Remembering for the future...

It is acknowledged that the first gunshots in the Sierra Leonean civil/rebel war were discharged by the Revolutionary United Front at Bomaru in the Kailahun District on March 23^rd 1991. To mark the 20^th anniversary of this event and to pay respects to the hundreds of thousands who died in the ensuing 12 years, the Inter-Religious Council of Muslims and Christians organised a remembrance service in the national stadium. Peace marches of both faiths began in the early evening from both the east and the west of the city and, following their respective brass bands and banners, converged in the stadium, to provide a gathering of 4-5,000 people to observe a Muslim and a Christian remembrance service liturgy.

The nation had been asked to observe a minute silence at mid-day, but it was difficult to assess how much recognition was being given to such a gesture, and as we sat in the failing light of a stadium which holds 20,000 people, it was quickly evident that seating would not be a problem. First, the motorcycle/taxi riders swept into the stadium en masse, completing laps of the track in an exuberant style, not similar to the bravado they demonstrate every day on Freetown busy streets. These men, in their early 20’s, are of the same age group as those whose expressed deep frustration with the lack of employment and economic opportunities in 1991, and who became key participants in the conflict as it grew and spread from its remote beginnings. Following the motorcyclists were the marchers of both faith groups, dressed in white, dancing their way into the arena, reminding us that in Sierra Leone, being a hijjab wearing woman is no barrier to boisterous celebratory behaviour.

With the nation’s President, Ernest Bai Koroma, a Christian, being called to Nigeria for emergency talks on the worsening situation in Cote d’Ivoire, the State was represented by the Vice President, Al Hadji Sa Sadiqui Samuel Sam-Sumana, a Muslim. The government had declared the remembrance service to be the first official event in the Nation’s 50^th Independence Celebration. This overlooked the presidential decree that declared every Saturday morning from mid March to be a time of “pick up plastic”; in an attempt to ensure that Freetown’s litter strewn streets would be relieved of their unsightly mess before 27^th April.

The city’s streets are gradually being decorated with bunting, and in fashion shops the green, white and blue of the national flag is making an impact on the style of women’s dresses as we approach the celebrations , while the famous 500 year old Cotton Tree’s trunk is festooned in the same colours.

As we left the stadium late in the night, carpenters and painters were still busy at work, mounting simple exhibition stands in preparation for a trade fair, in which national companies will demonstrate their wares and potential for national development. With few new work opportunities being evident outside of the extractive industries, and with a high and rising cost of living biting hard, astute questions are being asked about the anniversary celebration budget. When a budget of US$50 million was announced late last year, the public response was far from celebratory. Municipal workers facing the demands of Christmas festivities without the payment of their salaries were vociferous in their opposition, whilst the comment within our compound is “imagine what that money could do for schools, clinics and hospitals”. Since then the government has been embattled not just by criticism but suspected fraud scandals within the organizing committee for the celebrations. The political manoeuvring has been swift with dismissals and new appointments being hurriedly made.

Individual Saloneans, including international football super star, Mohamed Kallon, and music and movie star, Jimmy B, have been keen to demonstrate their support for the celebrations, as have commercial enterprises including the mining industry, whose enthusiasm included a donation of US$ 1 million to the activities.

This being Salone, the events calendar remains tentative as independence day is still, after all, a month away. A few weeks ago Peter asked a Sunday morning congregation how many of them could recall the events of 27^th April 1961. Less than a handful of people of some 150 people raised their hands, the vast majority were all under forty years of age. Afterwards we heard one elderly woman’s account of that first independence day, in an area not too far from where the civil war had begun in 1991. “We were told to stay indoors” she said, “nobody knew what was going to happen, so for more than two days we stayed close to home”. That is unlikely to be the response next month, as despite the many misgivings people have about the current state of the nation and its direction, Saloneans like a party and a multi faceted celebration of music, sport, jubilation and reverential officialdom is likely to emerge.