By Hassan Ibrahim Conteh
Months of battle for supremacy within the Limba ethnic group may be close to an end with the announcement of a compromise umbrella union.
The Malimba Development Union (MaDU) was unveiled last Thursday and is scheduled for a formal launch by President Ernest Bai Koroma next week.
The Limba community has been torn between the Limba Development Union (LDU) and the Akutay Friendly Association, both of which claim to be the legitimate umbrella body representing the interest of the Limba people.
Bishop Tamba Ali Koroma, Interim chairman of the MaDU, said at a press conference that they reached a compromise after a series of negotiations.
"Akutay", which means in Limba "have you heard?", was founded in the 1980s by Sierra Leone’s first President Siaka Stevens as a Sunday social gathering. It later transformed into a powerful political institutional under the presidency of Joseph Saidu Momoh who came to power in November 1985. MaDU members argue that the organization lost its legitimacy as an umbrella body when it was opened to non-Limba people under the leadership president Momoh, Stevens’ handpicked successor.
The Limbas are the third largest ethnic groups, behind the Temnes and Mendes, in Sierra Leone. There are 11 Limba Chiefdoms across the country.
Like Stevens, Momoh and current President Ernest Bai Koroma all have at least one of their parents as Limba.
This way the Limbas have had a dominant effect on Sierra Leone’s politics. Notwithstanding, its people are largely uneducated and often live in isolated communities. These are issues the MaDU and the other rival groups have professed to address.
"We want to move from what many people called Limba Corner mentality to center mentality," said Bishop Koroma.
The Bishop also told journalists at the press conference hosted at the Limba Church that many of those non-Limba ethnic people who were allowed to join the Akutay did so for political reasons. And he blamed that, among other factors, for being responsible for the constant division within their ranks, as has been manifested in the infighting in the chieftaincy hierarchy. He said this has also meant “untold suffering” for the Limba people in recent years.
A crucial requirement to be a member of the MaDU is that a person’s father must be a Limba and the mother must have a Limba origin.
Philipson Kamara, who served as President for Akutay between 1989 and 1992, is perhaps the highest profile member of the rival group to have joined the rank of the MaDU, of which he is now Vice Chairman.
He urged other members of the Akutay to follow suit in the interest of creating a formidable Limba union.
“Nine members from the Akutay wing have joined the MaDU, but we still have three key members there. They are our brothers we will accept them if they are willing to join us,” he said.
“It is not about name but to raise the people from the lower standard and place them on the centre of activities.”
MaDU was first formed in 2014 and a formal agreement to dissolve the other groups was reached in 2015, said its National Coordinator, Julius Kandeh Kanu.
He told Politico on Monday that they have decided to focus on developing the union in the meantime and that they intend to convene a national delegate conference in March in Kabala when they will have their first official executive.
Brima Michael Turay, spokesperson for Akutay, dismissed the call for unity and branded members of the MaDU as deceptive.
According to MaDU officials, President Koroma is a registered member of the union, and the head of state is said to have been closely working with their leadership with the goal of fostering peace and development within the Limbas.
Turay told Politico that MaDU was using the name of the president as a “mere propaganda” to attract more members. He said President Koroma could not be a member of any of these organizations because he was not even a Limba in the first place.
Turay said the Limba Development Union, whose members were championing the MaDU initiative, was formed as a result of the banning of Akutay by the NPRC junta. He said with the end of the NPRC, all organizations which sprang up as a result must cease to exist.
He also dismissed suggestions that nine members of the Akutay executive had joined the MaDU, calling it an act of deception.
“Akutay remains a registered organization, a standalone organization and we have not merged with any organization,” he stated.
(C) Politico 02/02/16
