The Koya Descendants Union (KDC) in Sierra Leone and the Diaspora demands that the former colony, Freetown be handed over to them since the lease has expired years back.
The union which is considered a ‘Royal Family’ traced their descent from Bai Kompa Kemant, the first King in Freetown before colonial rule (1808-1961). Prior to the arrival of the slaves, Freetown was known as Romarong , a name of a typical Themne town.
Bai Kompa, the original owner of Freetown, according to records seen by this press hailed from Masimera chiefdom in PortLoko district and was the first to clear the thick forest of the then colony (now Freetown prior to the arrival of the British.
Most of the land, the union says, should be handed over to them and government must pay compensation for the lands they have sold to various residents in Freetown and the number of years they have occupied here.
Their leader, Ibrahim Bangura told Nightwatch that land, according to Themne tradition, is not sold but leased to a lessee.
“We sold no land to the British, and there is no evidence that our great grand father, Bai Kompa Kemant sold any land to the White Man.
Now, we need our land and our colony,” Mr Bangura appealed to government.
In a lease agreement, the lessee hands off any property after the expiration of the lease.
This press has also laid hands on several correspondences which KDU have addressed to the past and present governments in respect of the struggle to take back the land of their forefathers.
In December, 2010, the union wrote a letter to ex-President Ernest Bai Koroma demanding Freetown on the grounds that it was sold to nobody.
“In connection with the lease agreement between the Koya people and the colonial master for the governing council, we want to make it categorically clear that the then paramount Chief, Bai Kompa Kemant never sold our land (the Western colony) to the British,” the letter reads in part. Despite KDU’s strong appeal, the former President took no action to negotiate with the claimants.
On 14th May, 2022, another letter was also addressed to the Local Government Ministry reminding government that Bai Kompa Kemant is the owner of Freetown.
“Bai Kompa Kemant brushed Romarong forest (now Freetown) and no government was in Sierra Leone by then and after brushing, he built State House and his court barray where the law is currently located,” the letter reads. As usual, no action followed and there was a time KDC also appealed to the Chief Justice by way of a letter to halt all land matters pending in his court as no one own land in Freetown except Bai Kompa’s descendants.
“I hereby appeal to you that you must stop all land matters in your court…The government does not have a single peace of land in this colony. There are land owners according to history of Sierra Leone. Our grandfather, Bai Kompa Kemant owned the colony,” a letter dated 15th November, 2017 noted.
According to the letter, KDC does not recognise the rights and powers of the Lands Ministry to sell lands in the colony as if there were no land owners here in Freetown.
“We owned the colony (Freetown), the slaves did not make any purchase of the land neither negotiation nor rent. These people are freed slaves from Europe,” KDC reiterated.Asked whether they co-owned Freetown with the Krio, Bangura refuted such claims saying the Krio were brought to the colony as slaves. In May, 1787, 501 of London’s ‘Black Poor’ were brought to the colony in company with some Englishmen who formed a Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor to support them financially.
They were slaves who fought on the British side during the American War of Independence in 1775. The St George’s Bay Company which consisted of British merchants also helped to look after the affairs of the slaves and the colony before the British government took direct control in 1808. They left in 1961, and that, according to Bangura, the colony should go back to its owners.
As the struggle for taking back Freetown gathers pace, President Julius Maada Bio was informed, in a letter of complaint, about KDC’s move to take back their colony.
In a letter dated 10 April, 2018, the union stated that “we the people of Koya Romarong Descendants Union are making a complaint about an unfair treatment done to us by the past government. We want to bring it to your attention that we have been denied our land since independence. Our land has been given to different organisations without any benefit reaching us (the great grandchildren of King Kompa Kemant of Koya Romarong, we are pleading with you sir to help us regain our right to this land,” the KDU letter also reads. Anti-Corruption Commission also was notified but advised the descendants union to seek redress at the law court and that could be the next and last step to take if the worst comes to the worst.
Bai Kompa, from whom the children of Koya descended, was born in 1775 aged 247 years old. He was the first to clear the forest of Romarong today known as Freetown and the Koya people entrusted him with the power of a monarch to control them. Not too long, Pedro Da Cintra from Portugal arrived at the colony and attempted to open a slave-trade port, but the Koya people protested against the King to stop him from providing accommodation for the Portuguese sailor.
Later, a British, David Livingstone entered the colony and requested King Kompa Kemant to lease the colony to resettle slaves from Britain today known as the Krio. Having got clearance from the King, David Livingstone left Freetown to inform his people that he had succeeded getting a land for lease.
He subsequently returned to Freetown with 500 (five hundred) slaves tied with rope and leased the land from the Koya people.
Without justification, the Portuguese tied David Livingstone because he was a British man.
On hearing such sad news about David Livingstone, King Kompa ordered his release and the Portuguese ran way leaving their slaves in Freetown out of fear that the King would beat them up.
For such a good decision by the King, the British fired 13 gun salutes for the King and David Livingstone left Freetown to colonise, the Gambia, Zimbabwe and Zambia where he later died.