The Ministry of Health has confirmed that about thirty doctors arrived in Sierra Leone on Thursday with the hope of giving free treatment to Sierra Leoneans with complex conditions.

The doctors from the Saudi-based Physicians Across Continents (PAC) charity will give “free medical treatment to Sierra Leoneans who are in need for the next ten days according to the health ministry spokesman.

“The doctors are from several countries including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Sweden, Egypt, Jordan and Malaysia and are led by a consultant in vascular surgery at the King Faisal Specialists Hospital, Dr Saad Ali Al-Garm,” he said.

It is believed that this group of highly trained medical personnel – blood vessel surgeon, pediatricians, gynecologists and dentists – will help to enhance the ministry’s health care delivery service as they will intervene in areas where the average man would not be able to undertake the cost.

PAC was founded in 2004 by the World Muslim League to help in providing humanitarian aid and other services.

© 2012, Christian Foday Sesay Jr. EIC. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum

Dr Sylvia Blyden’s article, “Who Owns Kidnap Jeep AFQ 968?” detailing the story surrounding the arrest of the SLPP kidnappers, their jeep and the subsequent lies that Maada Bio gave to the police concerning ownership of the jeep. I want to pick up from Dr. Blyden’s third paragraph.

“They (the police) however insisted that they were sure because Maada Bio himself had personally phoned the Masiaka Police over the issue of the vehicle and requested that the vehicle be released by the Police as he was the owner.”

What a shame from someone who wants to rule this nation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just don’t know what Maada and his cronies take Sierra Leoneans for? His actions speak volumes about him.  It is despicable and mind bugging.

We teach our children to always tell the truth, we are indebted to report only the truth, and court witnesses take an oath to give “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If only it were so simple, Maada Bio, the SLPP presidential candidate, won’t have lied to the police and the nation, when he claimed to be the owner of the green jeep used for the kidnapping along the Masiaka Highway. This is considered as a gross attempt by Maada Bio to obstruct justice and continue to hide things under the carpet as he has always done.

The question that seems to be lingering in everyone’s mind now is: Why did Maada lie to authorities? Well, if you are fortunate to have read Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” as much as I have, the seemingly endless pattern of Maada Bio and his camp lately at deceiving the nation and the international community is based on the ingrained but sadly false understanding of the meanings of presidential elections – which is unfortunately synonymous to warfare for him.

And there you have it. Maada Bio made the conscious and criminal decision to go full tilt lying to the police having direct reason to knowing the mission of the kidnappers and the political implications of any exposure. What he also understood when he lied, was that the suspects were of very marginal use to the authorities and to his sinister campaign.

According to Sun Tzu, “All warfare is based on deception”. To understand why he lied; we have to begin by appreciating that for most candidates, elections are a lot like war. Winning is everything and anything else that comes from running for office (advancing a personal agenda, gaining notoriety, becoming a dictator, looting the state coffers). He runs to win, at all cost – Pa o Pa — and that makes the election epic and has the penchant for violence.

As we move closer to the presidential election, Sierra Leoneans should not give up on honesty from our presidential candidates. The assumption seems to be that politicians will always lie and that voters’ defense against that should be to vote against them. The most terrible ending would be for everyone to give up — for voters to conclude that all politicians lie and for politicians to lie when they think that they will get away with doing so, hoping that enough people will be misled and that others won’t hold it against them.

To overturn this dreadful and dangerous course, Sierra Leoneans should set their standards for honesty higher and hold every would be leader accountable for every utterance they proffer now. This calls for doing their best to differentiate between deceit and honest mistakes; between lies that have been proved as in the case of Maada Bio and lies that are only suspected.

The temptation is strong, in our blind and unpatriotic partisan climate, for politicians, their supporters and all who have a stake in their victory to view their own lies as inoffensive compared with those of their opponents. To the extent that they choose to engage in distortion and allow others to carry out smear campaigns on their behalf, they will contribute further to public distrust and to doubts about their personal character and integrity as we are now seeing in the nation.

To the nation, if Maada Bio can publicly lie with such impunity to the police on a national issue as grave as political kidnapping with serious allegations of cannibalism, can you imagine what he says to you to get him elected?

And to Maada Bio and his deceptive crew, integrity is all you have – that is, if you still have some left – so please protect whatever is left in you because Sierra Leone is priceless to us more than you know.

© 2012, Christian Foday Sesay Jr. EIC. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum

Attorneys for Charles Taylor have appealed to the war crimes court for permission to reopen their defense case, saying a recently published Security Council report could help clear him of charges he sent fighters to commit atrocities in Sierra Leone’s civil war.

In the written request filed Tuesday and released Wednesday by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Taylor’s lawyers seek to introduce into evidence about 20 pages of a U.N. panel of experts report on Liberia that discusses the activities of mercenaries.

Taylor’s lawyers argued the report supports their claim that Liberian fighters crossed into neighboring countries to fight for personal gain “rather than in furtherance of a sweeping joint criminal enterprise” led by Taylor.

