Tribute to the Late Hon. Hindolu S. Trye
With an unexpected sadness, death has come again in my midst. Hindolo Trye has silently closed the door of life and departed from us never again to return. Three years ago my cousin, Mohamed Daudis Koroma, the former Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation also died in active service. (Photo: l-r The late Hindolo Trye and Sanpha Sesay)
The shock of Mr. Trye’s death is visibly and profoundly felt by those with whom he had daily contact. I am one of those whom the former Minister of Labor and Employment had a frequent contact through his sister, Floris Trye, the wife of my brother, Abdul Rahman Sesay, who lives in Holland.
Hondolo Trye was my former teacher in 1979 at the Sierra Leone Muslim Brotherhood Secondary in Freetown. He became my mentor and also a family member when marriage bond was tied between Florist Trye and Abdul Rahman Sesay.
It seems almost impossible for me to speak of any consolation and respond to the text of my brother on the very day for such a bitter loss. It was a horrifying moment to my brother who was in Freetown for the first time after 13 years away from the country and was visiting Mr. Hindolo Trye. Unfortunately, Mr. Sesay could not have enough time to interact with his host only to receive a wake-up call that pronounced the death of Hindolo whom he also met for the first time.
To the Trye family abroad and at home, please accept my heartfelt sympathy on the fire that leveled your home. I remember my former teacher and I will always continue to remember him because I felt very fortunate to known him and come to be part of the family circle. I wish I could be in Freetown at the time of the funeral.
Mr. Hindolo Trye was my Ambassador who inspired me to become a journalist in 1993. He confidently sent me to the Sierra Leone News Agency (SLENA) during his tenure as Secretary of State Information and Communication in the military government of Valentine Strasser to learn journalism. Notwithstanding my experience as a news reporter, the then Director of SLENA, Mr. Rod Mac-Johnson, did not hesitate to post me to the Ministry of Development and Economic Planning to serve the then Secretary of State, Mr. Victor Brandon as press attaché. Today, I am proud of this noble career that I am candidly executing as a patriotic Sierra Leonean in the development of our country.
If I should describe the value of Hindolo, I will say, the character of the life he lived might be summoned up in a few sentence: He was a man of superlatively high standards, complete integrity, and boundless enthusiasm for whatever task he took in hand. He was a splendid man of great intellect and big heart. I will miss Hindoilo Trye forever.
My foremost thought at this moment is that the passing away of so great a champion of democracy will be felt not only throughout the connecting families but the nation as a whole. It was my privilege to know this loving husband and father who did not hesitate to speak out loud and clear and make sure his voice was heard. He inspired me to be earnest and sincere when he was my teacher at Sierra Leone Muslim Brother secondary school. One most important thing I learnt from him is that Hindolo believed in the confidence of fulfillment. He was quiet and an overly modest man, accurately cautious of his responsibilities.
Alas! I will miss Hindolo. He held a position of trust and died in the full tide of a public servant as Minister of Labor and Employment, a position which gave great promise of future usefulness. I can reflect on January 10 this year when I was interviewing him about the immigrant labor force. He told me that the program was not an ideal one for young Sierra Leoneans to partake.
Hindolo Trye was a very approachable person, pleasant to work with, supportive and helpful. He told me, come to my office at any time with no appointment. Of course, I have no doubt that Hindolo was a man of principle that hated too much of bureaucracies.
To the media, I will like to say that Mr. Trye was an ideal man in his days of media execution. He fought for freedom of expression, justice and democracy through his renowned newspaper, the TABLET in the 70s. His untarnished life leaves with us an example, and inspiration for higher and noble deeds.
For my brother’s wife, Floris Trye in London, I wish there is something I could say or do to comfort her. Indeed, it is true that the Trye family and the nation as a whole has lost someone very special. For some of us who knew and loved Hindolo we have some idea of how great the family and the nation has lost a friend and a companion.
On a personal level, all of us, the Sesay family will miss Hindolo and mourn his passing. He did an enormous amount of good in promoting his family to achieve better education and enjoy the best of their social lives. I will miss his sense of counsel and sense of humor.
My wife Adama and children here in the United States, wish to extend our most profound sympathy to His Excellency, President Dr. Ernest Koroma, the Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament, and most importantly the Trye family and relatives across the globe. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
Sanpha Sesay, PRO for the Sierra Leone community in the city of Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.
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