My unqualified apologies

I must again express my profound gratitude to all those who have expressed concern over Philip Neville’s unfounded and made up allegations that had no other motive but to expose me to ridicule. Those new to the tactics of Neville wondered that any decent person would behave the way he has and ask where the public interest lies. A few have expressed delight that I have cleared the air but refuse to approve my inserting that implied six letter word after mother. To them and to all my readers I express profound remorse that I allowed my usually cool self to descend that low even in the presence of such undeserved provocation. There are two never do well characters in Luawa chiefdom, two brothers who are notorious for causing trouble in an otherwise peaceful and united chiefdom. The two have never been engaged in productive occupation and have never assumed positions of responsibility in the chiefdom. Intelligence files in the Police and office of national security have accounts of their attempts to derail by violence the 2003 Paramount chieftaincy elections. The reports were compiled by ECOMOG, the Police and the United Nations. Even as I write they are at it. I have informed President Koroma that the Banya/Ngobeh conflict is older than any political party in Sierra and dates beck to 1950. One of them lost the election in January 2003 but petitioned five months later. He won in the high court and chief Banya appealed to the Appeals court and was granted a stay of execution The brothers made the Standard Times newspaper to warn of grave consequences in the chiefdom following the granting of the chief’s request. On the contrary there was rejoicing for over two days about which the newspaper was conspicuously silent. When Philip Neville first came out with his allegations of incest against me in 2009 I took the matter to the Independent Media Commission. It was there that Neville presented an obscure witness, an unknown figure in Kailahun who had been recruited by Vonjo and his brother Lamin Gbunumbu. The man’s story was of a visit to the Banya compound one morning where he found my sister Fatu Gamanga seated on the floor weeping. On enquiring my sister allegedly told him that she had been made pregnant by her brother Dr. Banya. I didn’t even bother to cross examine him because he must be the only person in Kailhun with the kind of story. The IMC could not arrive at a decision because they did not have DNA facilities as both my sister and her husband were dead. In short it wanted me to establish my innocence. In a case brought against me by Neville the IMC concluded that doctoring of photographs including the evidence I had presented where Neville superimposed a photograph of Dr.Sylvia Blyden head over the naked body of a woman which was turned seductively towards the RUF leader Foday Sankoh, The commission ruled that photo-doctoring was normal in journalism and since Neville had never been convicted of any crime in the courts his behaviour was not criminal,

I left these shores for the United Kingdom in 1953 under a government scholarship granted in 1952. Madam Ella Koblo Gulama was neither a Paramount chief nor a member of the Scholarship advisory committee at the time. Her sister Juliette and I met in London and were married on August 1 1959. She died of a cerebral haemorrhage on August 3 1975 in Kenema. Her tomb is in the quadrangle of my Kenema hospital. To this day I am highly respected within the Gulama family where every one of my sisters-in-law still addresess me as “husband.” And Madam Koblo Gulama’s sons Obai AND Sokor address me affectionately as “Uncle Doctor.” For the records late Chief Sinneh Bobor led the chiefdom insurrection against my eldest brother in 1950 and my sister Boi left him even before my brother was removed from office. It was the father of Vonjo and Lamin Jetty who bankrolled and was adviser to the opposition to my brother’s rule. During President Momoh’s time allegations were made against the supporters of my brother chief Sama Gbalahun Banya and 72 people were brought down to Freetown to answer to those charges. I was allowed to stand surety for them and they lived under my roof for at least six weeks before being allowed to return home without charge. On another occasion the brother of Jetty and Vonjo hired the services of lawyer Charles Margai for a charge of larceny of two bags of rice from a supporter. Those charged included the section chief and elders of the section and were summoned to appear all the way from Kailahun in the Bo Magistrate’s court rather than in Kailahun or Kenema. Charles got the Magistrate to endorse a no-bail warrant. I had to travel to Bo at the time with the blessing of Bamabay Kamara the IG to prevent those respectable people from sleeping behind bars. These are the two miscreants who constantly feed these stupid allegations to Philip Neville because they know both my family and Kailahun well. Philip simply fills in the details. That then readers is a synopsis of the Kailahun problem involving only a small faction of the Ngobeh family. I had informed President Koroma that the LuawaA problems between the Banyas and the Ngobehs were older than any political party.

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