WB,
And because of all that you have so painstakingly explained, Barack Obama should not invite any of his favourite African presidents to the Summit?
Cheer up! It's possible that there are a few who will not accept the invitation because Mugabe is not invited...
Take heart. I am not an "intellectual". If you look for me and try to find me I'll be missing there on your radar, and I promise, that you won't find me walking right behind you. You are of course free to write a history book for the general public, motivated by "History is a light that illuminates the past, and a key that unlocks the door to the future."
But we have one thing in common, not too long ago, because of my staunch support for the APC the last two elections some members of the CKC side of my family told me that I am no longer related to them, that I am a Tonkolili man. Sure, and I'm not only a Tonkolili man, what about the honky-tonky man, am I not that too? And so I say to them all: lempeh mu. They can all go and burn in hell.
I just checked my passport: I departed from Kotoka Airport to Freetown on the 27th of March 1970 and returned to Accra on the 8th of April, 1970. That was the very last time I was in Sierra Leone: from the 27th of March to the 8th of April, 1970.
John Amadu Bangura was hanged on 29th March 197. In Ghana, when I got the news of what had happened - prior to his execution, I cried. I wish that I could have stopped his execution. I couldn't.
I left Ghana for Sweden on 2nd of June 1970 and returned to Ghana on 2nd October 1970...
I think that we were more successful in getting Pa Shaki to abandon the idea of using Sierra Leone as a burial place for some orporto's nuclear waste – I acted independently I actually wrote a letter to him warning him of the terrible consequences if he should go ahead with the burial and that was my second to last major effort in trying to directly influence what was happening in Sierra Leone. My very last effort was when I heard that our drummer ( of our once upon a time band) Gipu Felix-George and former BBC newsman Hilton Fyle had been arrested - in fact that their " tongues had been cut out" - I was in London at the time and I phoned Mr. H.M. Lynch-Shyllon who was then in hospital and talked to him in his hospital bed ( he was very upset of course) – but as you know, God moves in His mysterious ways and these two guys are alive even as I write this....
OK so you don't like Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, but don't you think that it's a little too ingenious of you to go to all the trouble of paraphrasing him – according to your personal prejudices, when you would serve justice better and be more credible if you were to quote him verbatim instead of wanting me, a sceptic for one , to believe that Pa Kabbah would have meant what you attribute to him here : "I am paraphrasing here, that he wanted the ECOMOG (Nigerian troops) to bomb Sierra Leone to the Stone Ages and he would not be disconcerted if he had to be president of dogs?"
I know that Pa Kabbah is a god-fearing man and would never have said such a thing! That was only some evil at work in the tenses of your malicious paraphrase. Beware! You ought not to bear false witness against your neighbour!
However, there are unverified reports from diverse sources that Dr. John Karefa- Smart won the 1996 elections. The results of most African elections are usually hotly, sometimes even violently disputed, so, where do we go from there? I'm often surprised by how warmly other international actors have spoken about Dr. Karefa –Smart - as soon as I said I was born in Freetown a Swedish diplomat - Sweden's former ambassador to Tanzania took me by the hand and did some very surprising praise-singing of our man and many other such people that I have met occasionally, from other nations, have always spoken very highly of Dr. John Karefa –Smart.
There are those who have some reservations about the conduct of that election, that there was not a complete sovereignty exercised over the whole of Sierra Leone, especially the East was still under rebel control and still the election went ahead and votes were counted from that region. I notice that you have not uttered a word about Dr. James Jonah , but I guess that he will appear in your longer version of the history of Sierra Leone. (By the way is that the husband of Mrs Jonah the former principal of Mathura?)
Thou shalt not exaggerate! In the future, please take care how you weigh your words. Saying that I "revere both Kabbah and Ernest Koroma" is an exaggeration. So is "The hatred of the British towards the Temnes" ... an exaggeration but then again the Mendes are more of missionary boys than the good people of the calibre of the great Bai Bureh!
I am exercising some self-discipline and doing some precautionary damage control and that's why I'm reluctant to say anything about Sir Albert Margai, Brigadier David Lansana and the first coup d'état in Sierra Leone.
Questions (Ignoramus likes asking them): What do you think of Maada Bio?
What are your future plans for your fatherland?
Please tell us, where do we begin?