They say the report shows that Liberian fighters were able to cross into Sierra Leone “without being under the direction or control of Mr. Taylor and without the implicit approval of the government of Liberia.”

The written filing said that admitting the pages of the report into evidence would not unduly delay the case. Taylor’s three-year ended early last year and judges are expected to deliver their verdicts in coming weeks.

He pleaded innocent to 11 charges including murder, torture and using child soldiers. Prosecutors allege he armed and supported rebels notorious for hacking off the limbs of their enemies in Sierra Leone’s brutal 1991-2002 civil war.

Prosecutors say from his seat of power in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, Taylor backed Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary Front in return for “blood diamonds” illegally mined using slave labor.

His trial marked the first time a former African head of state had appeared before an international war crimes tribunal.

The court did not react to the filing. Judges last month rejected a similar application by Taylor’s lawyers to admit into evidence two cables published by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

© 2012, Christian Foday Sesay Jr. EIC. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum

London Mining, which began producing iron ore in Sierra Leone in December, said on Wednesday it had made its first shipment of 49,656 wet metric tones.

The miner — which produces high-quality ore suitable for Europe, unlike many other juniors operating in the region — said the shipment had departed Freetown heading for a destination in Europe.

“January 2012 has been a landmark month for London Mining. We have commenced exports from our operation at Sierra Leone and production from our operation in Colombia,” Chief Executive Graeme Hossie said in a statement.

The company said it planned two further shipments from Marampa in February. London Mining said last month it had trimmed its output target for 2012 to 1.5 million tonnes due to the ore mix.

“We are focused on producing 1.5 Mt at Marampa in 2012 and are encouraged by the Marampa product specification which allows us to capture a significant grade related pricing premium,” Hossie said.

© 2012, Christian Foday Sesay Jr. EIC. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum

Key Note Address by His Excellency the President
Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma
Sierra Leone Conference on Development and Transformation

The journey of the next fifty years of independence has begun; and we are gathered here today to map out how we are going to make it better than the journey we made during the last fifty years. This Conference is a moment for solidifying our collective promise to make this country better than we inherited it; and to deliver a country to our grandchildren that is worthy of their admiration, respect, and honorable remembrance of us.

The vision is already cast; the aspirations made known, and the situation more opportune than at anytime since the founding of our nation. Sierra Leoneans all over the country are in agreement that this nation must seize the opportunities inherent in the growing interests in our natural resources and commitment to democracy. We are here to map out how we will utilize our natural resources, our democracy and our culture to transform this nation into a middle-income level country and an advanced economy within the next twenty-five to fifty years.

Fellow Sierra Leoneans, distinguished friends of our great nation, it is within our rights to have this vision for Sierra Leone; it is within our rights to want to be in charge of our transformation, and it is within our rights to chart the way forward towards this great vision. More importantly the realization of this vision is within our reach, it is within the possibilities offered by our immense natural resources; and it is within touching distance of what could be achieved by resolute and confident citizens.

Our country is at the threshold of rapid transformation and growth. In this year alone GDP will increase by over 50%. This is no mean feat. The transformation has begun; there is no turning back; we either take charge of the transformation or we will be transformed in ways we do not like.

We establish Sierra Leone Conference on Development and Transformation because we want to move along a path that Sierra Leoneans of all political persuasion, region and religion would be proud of. Sierra Leoneans are very keen on taking the driver’s seat in the transformation of the country. This has been borne out by the discussions organized by the Conference Secretariat all over the country. Farmers want to be at the driving seat of the transformation; teachers and student want to be integral to the transformation; nurses, miners, youths, women, the physically challenged, business people, office workers, professors, lecturers, and traders, all want to be active participants of the transformation.

Everywhere there is a groundswell of support for the idea that we must not only be at the drivers seat, but that our resources must benefit Sierra Leoneans of all regions, all social groups and that everybody, young and old, men and women must be within realms of opportunities made available by the transformation.
Right across the country, a consensus is already emerging that we should mostly utilize the nation’s resources on what I will call the three ‘E’s and the two ‘I’s: Education, Energy, Employment, Infrastructure and Investments on programs of inclusivity, equity and accountability. We are gathered here to deepen discussions on the emerging consensus and set out action points as to which programmes would impact most positively on the greatest number of Sierra Leoneans.

Fellow Sierra Leoneans, distinguished friends of Sierra Leoneans, when we critically examine the history of our country, we find great moments of pride, and also challenging moments of sub-optimal performance. We want to overcome our sub-optimal performances; we want to move to an era where this country would mostly be known for its achievements and not for its mistakes and tragedies.

We have achieved a lot as a nation, but there have been too many mistakes and missteps in our history that have often taken the shine off the great promise of our nation. We note on hindsight that many of our institutions, policies, processes and even our education system were not flexible enough to accommodate the changing circumstances of our time. This is not a complaint made against our heritage; it is an acknowledgement of our own reluctance to take bold new measures to change our destiny.

