1962, S.I. Koroma was elected to parliament as M.P. for Freetown Central I Constituency.

In 1967, he was returned to parliament for the same constituency. Following the return to civilian rule in 1968, he became Minister of Trade and Industry in Siaka Stevens’ first cabinet. In a cabinet reshuffle in 1969, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and National Resources. On the attainment of republican status in 1971, S.I. Koroma became Vice-President and Prime Minister, and in another cabinet reshuffle in 1975 he was made Vice-President and Minister of Finance. Following the 1978 one party referendum, he was appointed First Vice-President, a position he held until his retirement from politics in 1986.

Popularly known as “S.I.,” Mr. Koroma epitomised the hard-working, disciplined and relentless leader who was willing to lead his forces against any foe. He led the A.P.C. in many skirmishes during the early days then the party had to fight for its very survival. As the second-in-command in the party hierarchy, many people believe that his faithfulness and his untiring dedication to the defence of the A.P.C. at all costs sustained the party up to his retirement. For this relentless defence, he earned himself many enemies.

Mr. Koroma was for a long time the number two man of the party, but bowed out of the race for succession to Siaka Stevens when it  became clear that Major-General Momoh had the support of the rank and file of the party as well as of the general populace. Mr. Koroma continues to be a high-ranking member of the ruling A.P.C. party, but has retired from government to devote his time and attention to the management of his oil palm plantation near his home town of  Port Loko.

C.A. Kamara-Taylor (1917-1985)

Popular known as “C.A.,” the late Christian Alusine Kamara-Taylor was born on June 3rd, 1917 at Kafanta, Tonko Limba Chiefdom, in what is now Kambia District. A political activist, educator and trade unionist, he contributed much to the political and socio-economic development of Sierra Leone.

He was educated at a local primary school, the Methodist Boys’ High School and the London School of Accountancy, where he obtained a diploma in Business Methods. He returned home and gained employment as a clerk for the Sierra Leone Development Company. He later joined the Sierra Leone Regiment, rising to the position of sergeant. He saw service in Burma during World War II, but left the army after the war. He then joined the United African Company, and became public relations officer and secretary to the general manager.

Mr. Kamara-Taylor became active in local politics and was a foundation member of the A.P.C. He served as the first secretary-general of the party, a position he handled admirably for over fifteen years. He entered parliament in 1957. He contested the 1962 elections, and was elected M.P. for Kambia East Constituency. He retained his seat in the 1967 general elections and, after the return to civilian rule in 1968, was appointed Minister of Lands, Mines and Labour. Following a cabinet reshuffle in 1971, he was appointed Minister of Finance. He became Prime Minister and Minister of Interior in 1975. After the introduction of a one party constitution in 1978, Mr. C.A. Kamara-Taylor became Second Vice-President, and held that post until his death in 1985.

As a politician, he tried to foster integration among the various ethnic groups. Many will recall his selflessness when, at a crucial point during opposition days, he volunteered to answer to charges preferred against Siaka Stevens. The conviction and possible imprisonment, of Siaka Stevens then could have spelt the end of the A.P.C.

The solemn state funeral that was accorded him at his death was a fitting tribute to the contribution he made to the development of Sierra Leone.

Siaka Probyn Stevens (1905-1988)

Siaka Stevens was born on August 24, 1905 at Moyamba in what is now the Southern Province. He was educated at Albert Academy and much later at Ruskin College, Oxford, where he studied Trade Unionism. On leaving school, Stevens  jointed the Sierra Leone Police Force and rose to the rank of First Class Sergeant and Musketry Instructor. From 1931 to 1946, he worked on the construction of the Sierra Leone Development Company (DELCO) railway, linking the Port of Pepel with the iron ore mines at Marampa. He later became station master and stenographer at Marampa. A co-founder of the United Mine Workers Union, he was appointed to the Protectorate Assembly in 1946 to represent the interests of workers. Elected to the Legislative Council in 1951 as second protectorate member, he was appointed in 1952 as Sierra Leone’s first Minister of Mines, Lands and Labour. In 1957, he was elected to the House of Representatives as member for Port Loko East Constituency, but lost his seat as a result of an election petition. He later fell out with the leadership of the ruling S.L.P.P. and broke away to help found the People’s National Party, of which he became the first Secretary-General and Deputy Leader.