Sincerely
On Monday, 27 January 2014 04:20:04 UTC+1, william bangura wrote:
My analyses were to provide an accurate historical background of "your friends and heroes" Abdulai Conteh, Tejan Kabbah and Ernest Koroma. As an "intellectual" you should appreciate the history (the record of past events) of any discourse.
I am a proud Yoni Themne from Yonibana Chiefdom, Tonkolili District, and our generation compliment and rejoice with those who neither want to murder our parents in cold blood nor want to destroy Sierra Leone socio-economically and politically.
Our moaning and mourning led to the establishment of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Sankoh was from Khoilifa Mabang and he was the nephew of the Great Paramount Chief Bai Yorso Kholifa of Kholifa Chiefdom. Dr. Forna was born in Kholifa Mamunta. I hope you get the "drift".
Please illuminate on those who are "… even more concerned about Sierra Leone's future."
Who do you have contempt for? Who are the gangsters, the prayer leaders or the priests?
Please apprise me of those who characterize "the general consensus that Kabbah was a decent man"?
CH, you are contradicting yourself my brother.
"I do not crave or require your or anyone else's affidavit for a testimony to these fact– nor was I using Tony Blair as "the character references for any leader "
And then you quote Tony Blair (TB) "" President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah who was a kindly and decent man, had just come to see me to beg for help."
How can Kabbah be both a THIEF and a decent man?
Poor Sierra Leone: "Kabbah's youthful indiscretions"? Kabbah was a THIEF as a Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry and was also a BANDIT as president.
Is this the same Kabbah who after he had been ousted by the AFRC junta in 1997 had said I am paraphrasing here, that he wanted the ECOMOG (Nigerian troops) to bomb Sierra Leone to the Stone Ages and he would not be disconcerted if he had to be president of dogs?
"But Kabbah was an honorable man." PLEASE
Brother CH the sentiments you share about Kabbah is personal and very, very insignificant to his true character.
You prefer to bamboozle others in this forum but I am not going to let you get away with it. Kabbah was as mischievous as his mentor the late Sir Albert Margai. There is an adage, "Show me your friends and I will tell you your character."
Kabbah did not win the 1996 General Elections, but that hopeless Karefa-Smart (KS) United National People's Party and his (UNPP) did. When KS wanted to contest the validity of those elections in the courts, your colonial masters, the British High Commissioner to the country, Peter Penfold, buttressed by the Nigerian High Commissioner, and the U.S. Ambassador John Hirsch "convinced" the former against his action.
No sooner did KS acquiesce Kabbah co-opted his United National People's Party by financing Joe Conteh to establish another faction of the UNPP. Kabbah also emulated Siaka Stevens and his All People's Congress (APC) by marginalizing the Army with mass dismissals, and employing the Kamajosia—a predominantly Mende militia—as his para-military force.
He was also as tribal as Margai. Before the presidential run-off in 1996 Kabbah consented to an accord with Thaimu Bangura (not a relative) leader of the People's Democratic Party that he would be rewarded if the latter endorsed his Sierra Leone's People's Party. And if their coalition was victorious Bangura will be appointed the Minister of Finance with given some additional ministerial positions.
After the international community had stolen the election for Kabba and his SLPP, Bangura was appointed as Finance Minister, but was demoted only after three months to the Energy ministry.
Had Kabbah sought a sincere political solution with the Revolutionary United Front when he was president in 1996 he would saved the country from all the socio-economic carnage. But he would not because he was haunted by the shadow of Albert Margai and his SLPP, and the General Elections of March 1967.
It is very lucid why you revere both Kabbah and Ernest Koroma.
As for the communications between the late Chief Hinga Norman and London, that too is another matter that you will probably not read about in any newspaper or political science history thesis for another fifty years or so, and that too is another matter.)
Harold Wilson then the British Prime Minister during Sierra Leone's 1967 General Elections was troubled when Stevens and his All People's Congress (APC) won,
Due to the historical and colonial friendship between the Mendes and their SLPP, and the mutual antagonism between them and the Temnes, Harold Wilson then the British Prime Minister and his Labor Party were discontented with the results of Sierra Leone's 1967 General Elections. Stevens and his All People's Congress (APC) had won because the Temnes had overwhelming voted for him and his party.