We are now at a position similar to where we were at independence. There is high demand for our natural resources, a democratic system of governance, and a populace eager for transform itself. We must not be distracted; we must not allow partisan interests or electioneering to derail our collective aspirations for a better Sierra Leone; we must not allow the violent to take the shine off our demonstrated commitment to democratic elections. The process of transformation has started, and we must sustain it.

We must all acknowledge that The good Lord has given this nation a second chance, let us grab it with the fervour of true patriots and the strength, efficiency and perseverance of a people prepared for bolder changes to our methods and practices. This involves all of us, politicians, civil servants, farmers, school children, mine workers, traders, every one …SALONE NAH WE ALL YONE EN NAH WE ALL GO MAKE E FINE.

The challenges are huge, but they are not insurmountable. During this conference we will hear about the experience of others that were in similar positions but made the change. If countries that are less endowed than us have done it, we too can do it. We too can create a most productive workforce; we too can construct first class roads and other social infrastructure everywhere; we too can utilize our will and resources to transform the education sector; we too can build a healthcare system that is the envy of the world; we too can have billions of dollars in reserves; we too can become a donor nation, spreading the resources of our productivity, democracy, peace and religious tolerance to the peoples of the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I am heartened by the fact that discussions about the conference all over the country have urged that we strongly focus on implementation of the great ideas that are being recommended. This conference must therefore come up with a framework of implementation; this conference must serve as the bridge for moving the people of this great nation away from the comfort zones of talking too much to the places of action, productivity, and implementation. This conference must live to the promise of its establishment as a process for getting actionable ideas that will transform this country into a caring and confident donor nation, at peace with itself and the world.

Fellow Sierra Leoneans, friends of this great nation, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I believe in this nation, I believe in the promise of greatness embedded in our history; I affirm that the positive traits of our nationhood will triumph over the challenges we face; and I know that bold discussions in this conference will yield actionable recommendations that will get us to our vision of Sierra Leone as a donor nation, an advanced economy, and a caring society

God Bless Sierra Leone

I thank you for your attention.

© 2012, Daily Mail. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum

Over the past five years Bellamy has sunk £1.2m of his own cash into establishing a not-for-profit football academy in the Kono region.

‘I don’t do this for people to have a different opinion of me,’ Bellamy says. ‘That’s not too important to me.’ But it will display an aspect of Bellamy’s personality not always on view.

‘The beauty of the country, it’s just remarkable,’ he says of Sierra Leone. ‘What I found even more amazing than that was that everywhere I went everyone knew who I was. We’re talking about African villages as you’d imagine it from hundreds of years ago – huts. Then a child walks past in a Steven Gerrard shirt.

‘The kids weren’t playing with footballs, they had rolled up socks or oranges, but their love for the game is what we had 20, 30 years ago. With computers, cars, very rarely do you see kids on the street here any more. Sierra Leone just brought that back and made me think: “I’d like to do something”. 

‘That I’ve been able to help people in a worse situation gives me more satisfaction that anything football’s been able to give me. Whether I go on to achieve something in football, or not, I can go back to see Sierra Leone and see what I’ve been able to help.’ 

Bellamy’s involvement in Sierra Leone began in 2007 when he visited a friend from Cardiff working in construction. It started a change in Bellamy but that process has increased rapidly recently.

© 2012, Christian Foday Sesay Jr. EIC. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum

 Aziz Deen Conteh

News has emerged that Chelsea have offered youngster Aziz Deen-Conteh the chance to sign a new long-term deal at Stamford Bridge after an impressive first half to the season.

The 19 year-old is yet to make a break into the side’s first-team but is a steady fixture in the Chelsea reserve side, making nine appearances for them this season. The left-back has registered two assists in that period and has earned a reputation for his surging runs down the left flank capable of lending a considerable hand in attack.

Aziz has made five appearances for the England Under-19 side but is still a selection option for Sierra Leone as he was born in the African nation.

Chelsea coaching staff is known to be a fan of the defender and although the length of the tabled offer is currently unknown, the club will be hoping to secure their youngster’s signature in the hopes that he makes the next step in his development under their charge.

© 2012, Christian Foday Sesay Jr. EIC. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum

Photo: Ahmadiyya Mosque Sierra Leone – (courtesy http://ahmadiyyatimes)

Pedophiles in religious robes in Sierra Leone

 By: Cillaty Daboh

I was warned at an early age to pick my fights. In life we all have battles to fight. We can pick a battle, that we know the odds of winning are stacked against us, but we see it as a battle too important not to fight .We may choose a battle too easy to fight and win and crown ourselves heroes. After all, to the winner go the spoils

As you read this article brace yourself.  Many of my friends have advised me not to pick this fight as there is “nothing to gain from it” and no one was going to believe me as actors in this case have either died or those still alive may have had their memories lapsed. It is in my memory as if it happened yesterday and it will be there till I depart this earth. If I can save one person in this crusade, my battle would have been won and worth every effort put in.

