State Tribute: so near… SO FAR… so gone

Dr. John Karefa-Smart. He led the delegation to Lancaster House in London which brought us Independence in 1961.

Later, under the prime ministership of Sir Milton Margai, he was appointed Minister of Lands, Mines and Labour. Then he became Minister of Defence.

But he was also second to Sir Milton. Every time Sir Milton travelled out of the country, Dr. Karefa-Smart acted in his capacity.

One day Sir Milton fell ill and doctor Karefa-Smart became his personal physician. He stayed by his side until Sir Milton died on April 28, 1964.

Dr. Karefa-Smart was the obvious heir-apparent, but in those days it was the prerogative of the Governor General, Sir Henry Lightfoot Boston by then, to appoint someone he considered would command the respect of the House of Parliament or, in other words, the most popular member in Parliament at the time. And Dr. Karefa-Smart was no doubt that someone.

So Sir Lightfoot Boston summoned him and told him to get ready to be sworn in as Prime Minister at 4 pm on the same day Sir Milton died. That was only several hours away.

Dr. Karefa-Smart returned home, noticeably happy inside. On his way, he ran into Chief Ella Koblo Gulama and the young doctor could not hold the good news close to his chest. One would not have expected Gulama to be taken aback by the news but if she was, she did not show it. When she reached home, people say, she made several desperate phone calls.

Came 4 O’clock, to Dr. Karefa-Smart’s greatest shock, the younger brother of Sir Milton, Albert Margai, was sworn in by the Governor General as the new Prime Minister.

It was a real shocker. People say after Gulama’s phone calls, Berthan Macauley, who was then the Queen’s Counsel, swiftly  approached the Governor General and advised him that, in his own opinion and being the Queen’s Counsel, Albert Margai  commanded the more respect and popularity of Parliament.

And lo and behold Albert won the throne.  Disappointingly Dr. Karefa-Smart left the country to become World Health Organisation’s Regional Director.

In his absence, however, politics of the country continued and Siaka Stevens formed the All People’s Congress (APC) party and invited Dr. Karefa-Smart to join him.

And together they fought the 1967 elections; Stevens providing the manpower, Dr. Karefa-Smart providing the money/logistics. He came with a fleet of vehicles to facilitate the campaign up country.

Eventually, Siaka Stevens won the elections and was sworn in by the same Sir Henry Lightfoot-Boston.

However, at the swearing-in ceremony of his ministers a coup was staged by junior officers allegedly acting on the orders of David Lansana, a Brigadier in the Army. Active in the overthrow was one Captain Alex Norman (people say he’s Sam Hinga Norman).

They held the governor general under house arrest whilst Stevens and his group of newly-sworn-in ministers were arrested and detained at Pademba Road Prisons.

Three days later, senior officers removed David Lansana from the throne and detained him at the same Pademba Road Prisons, and released Stevens and his group.

But the senior officers warned that the country needed to be reformed, and would therefore not handover power immediately. They formed the National Reformation Council and invited Juxon Smith from military training abroad to be in charge.

Juxon Smith ruled for 13 months, but was fast failing to implement the reformation programmes of the council. There was insecurity, inflation and gross human rights abuses.

Consequently, non-commissioned officers overthrew Juxon Smith and named themselves the Anti Corruption Revolutionary Movement. They invited Brig. John Bangura from New York, where he had been serving as Sierra Leone’s consul.

They also invited home Siaka Stevens from self-exile in Guinea, and Albert Margai.

By then the Governor General was Sir Banja Tejan-Sie. The two groups- Albert’s and Steven’s- were brought together and Sir Banja addressed them in just 72 words; 72 words that people say made history.

After Sir Banja’s address, everybody agreed that indeed it was Siaka Stevens who won the last elections.

And Stevens was sworn in while Albert left the country that same day.

As Prime Minister, Stevens forgot his promise to Dr. Karefa-Smart. People say the Governor General, Sir Banja Tejan-Sie, was a close relative of Stevens and so could not be replaced. Furthermore, Stevens declared Sierra Leone a Republic on April 19, 1971, doing away with the position of Governor General and declaring himself Executive President. Dr. Karefa-Smart again kept a disappointing distance and low profile.

Elections were coming again in 1973. Dr. Karefa-Smart formed a new party called United Democratic Party (UDC), formerly National Democratic Party. And he was main contender against Stevens.

Within a short while, Dr. Karefa-Smart recruited a large following including some of Stevens’s ministers. And Stevens feared that he would lose the elections. He had to do something fast.

So he infiltrated UDP’s camp with his thugs. In UDP’s emblems, the thugs went around causing havoc and trouble. And that was right for Stevens. He declared a State of Emergency and arrested and detained Dr. Karefa-Smart.

After consolidating firm grip on power, Stevens then released Dr. Karefa-Smart after scaring him to death with threats of charging him with Treason.

Knowing fully the consequence of such charges, Dr. Karefa-Smart quietly left the country again and stayed away for as long as Stevens’ rule would last.

But even away, Stevens feared him. He was suspicious of every friend or contact of Dr. Karefa-Smart in the country. One such friend was Brig. John Bangura, the soldier who incidentally handed power back to Stevens. Stevens executed him together with others…

If people say former president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah was optimistic and courageous, Dr. Karefa-Smart was the superlative. The man never gave up. He was always full of hope that one day he would get back what was treacherously deprived him since Independence.

He came back in 1996 to contest the country’s first democratic elections under his new party, United National People’s Party (UNPP). As usual, he turned out to be the most respected and popular candidate.

In fact, people say Dr. Karefa-Smart actually won the 1996 elections but some manipulation by Dr. James Jonah (Chairman INEC and a UN colleague), deprived him again.

Dr. Jonah reportedly called him and Kabbah together and prevailed on him to accept the results he was going to announce for the sake of showing exit to the military NPRC boys. (Ironically, it is said Dr. Karefa-Smart was the first man the SLPP had approached to be their presidential candidate but he turned down the offer on moral grounds).

Dr. Karefa-Smart accepted and humbly went to parliament. But several months later some of his party members rebelled against him. He took them to court and the case dragged on for years. Dr. Karefa-Smart was definitely not happy. He left again.

The year 2002. He came back, but not with the clout he had in 1996. His party was now into factions. At 84, adjectives such as ‘old man’ or the ‘octogenarian’ were used liberally by the press to describe him.

But Dr. Karefa-Smart despised being called an ‘old man’ when it comes to aiming at the presidency. At one press conference he attempted to demonstrate to former Concord Times editor, Sulaiman Momodu, that he still got physique. Age ain’t nothing but a number. He was still determined as ever to get back what he thought rightfully belonged to him…

Since 1961 the old man had watched power slipped through his hands through manipulation. And he believed he would live long enough to bury all those manipulators.

Many believed Sierra Leone could have taken another road but for that day in 1964 when Dr. Karefa-Smart was cheated from the throne. Many say it all started with Ella Koblo Gulama’s phone calls. The fear of Dr. Karefa-Smart, they say, led Siaka Stevens to execute so many people under the guise of treason; to polarize the Army and to invest power in the hands of a special security force called the ISU/SSD.

But the ‘old man’ still has a conviction. Just as power had slipped through his hands, so it would slip come back. Even if it’s on his death bed…

Rest In Perfect Peace my Statesman.

By Ahmed Sahid Nasralla (De Monk)

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