The hatred of the British towards the Temnes dates back to the Hut Tax War of 1898, when our OrBai Bureh and his krugbas (warriors) fought tenaciously against your British colonial masters for demanding that my people pay taxes on their homes, though they were not represented in your House of Commons.
Because of time of space "your" Chief Norman orchestrated the first coup d'etat in Sierra Leone under the auspices of the then Force Commander Brigadier David Lansana who was Albert Margai's in-law. Kabbah appointed Norman as his deputy Defense Minister to perpetuate the Mende hegemony which had been derailed by the 1967 elections. Norman also had regional, ethnical, ideological and political differences with one Corporal Foday Sankoh of the Revolutionary United Front.
Kabbah, Norman and the conservative ilk of the SLPP thought they will militarily demolish the RUF. The rest they say is history.
Your APC and SLPP patron Tony Blair had "encouraged" the Sandline Affair—which violated a UN agreement that forbade the arming of any factions in the rebel war in Sierra Leone—which equipped the Kamajosia. He also financed Kabbah's government in exile which was located in neighboring Conakry, Guinea to the tunes of millions of British Pound Sterling.
Stevens and his APC wanted to eliminate Brigadier David Lansana because he had obstructed his dream of being Prime Minister of Sierra Leone with the March 23, 1967 coup.
Your dear friend Conteh had bank accounts because he was taking those boxes of money to be deposited overseas. Are you justifying thievery by your friend? I hope not.
Marcus Garvey, "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin or culture is like a tree without roots." I am not involved in hearsay because my depictions are factual.
If we cannot solve the problems of the past Sierra Leone WILL NEVER PROGRESS. History has taught us that all the succeeding governments since Sir Milton Margai's in 1961 to the current Ernest Koroma's had neither, nor will they provide a vertical socio-economical and political living standard for my people.
On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 8:08 PM, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:WB,May I kindly refer you to pages 246- 247 of Tony Blair's"A Journey"I have some of what you call "the ability to reason and understand" and that's why I declare to you most categorically that President Ernest Bai Koroma is not worthless. Having said that, I should like to add – in the context of this discussion, that he could be doing more to attract some of the "qualified manpower of the African Diaspora is located in the United States" back home...
As to "when Siaka Stevens' cabinet was populated with Ph.D's" including my most respected and dear friend Dr. Abdulai Conteh - we won national scholarships at the same time (I was in touch with him when I was in Nigeria – at a time when he was Foreign Minister) - well here's what Tony Blair about Sierra Leone ( on page 246) :
"In Sierra Leone in early 2000, a further challenge presented itself. It is one of the least discussed episodes of my ten years as prime minister, but it's one of the things of which I am most proud. However the important thing is the lesson it can and should teach us.
The tale of Sierra Leone - and I hope its future chapters are brighter - is a metaphor for what happened to Africa. Fourah Bay College in Freetown has a link with Durham University, where my father taught .It used to be one of the top universities in Africa and as good as many European ones. In the 1960s may dad would go out to teach in Freetown. At that time, Sierra Leone was a country freed from colonial rule, with a strong governing infrastructure and a GDP per head around that of Portugal.
Between then and the late 1990s , the country went on a downward spiral that was as tragic as it was entirely avoidable By the time we came to power, the democratically elected government looked as if it would be toppled by a collection of gangsters, madmen and sadists known as the Revolutionary United Front ( RUF) , and the country's abundant natural resources – particularly its diamonds - were being systematically plundered.. The people were caught in the middle"
When the government tried to insist that the future should be decided by an election, its supporters were subjected to a campaign of medieval brutality...." (If you haven't read it, please get the book - I did – it's worth reading - but I guess you know the rest of the story)
I am not talking about intellectual in the Jean-Paul Sartre sense (" the ability to think without restrictions" etc.), I mean intellectual in a slightly broader sense, apart from people like Kwame Anthony Appiah and Cornel West I'm talking professional manpower, doctors, engineers, like the 15,000 Nigerian doctors you have in the US and the few thousand Ethiopian doctors you have in Philadelphia and Chicago and other great American cities - people who could satisfy some of Africa's manpower requirement needs – not the empty meaningless PhDs who can only recycle other people's thoughts, not the guy my Yoruba professor was laughing about when he phoned me this morning and talked about " The Professor of Electricity who can only produce darkness" and I asked him which professor is that ( I was thinking about another "Professor" - Professor Chicken teeth") and he told me it was the Nigerian minister under whose jurisdiction NEPA is still performing so badly.