This is a fresh New Year and the New Year is about looking forward, making resolutions and hoping that what one resolved to do as the old year rolls away is accomplished by the end of that year. It is very important that such resolution is not forced on anyone and not made out of envy/ admiration of another person’s situation. Be yourself in making such resolutions.

For my part, my New Year resolution is to help my country men and women to come out and stop blaming themselves for some of the horrendous crimes perpetrated against them by others. I want to help then shed the culture of shame in our society in coming out to report such crimes.  I want to get them out of the victim’s guilt mentality that what was done to them was their fault. I want to help my countrymen/women to know that it is not the right or privilege of anyone to abuse them.  More on that later.

Recently, the British government threatened to cut off all aid to countries that do not recognize homosexuality. On my side of the pond, the American secretary of State echoed similar move on the part of the United States.  This was done at almost the end of the year. I am not going to second guess these so-called “philanthropists”, but I am wondering if their goal was for us to make Gay and Lesbian acceptance as part of our New Year Resolution.? That has been a topic of discussion around the world and I’ll like our country to have a public discussion on this issue.

When it comes to the age old institution of marriage, here is where I stand. I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman. However, if others choose to go otherwise it is their right to do so as long as it is between consenting adults.  But just as they have the right to do it, I equally have the right to reject their action and say to them “Not in my back yard”. But mark my words here. I said “consenting adults”.   We all know that it is not nature but nurture that molds a man’s character. Every homosexual was born and nurtured by a man and a woman. So count me as one of those who make a living in social work who does not believe in the “homosexuality is not a choice” concept.

Like prostitution, homosexuality has been around since the beginning of time. There is no denying that among us are people who are homosexuals, child abusers, sexual perverts etc. There are Imams and pastors forcing or at least aiding the marriage of 13 year old girls to sixty year old men. There are also those old perverts whose sexual pleasure is with girls young enough to be their granddaughters. It is all abuse.

We have heard stories of people “butter waising” each other in predominantly single sex boarding schools in our country, not to mention religious group members who come to us with Bible  and Koran in hand to “save” us, but  use those Holy books to prey on innocent young children.  Some of these Missionaries have now changed their old tactics from when they first came to our shores. They asked us to close our eyes and pray. When we opened our eyes they had our land and we had the bible and the Quran. Today they bring all the goodies our young generation admire and exchange those goodies for sexual pleasure with our youths.

I have a firsthand experience with such group. The Ahamadiyya Mission in Sierra Leone.

The Ahmadiyya Mission was established at the end of the 19th century, in Punjab now part of Pakistan by a man called Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian who proclaimed himself to be the “Reformer of the age”

Like the Catholic Mission, The Methodist Mission and others, the Ahmadiyya Mission has done a lot of good deeds around the world including Sierra Leone. There are many of us who can swear by these missions for whatever good we have today. They have established schools, provided care for the Homeless and so on.

The Ahmadiyya Mission website recently boasted of the accolades President Ernest Bai Koroma heaped on the Mission for the good work they have been doing and continue to do in our country. But like the Catholics or any other group there have been and are still some bad apples among the Ahmadiyya Missionaries.

The difference between  the Catholics and the Ahmadis is that of late the Catholics have decided to do the right thing by openly acknowledging the wrong doings of their servants while the Ahmadis remain stone walled in denial especially in countries like Sierra Leone; where because of poverty and shame, people are reluctant to report their evil deeds. I have been at both ends of the work of the Ahamdis in Sierra Leone. I have been a beneficiary of their good work as well as victim of their evil acts by one of their own.

It was between 1966 & 67 that I had an eye problem. The Ahamdiyya mission in Boadjibu then had a good eye specialist, named Dr. Maulvi Ahmed Nasser. There is no gainsaying that he was a good Doctor and an upright man, albeit a heavy smoker.  I am eternally grateful to him and Dr. Guess, then in Taima for restoring my sight.

My father had sent me for treatment to Dr. Nasser’s clinic in Boadjibu and I subsequently became a ward of late Paramount chief Kenawa Gamanga. The Ahmadiyya secondary in Boadjbu had just opened and my father asked chief Gamagna to register me there while receiving medical treatment. At this time I had finished the formal Quoranic training. At the Ahmadiyya School I was the star student. All the Maulvis loved and pampered me with goodies for my knowledge of the Quoran and Islam in General, or so I thought.

The then principal Mr. Munawa Ahmed, a gentleman and a pious Muslim was so fond of me that he always referedto me as “small clever boy”. Munawa later became my teacher at the Bo school.

The Head of the Boadjibu Mission, Maulvi Ahmad, a pervert of the first order had other things in mind for showering me with gifts. He would invite me in his room under the guise of giving me one on one Quoranic lessons and would sexually molest me.