When the United National Front (U.N.F.) government was formed in 1959, Siaka Stevens was not included in the cabinet since he had earlier lost his seat due to an election petition against him. He did however participate in the Independence Talks in London as the Deputy Leader of the P.N.P., which had then become part of the U.N.F. On the conclusion of the talks, however, Siaka Stevens was the only delegate who refused to sign the Independence Agreement on the grounds that there had been a secret defence pact between Sierra Leone and Britain. The U.N.F. position that there would be no elections before independence may have been the main reason for Siaka’s refusal to sign, since this position would have effectively shut him out of the political process. Siaka was promptly expelled from the party on this return from Britain, but less than a month after his expulsion, he launched his Elections Before Independence Movement (EBIM) which was later to be transformed into the A.P.C.

Siaka Stevens successfully exploited the disenchantment of northern and eastern ethnic groups with the S.L.P.P. to forge the A.P.C. with such northern leaders as S.I. Koroma, C.A. Kamara-Taylor, M.O. Bash-Taqui, S.A.T. Koroma and S.A. Fofana, and to forge an alliance with the prominent Kono political leader, PC T.S. M’briwa, and his Sierra Leone Independence Movement (S.L.I.M.) In the 1962 general elections, Stevens’ A.P.C. became the main opposition party, winning sixteen seats, while Stevens himself was returned to parliament as member for Freetown West II. He served the municipality as mayor in the same year. His party won the 1967 general elections, with Stevens retaining his seat in the Freetown West II constituency. He was appointed Prime Minister, but was detained by the military and denied the Premiership until the overthrow of the military government of the National Reformation Council (N.R.C.) in 1968, when he was reappointed Prime Minister. In April 1971, he introduced a Republican Constitution and became President of the Republic a day after the constitution had been ratified by parliament.

The first general elections under the Republican Constitution were held in 1973, but the elections were marked by so much violence that the opposition S.L.P.P. withdrew. The year 1978 saw the introduction of a one party constitution, and this marked the end of opposition parties in Sierra Leone. Siaka Stevens survived two attempted coups d’etat, and met violence with violence. However, as he succeeded in consolidating power in his hands, violence and political tensions gradually subsided.

Siaka Stevens sought to open the ranks of the party to all sectors of the community and to maintain a rough balance between ethnic groups, academics, clerics, businessmen and traditional rulers. His later years in office saw the gradual moulding of diverse groups into a unified nation, the progressive lessening of cultural and regional tensions, and the creation of a more homogeneous political community. The overall impact of these developments was to provide relative stability and gradual acceptance by all Sierra Leoneans of the authority of the A.P.C. government. It was little wonder therefore that there was no hitch when the time came for Siaka Stevens to pass on the mantle of leadership to a younger man. He will long be remembered for his wise sayings, and it could be said that he heard “Sh Sh…” and, being the wise chicken he always has been, got out of the way before a stone hit him on the head.

Doctor Stevens died on 28th May 1988 in Freetown.

Mohammad Sanusi Mustapha (1903-)

Alhaji Mohammad Sanusi Mustapha has made lasting contributions in the fields of Islam, education, commerce, and politics. And, indeed, he stands in a long and proud tradition of Islamic leadership in Sierra Leone stretching back to the early history of this country.

M.S. Mustapha was born in the Oku community of Fula Town in the east end of Freetown, and has maintained a life-long attachment to that historic area. His parental grandfather, Alpha Abubakar Bilal, was the first Freetown merchant to start trading up the Scarcies River in the last century. His maternal grandfather, Sheikh Ibrahim Njai, was a Wolof from Senegal who was a noted Islamic teacher and writer in Kambia at the time of Foday Tarawaly’s great Islamic University there.