WB, Ii's two O'clock in the morning, so I must hit the sack now.
And a good night to you over there in Washington.
Sincerely,
On Thursday, 23 January 2014 21:03:28 UTC+1, william bangura wrote:CH,You cannot debunk my premise, because you never identified a leader who is not useless." It's a very important relationship and there's no gainsaying that much of the intellectual leader-ship and qualified manpower of the African Diaspora is located in the United States."Intellectual is an adjective I hate to utilize because the definition refers to the ability to reason and understand. In the history of my paternal country, Sierra Leone, "intellectuals" supported the idea of a one party system of government, and after it was practiced for almost two decades that model was more than disastrous.History has demonstrated that being educated or being "an intellectual" does not equate to good or great political leadership. Though Kofi Busia was more formally educated than Kwame Nkrumah, the later accomplished more in three years for Ghana than the former did in a comparable phase.Equating higher education and political leadership is one of the salient problems that has affected sub-Saharan Africa. Sierra Leone rapidly descended to the dump from 1977 when Siaka Stevens' cabinet was populated with Ph.D's.I leave you with a quote from William Shakespeare which must be applicable to all the people of African descent, "Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them."Almost all of the past and present "leaders" of sub-Saharan Africa had 'greatness thrust upon them'.William Bangura (WB)
On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 10:24 AM, Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com> wrote:
First of all, William Bangura's "I totally disagree with this idea of inviting 47 feckless African "Heads of States" to a summit in Washington" would imply that all 47 invitees – without exception – are what he would describe as "feckless" . I'm sure that even Mo Ibrahim would not agree to that sort of characterisation of Africa's best – even assuming that Africa does not get the democratically elected leaders that Africa deserves.Should none of these 47 Africans Union be invited to the summit? You would prefer that there was no such summit at all?
It's possible that if "a Caucasian Republican president" had organized such a meeting there would have been a hue and cry from some quarters, but right now that is beside the point.
It's a very important relationshipand there's no gainsaying that much of the intellectual leader-ship and qualified manpower of the African Diaspora is located in the United States
In this competitive world of international relations, establishing contact and dialoguing with such leaders is one way of approach. Would William Bangura suggest the more paternalistic stick and carrot approach for the US doing business with Africa? How would you like to "redeem" the situation? Any suggestions?
The main critique of China's approach to Africa has been that China tends to ignore African leaders' Human Rights records and does not make such records a condition for doing business...
On Thursday, 23 January 2014 02:49:10 UTC+1, william bangura wrote:President Obama never ceases to amaze me. I totally disagree with this idea of inviting 47 feckless African "Heads of States" to a summit in Washington.This invitation is a testament that he supports their socio-economic and political policies. If a Caucasian Republican president had organized this meeting there will be hues and cries from the "Liberal left" and the African-American 'mercenaries' (those who PRETEND that they empathize with the subjugated sub-Saharan Africans only to host and applaud "democrats" such as Macias Obieng of Equatorial Guinea, Museveni of Uganda and Kagame of Rwanda to name a few) against such a rendezvous given the current situation of wars, corruption, maladministration and repressions.Though I am to the left of the liberals in my Democratic party, I question President Obama's foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa.William Bangura (WB)On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 7:13 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emea...@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:
"Brother Obama , soon to be less tied up in Afghanistan is making his move and will be paying
a lot more attention to Africa:Obama to invite 47 African heads of state."
--
Well they can learn from him a thing or two about extra-judicial assassinations
and domestic surveillance.
GE
From:usaafric...@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafric...@googlegrou
ps.com ] On Behalf Of Cornelius HamelbergTo:usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 8:24 AM
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Great news: Brother Obama to invite 47 African heads of state to a summit on August 5th-6th , 2014
Thus far there's been so much moaning and mooning about China's progress in Africa and some groaning about Uncle Sam's increasing military presence on the African continent via Africom ; and now after Iraq, Brother Obama , soon to be less tied up in Afghanistan is making his move and will be paying a lot more attention to Africa:Obama to invite 47 African heads of state
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