There was also a Brima Dorwie who had been a ward of chief Gamanga and a kind of house boy to the pervert Maulvi before I got there. Brima Dorwie was the first individual that I discussed this abuse with. Brima told me, he too suffered the same fate at the hands of the pervert Maulvi but advised me not to go public with it, because he had to send him to Pakistan for further studies and would extend the same opportunity to me. Yes, the pervert Maulvi did promise me a ticket to study in Pakistan and indeed confirmed what Dorwie had told me.

I am not sure the pervert ever kept his promise of sending Dorwie to Pakistan to train as a Maulvi. Whatever that title means.  Because of the promise to go to Pakistan Dorwie refused to corroborate my story. He lied to his teeth.

Does anybody know where Brima Dorwie is today? I have not set eyes on him or heard anything about him since 1967. I would like to confront him to know why he refused to speak the truth then. He may not be capable of speaking the truth even today, but I would like to give him a chance to redeem himself.

I grew up as a non-conformists and always asking questions about things I am told to do. Of course a “why” question for an order from an elder was not favorably looked at. At this time however, I first listened to Brima Dorwie not to report the matter. But the abuse became too painful for me to bear and told him again that I was going to go public with it.

By then, I had stopped going to the Ahamadiyya mosque and kept to myself away from everybody. Chief Gamanga at this time was wearing many hats in Sierra Leone. He was chairman of the SLPMB, chairman of the Ahamdiyya Movement, Paramount chief Member of Parliament for Kenema district and paramount chief of Simabaru chiefdom. As such he was not always in Boadjibu. But whenever he was there he would take his time to talk to us kids, ask us about school and religion.

At one time he was in Boadjibu for a while, he noticed that I did not attend prayers at the Ahamdiyya mosque where I was the one in charge of calling the Athaam  (Call to prayers) . Chief Gamanga inquired from Dorwie why I was not going to the mosque and hardly ever in the compound and so aloof. Dorwie fearing that chief would ask me the same question and tell him the truth thus making him loose his promised scholarship to Pakistan, told chief Gamanga that I have been troublesome, passing rumors that the Maulvi was a rapist.

The chief called me to his living room and asked me if I did say that, to which I answered in the affirmative. Needless to say that as chairman of the Ahmadiyya Movement my answer was seen as an affront to the Mission and was immediately considered an ungrateful lad. To the chief, the Ahamdis have done a lot of good deeds to me. Indeed they did, but also caused me a lot of pain. This pervert Maulvi was living in one of the houses in the chief’s compound and the mosque was there as well. I still remember the house and the room where pervert Maulvi had his sexual pleasure with me.

Many will ask why I am bringing up this nearly half a century old occurrence to the public now.  Actually this is not the first time I am bringing it out. Of course for many, this is the first time and may be shocking to them.  Like Yogi Berra, I am doing this for the kids.  There will be some kids who will be seeing me or hearing my name for the first and last time. I owe each one of them not only my best but also to teach them to do the right thing.

I have told this story to many of my close friends and relatives.  I have tried over the years to suppress the pain I have suffered from this abuse. In my line of work, I come across these cases and remind me of myself. I sometimes cry with my client telling him or her it will be alright. The truth is, it will never be alright especially when perpetrators of such crime are not brought to justice.

My wound was wide open again in 2002 when I saw grown men older than me telling their stories of sexual abuse at the hands of some Catholic priests while they were kids. It was then that I believed there will be no shame in telling my story, which may help others and even the Ahamadiya Mission. I decided then, to contact the Ahmadiyya Mission with my story.

On March 14 and 29, 02 I wrote letters of complaint to the Head of the Ahmadiyya  Mission in the United States and Head of the World wide Ahamadiyya  Movement  Khalifat Mirza Tahir, in London asking them to investigate my complaint. On March 23^rd 2002 I received a phone call from one “brother Shamsa” of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Maryland acknowledging receipt of my complaint. He promised to discuss the issue at the conference in London that year. He was not however happy that I copied that letter to the Ahmadiyya Anjuwan Movement, headquartered in Ohio. That same year another Maulvi in Toronto contacted me to sympathize with me.

He informed me that Dr. Maulvi was deceased and the pervert who betrayed my trust and abused me was still alive and living in London. Now I know why the Ahmadi head office in London has not taken any action on my complaint. I am bringing it out now because I have suffered it in silence while this act may continue to be perpetrated on our vulnerable youths who see these people as role models, or who go through this and may want to report it but afraid that nobody will believe them just like nobody believed me. Their family members may end up punishing them or even ostracize them from their community for speaking the truth.

In fact even my own father (May His Soul Rest in Peace) did not believe me. My uncle ( he is still alive) who was asked to go and  investigate the matter when chief Gamanga decided to kick me out of his compound for dearing to say the  truth about a “holy man” went back to report to my Dad that I was an Alcoholic. My uncle even suggested that I be ostracized from the family.

But for the strong will of my step Mom Haja Issata Kanneh-Daboh, (still alive) who is never afraid to stand up for the truth, challenged both Dad and uncle and even dared to go and confront the pervert, I would have been ostracized from the family.

