Sierra Leone Telegraph: 28 March 2023:
As condemnation of the ruling SLPP Freetown Mayoral candidate – Mohamed Gento Kamara grows, following his display of religious hate against Christians during his sermon at a Mosque in Freetown last Sunday, President Bio and his party leadership remain tight-lipped.
Mohamed Gento Kamara is no ordinary member of the ruling SLPP. He is chief patron and he is very rich. His financial contribution to the SLPP party’s election campaign chest is huge, running into millions of dollars, in return for which he has been given the party symbol to contest the forthcoming mayoral election in Freetown.
Defying his critics’ call for a public apology, and defending his tribal and religious hateful comments, this is what Gento said on radio yesterday:
But watch the video below of Gento preaching his religious and tribal hate which he now denies and refusing to apologise:
The country’s Inter-Religious Council and the Trades Union body – the Labour Congress, have both condemned the SLPP mayoral candidate, calling for him to retract and apologise publicly, as President Bio and his party leadership remain quiet. This is what they said:
Concerning Gento’s alleged tribalism against the Creoles, I fact that everyone seems to be going for the jugular of Gento in a statement that seems to be his reaction of something that is not a hidden talk or perception in Freetown unless as a nation we want to admit that we are economical with the truth.
For example, a popular Creole pen pusher wrote and I quote ” In the advancement of the Creoles agenda, several issues come swiftly to mind. The first one for the Creoles is the process of contemplating the reality of their current aspirations in the definition of self. The second being how to restate their commitment to the political advancement of this space that the occupy and of this nation that we all hold so dear. A CREOLE MAYOR OF FREETOWN SHOULD BE A MATTER OF CONSTANCY AND OF LEGITIMACY. to argue otherwise leaves the corollary argument of necessity that Creoles should be made eligible to stand for and hold office without preconditions in any part of the country. The context of the management of Freetown as a local authority should be a Constitutional issue just as it is clear that a Temne cannot be made chief over Mendes in Mende land and even as was so forcefully determined that a Mende Bishop cannot hold church in Makeni, a Temne enclave. Some of these events threaten claims to legitimacy”
https://cocorioko.net/disunity-has-hindered-growth-of-the-creoles-in-sierra-leone/
As a child I know that M. So. Mustapha, a Creole from Furabay in Freetown was given symbol to context and represent the people of Valunia Chiefdom in Bo in the late 60s and early 70s before the country became a one party state in 1978.
If I heard correctly (and forgive me if I am wrong) Gento in the video is heard begging the Creoles to also grant him the legitimacy to vie and become Mayor of Freetown. How is that tribalism, the jury has decided. May Jehovah God help our nation with the truth, nothing but the truth
You have answered your own question. Firstly, Freetown is a city of a million and a half, by conservative estimates. According to the Sierra Leone census, Creoles number about 50 to 70 thousand. Minus the diaspora, there are probably 20 to 30 thousand Creoles in Freetown. Now, subtract the aged, children, physically and mentally disabled. That leaves us with about 15,000 which is 1% of the voting population in Freetown. How can the Creoles determine or influence the mayoral race? Therefore, by blaming an ethnic group for his perceived obstacles, that in any society is tribalism.
A loser always plays filthy. That’s what Mohamed Kamara is – a loser. Rules matter to him no more, whether they are direct or implied. He is now in the clutches of emotions because he cannot use his mind anymore. He is a desperate man.
His level of intelligence carries enormous doubt in this context. The only part of his brain that’s functional at moment informs him that he cannot defeat Yvonne Aki-Sawyer at the polls; the people of Freetown, for the past five years, have seen the handiwork of the Mayor and they are not about to replace her with a hate monger – a religious bigot.
I am a Muslim by the way, currently observing the Holy Month of Ramadan. Gento,are you even a real Muslim. Try to find out what Islam says about religious intolerance. If you have trouble let me know. I don’t have time to go to a lecture mode right now.
Gento , please note that charity begins at home.Do you know your party boss and the one who endorsed your nayoral candidacy is a Christian? Do you want to wage Jihad against him? Do you know the Jihadists in Mali are just a country(Guinea) away from us? Are you inviting them to a blood party?
Be careful what you wish for. You guys are taking us to new lows everyday. It smacks of desperation. It seems you do not fancy your chances and have accepted that the odds are heavily stacked againsr you, hence you rolling the dice of crude and gutter politics. After the balkanisation of our country that saw even the konos and susus having their own parties in the last elections, here you are, trying to incite religious hatred in a country with the rare accolade of a very religion-tolerant country.
Sierra Leone’s former military leader, Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith – both a practising Christian and Muslim – will be spinning in his grave after hearing that Sierra Leonean politicians have gone beyond a new pale of adding religious bigotry to their entrenched tribal politics. The great man was famous for his disdain of Sierra Leonean politicians exploiting the tribal faultlines of the nation for their selfish gains and with no material benefit to 80 percent of Sierra Leoneans. In the meantime, we have propped up on more than one occasion the United Nation’s Human Development Index with our next door neighbours Guinea and Sierra Leone far above us. Presently, we are at the bottom three of the World Happinness Table and least happy in Africa.I am not surprised after a recent visit. My experience is well documented in the comments section of this respected online paper. Please Gento try another sales pitch to the unhappiest people in Africa.No misselling please as Sierra Leoneans are no longer that sea-gullible or complete mugs.
I do not think that President Bio can save anyone from the sword of the kind of THIEF that is being REVEALED through MOHAMED Kamara. That kind of SPIRIT does not apologize or REPENT. So when that EVIL SPIRIT is on or in a man, that man cannot apologize or REPENT.
Truly, “THE THIEF comes to STEAL, and to KILL, and to DESTROY.”
It is only in Sierra Leone that such people aspire for office. Our millionaires, politicians, administrators are all nonetities, with low intellect and a vicious and petty disposition. They tend to engage in rampant debauchery.
If you want to be Mayor, you should at the minimum be aware of the history and composition of Freetown.
Yes, we have Muslim and Christian Creoles, you see that is the basis for our so called religious tolerance. Yes, Siaka Stevens was the Mayor of Freetown, even a white man has been elected Mayor of Freetown, so the claim that the Creoles monopolise the position is nonsense.
As for calling for jihad, just look at the Sahel, be careful what you wish for.