As a child, Mohammad Sanusi Mustapha was a gifted student, and was at one point head prefect at the Prince of Wales School. He went on the read law at Lincoln’s Inn. M.S. Mustapha spent the early years of his career in the civil service, while growing more and more active in public affairs. In 1935, he was Honorary Secretary of the East Ward Rate Payers Association, one of the major pressure groups in the colonial politics of the time. During that period, he was also Assistant Secretary of the National Congress of British West Africa. In 1951, he was elected to both the Legislative Council for Freetown and the Executive Council, and from there his rise was rapid. M.S. Mustapha was one of the founders of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (S.L.P.P.), and was among the first Sierra Leoneans to be appointed to cabinet rank in 1953. He was a member of the delegation for constitutional talks in London which ushered in Sierra Leone’s independence in 1961. Between 1953 and 1964, Alhaji Mustapha held several cabinet portfolios, including Finance, Works and Transport, and Trade and Industry. He continued to serve in parliament into the 1980s, on one occasion serving as Acting Vice-President II, and is still a member of the Governing Council and Central Committee of the A.P.C.

But quite aside from his brilliant political career, Alhaji Mustapha has also been a dynamic leader in the field of business. At a time when educated Sierra Leoneans avoided business as something beneath their social station, he launched himself with vigour into the world of commerce. In 1946, he helped to establish Mustapha Brothers and  Company, Importers and Exporters, a thriving business venture. Alhaji Mustapha was the first Sierra Leonean to do local rice milling. He became a licensed buying agent for the Produce Marketing Board in 1950, and was President of the Association for Buying Agencts for the S.L.P.M.B. in 1967. His commercial success is an invaluable example at a time of great need for diverse forms of indigenous private enterprise in this country.

Along the way, Alhaji Mustapha has also made important contributions to the Islamic community and to the field of education. He has been a Muslim leader in the Fulah Town area for half a century and a force in the Sierra Leone Muslim Congress for over forty years, and he was instrumental in 1958 in launching the Sierra Leone Muslim Congress Secondary School at Kissy. When the British colonial authorities wanted at one point to reduce Fourah Bay College to the status of a technical college, Alhaji Mustapha helped organise the “Save Fourah Bay College Committee” and, as Joint Secretary, toured the then protectorate whipping up support. In 1987, the University of Sierra Leone awarded Alhaji Mustapha the degree of Doctor of Civil Laws in recognition of his many contributions to Sierra Leone’s advancement.

For many years, Alhaji Mohammad Sanusi Mustapha has been known fondly as “Akpata,” from the Yoruba expression akpata kin gberu ojo, meaning watasay ston noh de fred ren. And, indeed, Alhaji Mustapha, like the watasay ston, has persevered and endured in many trying and challenging circumstances — much to the betterment of his fellow countrymen.

Sir Banja Tejan-Sie (1917-)

Sir Banja Tejan-Sie, one of Sierra Leone’s most prominent politicians during the colonial and post-colonial periods, was born on August 7th 1917 at Moyamba, in what is today the Southern Province of Sierra Leone.

He was educated at the Bo Government Secondary School and the Prince of Wales School. Before proceeding for further studies, he worked as a station clerk in the Sierra Leone Railway from 1938 to 1939 and as a nurse in the Medical Department from 1940 to 1946. He went to Britain and studied at the London School of Economics, and at Lincoln’s Inn, where he was subsequently called to the Bar in 1951.

Sir Banja returned home and set up private practice. He also became involved in politics, and was one of those who agitated for an end to colonial rule. Sir Banja was a prominent member of the Sierra Leone People’s Party from its inception, and was elected vice-president of the party in 1955. In 1958, he was appointed Police Magistrate, but he continued to be quite active in politics, and was a member of the Independence Constitutional Committee. In 1967, he was appointed Chief Justice and, in April 1968, he was appointed officer performing the functions of the Governor-General.

Sir Banja Tejan-Sie quit politics in the wake of the introduction of the Republican Constitution in 1971 and retired to London. In April 1987, he visited Sierra Leone, heeding President Momoh’s call for national reconciliation.