For the record I have never tasted even wine in my life. Chief Gamanga had to please his benefactors and my uncle and Dad had to please their colleague and save their religion from shame at my expense.

Let me categorically state here that I hold no grudge against chief Gamanga, my Dad and uncle for not believing me. They did what they knew best then. I know they would have acted differently had they known any better.  (No pun intended here.) Unfortunately, there are those of my generation who treat cases like this, the same way my father’s generation did.

The first time I discussed this case in the Sierra Leone discussion forums, some people had the audacity to ask for proof that I was sexually abused.  The only proof I would have to satisfy those people is to show a video recording of that pervert sexually abusing me. One of them even had the audacity to tell me that my case should be looked at in context of development projects the Ahmadiyya Movement has brought to the country.

It is a shame that even today our so-called elites can sacrifice their own people for the crumbs they receive from others. A house slave mentality.

Oh when I thought we have been out of slave mentality.

Oh yes the thief goes stealing doing everything to be caught.

Maulvi Ahmed and many others may be committing this crime even today and nobody will know about it until those the crime is perpetrated against have the courage to report it.

At this time the General elections of  1967 was closing in and chief Gamanga was a candidate for the Kenema Paramount chief parliamentary representative while his brother Bavoray Gamanga was also an M.P candidate for the same chiefdom who contested under the SLPP and his opponent was Afiju Deen-Saccoh of the APC . Needless to say the Ahmadis were very involved in that election and the chief would not want to cut the financial pipe line to his and brother’s campaigns by believing a ward bringing up such charges against his benefactor.

Like a cult the Ahmadiyya Mission never bothers to reply to any complaints against their people. We saw this kind of practice with the Catholic Church until a group of people stood up against them and finally decided to accept the truth. I have decided to stand up against the Ahmadiyya Mission. My stand is for nothing but to let them investigate reports of sexual abuse by some of their missionaries. This is a crusade I have taken up and I am willing to fight it till Justice is served. Thank God for the information age, I am able to spread this crusade to all four corners of the world in a minute. Until I am heard and justice served, I will not relent.

In my letters to the Head of the Ahmadiyya Mission, I made it crystal clear to them that my goal was not money. Rather, to get the mission to weed out those bad apples within their rank so as to restore their good image as a mission as well as the religion they serve of which I am a member. I suggested that they build a center for sexually abused children in Sierra Leone so that those like me who have been abused by the Ahmadis will get the help they need.

The Ahmadiyya Movement with all their resources would want to discredit my story but I challenge them to do so. I even challenge them to take me to court in Sierra Leone or anywhere in the world if they believe I am not saying the truth.

I know this is an election year in our country and every political party is sucking it up to every individual and groups to get their votes. So even looking at cases like this at this time may be politically suicidal for them. And to our politicians just winning elections is more important to them than the people they would want to serve. The promises of heaven on earth to get elected, notwithstanding.

The president’s praise for the work of the Ahmadiyya movement in Sierra Leone was in place. But he should also know that below all the glitters displayed by the Ahmadis in our country, there is also pain in the heart of the people he took an oath to serve and protect. I am one of them. I am not asking for a witch hunt. All I want is Justice and save others from been victims of such crimes.

Someone asked me if I am one of those Muslims against the Ahmadiyya Movement because they are not part of the main stream Islam. The answer is No. I see Religion as a personal matter. I believe in what I did not create. So the Ahamdis have every right to believe in what they believe and call themselves whatever name. God, and not man will be judge of all of us.

I lived with Methodist Missionaries in Bo. Until my father beat me for going to church, I was almost an altar boy at the Methodist church in Bo.  Nobody there ever abused me and nobody ever told me he was abused. So I am not picking on the Ahamdiyya Mission. I am just reporting what happened. I cannot change the cards I have been dealt. It is just how I play it. Publicizing this evil act by people in our midst that we trust is the way I want to play this card.

I know that in our politics not all that count matters, but we must change to make sure that all that matter counts. Abuse of our youths and women do count and it matters

I hope the new minister of Social Welfare will seriously look into child abuse cases in our country and make sure that our children are protected from sexual vipers like Maulvi Ahmad.

And there are many Maulvi Ahmads today who are not with Ahmadiyya movement but in our families.

I hereby encourage every Sierra Leonean who has suffered the same fate as I did to come out in the open and tell their stories, be it from Ahmadis, any group or individuals. I have felt the pain you are going through and I still do. Like we say in this part of the world I have been there, done that. Be brave and come out.  Your coming out will save someone else from this nightmare.

Don’t go to bed one more night with the kind of guilt I have felt these many years.

Note: The views expressed in this article are purely those of the author.

© 2012, Daily Mail. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum

My 12 year old daughter who seems uneasy after she read about how five alleged SLPP kidnappers and ritual murderer suspects dragged to Freetown had this question to ask, “Daddy, why do people engage in cannibalism in Sierra Leone?”.  My response to the poor little girl was, “It’s not everyone in Sierra Leone that practices cannibalism.  If there is any, it is only limited to a small group of people – mostly SLPP members – who are desperate to get to the State House.

