As former President Ernest Koroma makes another conspicuous absence at the Binutmani Conference hall in Freetown, where the Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Peace Memorial Foundation was launched, former President Obasanjo, Helen Johnson Sirleaf and other dignitaries from the international community, including the United Nations Coordinator in Sierra Leone, had gathered to immortalize the former President of Sierra Leone, Dr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
The Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Kabbah Peace Foundation was over the weekend officially launched by President Julius Maada Bio in Freetown to immortalize the good works of the former President who had transitioned the country from a failed state to a democracy.
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah won Sierra Leone’s first democratic elections in 1996 after the rein of the National Provisional Ruling Council. He had faced very difficult times as the war was still raging on. President Kabbah was overthrown twice by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) military junta of Johnny Paul Koroma and was later restored by the Nigerian forces under the able hands of ECOMOG.
Isatu Jabbie Kabbah, former First Lady of Sierra Leone, told the BBC that the Foundation is being launched at a time when there are rising tensions in the country. She hoped that the Foundation would be used to dialogue meaningfully for the achievement of peace.
President Kabbah was known for peace, national cohesion and development, which is what the Kabbah Peace Foundation would signify, IJ Kabbah told the BBC.
Many politicians, including those from the NGC and SLPP and other Sierra Leoneans from other fields of endeavours, made pledges to the furtherance of the Foundation. The Chief Minister, Professor David Francis, chaired the session.
Launching the Foundation, President Bio started by noting that, “we are celebrating the life and legacy of a worthy citizen, the former president, a man of great faith and courage who remained passionate about fostering a culture of peace and building enduring institutions, a man whose humility, simplicity and dedication to service and nation will forever live.”
President Bio added that he is grateful as President of Sierra Leone to be tasked with the singular honour of launching the Ahmed Tejan Kabbah Foundation with its objectives of promoting peaceful coexistence, cohesion, tolerance, respect and justice.
He referenced President Kabbah’s inaugural speech in which he admonished all Sierra Leoneans to ensure that, all their actions, as rulers and the ruled, be directed at sustaining the best interests of our country, Sierra Leone.
He furthered that, President Kabbah had cautioned against the real danger that persons may take advantage of the “tyranny of ignorance, superstition, disease, violence, and poverty.” He called on everyone to start working immediately to make Sierra Leone what God intended her to be: serene, secure and prosperous.
The President highlighted several legacies of the late man, which border on creating democratic institutions, superintending over the construction of good roads as well as the establishment of social protection policies for the youth, the disabled and other vulnerable groups in the country at the wake of the end of the civil war.