Two centuries on, a group of Koya Themne at home and in the diaspora numbering in their thousands has come together to restore the Bai Kompa Kemante ruling house in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.
It is a move to re-establish the influence of the Koya Themne who claimed to be the real owners of Freetown.
Sierra Leone’s history showed that Bai Kompa Kemante appointed such kings as Naimbana, Tom and Jimmy to assist them in the administration of Freetown which was originally called Romarong, a typical Themne name. the names of King Naimbana, King Tom and King Jimmy are still famous today among the people of Sierra Leone, but the ruling house is no more.
Freetown is part of Koya Chiefdom in the PortLoko district and Bai Bureh who led the Hux Tax rebellion of 1898 also collected tax from the residents of Romarong village today known as Freetown.
The small town later became a crown colony in 1808 as the British government took direct control of the territory following the collapse of the Sierra Leone Company, a group of wealthy merchants who looked after the affairs of the early settlers.
The taking over of the colony by Britain two centuries ago led to the abolition of the Bai Kompa monarchy in the colony.
The Brit believed in the notion that only the British monarchy should exist while their colonies should have paramount chieftaincies.
It is not clear whether the Koya descendants would enlist the support and cooperation of the Bai Kompa Bomboli ruling house in Koya Chiefdom with Masiaka as its headquarters.
The Bai Kompa Bomboli ruling house is said to have enjoyed several privileges in consideration that Freetown is part of his chiefdom.
Brief investigation conducted by this press showed that government used to pay surface rent to the Koya ruling house for the occupation and use of ferry terminal.
It also a clear example of a recognition of the chieftaincy power of the Bai Kompa ruling houses.
But, it is yet unclear whether the PAOPA regime is still honouring its financial obligations to the people of Koya.
According to the annals, Bai Kompa’s residence used to be at the Cotton Tree which stands at the country’s city centre and Law Court was the site he built his court barray settling disputes among his subjects.
The struggle for the restoration of the monarchy continues pointing at bright examples in Ghana and Nigeria which still maintained their monarchies. Ghana, in particular, still maintains the Ashantehene meaning King and head of traditional rulers in Ghana. Ghana’s King, the Ashantehene visited Sierra Leone in 2006 where he donated a golden stool to paramount chiefs in Sierra Leone.
Once the Bai Kompa monarchy is restored, it is also hoped that all tribal heads and head men in Freetown would be answerable and accountable to the King who shall be the overall head.
Dossier laid hands on by this press shows that relevant state authorities have been informed including President Julius Maada Bio although they are yet to get feedback whether positive or negative.
Hundreds are based here in Freetown while a good number are in the diaspora, thousands of miles away from home, fighting to bring their ruling house back to life.
Their focal person here in Sierra Leone, Ibrahim Bangura is championing the campaign for the restoration of the monarchy as he promises not to relent in the struggle.
Bangura traced descent from Bai Kompa Kemante who, he said, was the first to inhabit Freetown. “Bai Kompa was the first to clear a thick forest in Freetown and established his rule here before the coming of the white men,” he recounted.
Koya descendants focal person also challenged what he called conspiracy theories that Freetown was sold to the British which he, said, had never been the case.
According to the Themne custom, land is leased and not sold, and the documents shown also confirmed that Freetown was leased to the Brit for the resettlement of the slaves freed from the sugar plantation in America and other parts of the world.
If government fails to respect their demand, they will be left with no option but to pursue international justice with hope that Britain will stand by them.
“We are just a local chapter, and we get support from the Koya residents in the diaspora especially those living in Britain,” Bangura told Nightwatch press. The British are Sierra Leone’s former colonial power, and are in possession of relevant documents that shows who the actual owners of Freetown are.
A senior citizen who spoke on condition anonymity said, the Koya Union movement was reminiscent of the conflict between Nigeria and Cameroon several years ago.
The two African countries were at each other’s throat over ownership of the Bakasi region, a land rich in fuel and other minerals.
When the matter went to court, the two countries counted on the French and the British as the two colonial masters, and subsequently, Cameroon won the case.
Apart from the restoration of the monarchy here in Freetown, the Koya descendants also demanded that all land in the former colony be returned to them as the agreement demands.
The descendants of Bai Kompa also expect that all estates in Freetown must now be under their control as the lease is now over after years of British occupation of Sierra Leone.
A correspondence seen by this press calls on the courts to put on hold all land matters pending since all land here in Freetown belong to the Koya descendants.
It is usually the rule for all agreements that when a lease expires, the property goes back to the owners as is the case with Oil Palm plantation cultivated by late Vice President of Sierra Leone, Sorie Ibrahim Koroma.
After years of occupation of the Oil Palm garden at Magbigbira village in PortLoko district, the land had been returned to the local land owners after the lease ceased to have effect years ago.
The sons and daughters of the original land owners currently reap the benefits of their forefathers’ foresight.
The move for the restoration of the colony comes at a time government is about to implement a de-amalgamation policy in Sierra Leone.
According to the proposed policy, government will soon split several chiefdoms which were separately ruled for years before joined together for administrative convenience.
For the Koya union, it is an opportunity they will capitalise on to push for the restoration of their monarchy.
Former President Koroma also pursued similar policy when he separated once amalgamated chiefdoms into two in various parts of the country. According to the Koya Themne, they also saw the separation policy pursued by the former President as a big opportunity to resuscitate their ruling house. But, then President Koroma was not inclined to supporting such move owing to an unexplained reason.
The Koya movement seemed to have gained support locally and internationally as a good number of North-Westerners who spoke to this press wanted to see the Bai Kompa Kemante ruling house restored here in Freetown.
A resident in Freetown, Ibrahim Sesay said the movement to take back Freetown was worthwhile as the then colony belonged to the Themne and not the Krio or the Brtish.
Sesay said there was enough evidence to show that Freetown belonged to the Koya Themne whose ancestor was the first to make settlement and exercised leadership before the coming of the colonialists.
To support his claim, Sesay mentioned the use of typical Themne names to name major Streets in Freetown. “Pa Marong, Mamboreh, Matokor, Haja Fatmata and other names all show that Freetown belongs to the Koya Themne and they must take back control of then colony by restoring the monarchy,” he asserted.
He also argued further that Pa Demba Road in the city centre is named after a prominent Themne Chief, but these names are being slowly wiped off from history books if effort is not made to bring them back.
But, it is up to the Koya union to restore their old monarchy in the capital city against all odds.
Although there is a big doubt that they could not succeed as Sierra Leone is now a modern state with a written constitution that knows only chieftaincy and not monarchy.
Sierra Leone’s constitution states that “the institution of chieftaincy is hereby recognised and its non-abolition guaranteed.”
However, the descendants of Bai Kompa Kemante would push hard although it could not be an easy pushover.