For the past six months, the opposition SLPP party continues to occupy the headlines in almost all the newspapers and for all the wrong reasons. At first, there was a severe internal rift with the selection of the unfit Maada Bio, who violently bamboozled his way to lead the party in a general election. Then began International media lies serenaded with deception, perpetuation of political violence on innocent civilians came next, and now, cannibalism is on the rampage. What is wrong with the SLPP party these days? Where would Sierra Leoneans be safe?

The practice of cannibalism has been part of human behavior since long before recorded history and sadly part of the SLPP party since its inception. In an election year, Sierra Leoneans are brimming with fascinating accounts of headhunting cannibals from the opposition SLPP party viciously crisscrossing the streets of Sierra Leone highly bent on the consumption of human flesh, and dining on the dead.

Cannibalism is, in fact, deeply embedded in the psyche of SLPP party’s evolution—with a goal tied to personal ambition and greed, witchcraft, vampirism, and strangely perhaps, to winning elections, this criminal practice will linger on for a while. Still, the very thought of one human eating another–regardless of the circumstances–sends cold chills up and down the spines of most “civilized” people today.

Even so, it obliges my daughter and I to ponder why the flesh of the dead can provoke such overpowering cannibalistic urges in the SLPP party; why SLPP believe the dead can be transformed literally and symbolically into ritual gifts for their party and why a cannibalistic equation seems to characterize many death rituals in the SLPP camp–both past and present-day.

The continuation of this ancient practice has procreated a number of notions as to why it perseveres. But while no single theory seems to satisfactorily explain the furtherance of this seemingly “barbaric” behavior among other cannibals, in the case of the SLPP, a common thread does seem to pass from one SLPP generation to the next, belief system to belief system, keeping this practice alive – just to win elections.

The last word here for today’s editorial is a simple question to SLPP cannibals and their quiet accomplices: When you wind up eating all your own people for lunch and dinner, who will you govern when you get there? Think about it and stop the cannibalism now.

© 2012, Christian Foday Sesay Jr. EIC. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum

Culled from Cocorioko Newspaper:

Whenever it is elections time in Sierra Leone,  ritual murders and allegations of cannibalism increase in the country. Most of the episodes occur in the strongholds of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP).  Historically, this is a  stigma that has accompanied the SLPP since its formation in the 1950s. Even after elections , ritual murder becomes very rampant if the SLPP is in power as politicians believe that they can consolidate their power only through these witchcraft practices.  In the 50-year history of the SLPP,  many  top operatives of the party have gone to jail or have been hanged at the Pademba Road Prisons after being found guilty of ritual murders and cannibalism

The practice of ritual murder involves the kidnapping and butchering alive of unfortunate human beings whose parts are extracted and used in voodoo rituals with the belief that it will invoke the favour of “the gods ” and help the culprits to gain political power. The murderers remove the hearts, livers, tonguse, lips and private parts of the victims which are then carried to a juju man (Witch doctor ) who performs secret voodoo rituals on them. The incident was particularly rampant during the 1962 and 1967 General Elections .

Recently, a famous SLPP stalwart and ex-presidential aspirant, Mr. John Ernest Leigh resigned from the party   for the following reasons he gave in a press statement  : “Clearly, while many fine personalities continue as loyal, hard working party members nationwide and abroad, someone with my background, experience and upbringing cannot belong to a political party fronted by ex-junta personalities and under the sordid influence of those I personally know as nation-wreckers, money-grubbing lying rogues, false pretenders for money and such-like characters; not to mention the widespread acceptance in secret and off-camera of voodoo juju-swear ceremonies as part and parcel of the party’s unofficial ‘democratic’ process in selecting its leadership.” ( John Ernest Leigh ) .

Well, as tension begins to mount over the November Elections, it looks like the crime of  ritual murder is about to return to Sierra Leone . Sierra Leone’s only female newspaper publisher and investigative journalist Dr. Sylvia Blyden , who was once perceived as a staunch supporter of the SLPP , broke the story to the nation this morning on the social networking media, FACEBOOK.

Here is the first report filed by Sylvia Blyden on FACEBOOK this morning :

For the past few hours now, my intelligence gathering and information Systems are currently activated all along the 71 miles ranging from Moyamba Junction (Fakunia Chiefdom) to Masiaka where 5 suspects of alleged KIDNAPPING and alleged Conspiracy to commit RITUAL SACRIFICE MURDER are currently making a statement.

The suspects include newly elected SLPP Councilor for Fourah Bay’s Ward 369, Mohamed Kanu-Mansaray alongside other SLPP associates in a green jeep belonging to **********. The story is unbelievable and so astounding that even, as hardened as I am in covering all sorts of news reports, I am AMAZED and in a state of SHOCK at the blatant PA.O.PA manner in which the poor victim was kidnapped in the early morning hours from Fakunia Chiefdom and driven in a GREEN JEEP belonging to ******* heading for an unknown destination.

I have personally spoken to the elected Councillor himself currently in Masiaka Police custody twice now but he is refusing to make any comments on record to me. He promises he will explain everything when he finishes making his statement to the police. However, according to my very capable police sources up at Masiaka, the SLPP Councillor has confessed to the police that they indeed kidnapped the victim but he insists that it was NOT for ritual murder as is now being widely alleged but that they only kidnapped the victim to “teach him a lesson” because he had wanted to steal Le1,000 from them. My police sources say the detained suspects allege they wanted to buy fuel at Fakunia Chiefdom and approached the victim who then collected Le7,000 from them per litre only for them to later prove it was costing only Le6,000 black market. So, they say they got angry and forcibly put the victim into their green jeep and drove with him along the 71 miles passing several police stations along the Highway (including the huge police division at Mile 91) in order “to bring him to report him to Freetown Police for trying to steal Le1,000 per litre”! Meanwhile, someone who witnessed the kidnap unbeknown to the SLPP kidnappers, quickly went to alert the victim’s relatives who sent a text message to Nightline Radio and this put the Masiaka Police on high alert to monitor for green jeeps along the highway. Indeed, the gallant police officers at Masiaka intercepted and searched all jeeps and upon intercepting the said green jeep, the police found the poor would-be victim inside braced like a chicken ready to be cooked. At this point, the police arrested all the occupants of the kidnap jeep including the Fourah Bay Councillor Kanu-Mansaray.

BUDDIES, STAY TUNED RIGHT HERE FOR THIS DEVELOPING STORY.

I have deployed my info systems from Fakunia where the kidnapping took place to Masiaka and even up to Fourah Bay here which is the home of the SLPP Councilor. And guess who owns the green jeep currently in custody of Masiaka Police which was used to kidnap the alleged proposed victim of ritual sacrifice???? Meanwhile, not surprisingly, a huge sum of money is reported to have been dispatched from Freetown to Masiaka Police by certain SLPP Big Guns to ‘kill the case’. Whilst I can not confirm this, what I can confirm is that several senior police officers in Freetown who should know of this story tell me they know NOTHING of what Awareness Times is asking. I am not surprised. Enti APC dey sleep na den wing! But my team is right on top of this story even if the Freetown Police do not know what seems to be going on at Masiaka Police Station. At least, Facebook now knows so it will not be easy to kill any story now. STAY TUNED!

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SYLVIA BLYDEN updated her story of the alleged ritual murder conspiracy this evening. READ :

These are four photos of the Kidnap Jeep which is currently in Police custody in Freetown whilst SLPP’s Fourah Bay Councilor-Elect Mohamed Kanu-Mansaray and his fellow SLPP kidnap suspects have been brought down to Freetown under heavy police escort and they are currently detained in police cells at the CID in Freetown. Or at least, they were in detention until 11pm tonight. Man Can’t tell what happened after 11pm!

The Police are declining to say anything on record to journalists. Many press were turned away including the SLBC-TV and radio. The CID Bosses say they will only speak on the matter come Monday. Interestingly, my team, on their return from the CID this evening, reported back to me that attempts are still ongoing to have the Police release the Jeep to some senior SLPP members who have thronged into the CID compound. They had gone there to await the arrival of the Jeep even before it arrived. They include one of the SLPP’s National Legal Advisers and a whole bunch of women who appeared to be quite agitated. The observation is that there seems to be an unholy haste to have the vehicle removed without being thoroughly searched by the police this night. I do not know why.

SLPP Secretary-General Sulaiman Banja Tejansie has reportedly told journalists that the five SLPP members currently in police custody on suspicion of kidnapping, etc. etc. etc. had willingly turned themselves in to the Masiaka Police Station. However, police sources at Masiaka have told my journalists this evening that on the contrary, there was resistance from the SLPP’s Fourah Bay elected councillor and other occupants of the Jeep when they were told to wait. Meanwhile, the four photos in this slide are (1)the front of the jeep, (2)the side of the jeep, (3)the back of the jeep and finally (4) insurance sticker on the jeep showing the jeep is fully insured until 27th April 2012 and licensed for part of 2012. A lot of money has been spent today on journalists to turn a blind eye to this kidnap report. AND I MEAN A LOT! For posting the breaking news on Facebook, I have also received the usual threats which I am now well used to. APC used to threaten me in the past and now it is the turn of SLPP to threaten me. I am a Patriot who believes in God and so threats do not faze me. They inspire me. LONTA! Good night folks.

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HERE ARE PHOTOS OF THE JEEP OWNED BY AN SLPP OFFICIAL AND CARRYING SLPP OPERATIVES IN WHICH A KIDNAPPED VICTIM WAS DISCOVERED THIS MORNING BY MASIAKA POLICE

© 2012, Christian Foday Sesay Jr. EIC. All rights reserved. Discuss this article on the Salone Forum Salone Forum