John Akar, founder of the National Dance Troupe
By Kemo Cham and Hassan Ibrahim Conteh
The fate of Sierra Leone's National Dance Troupe (NDT) is on the balance.
After decades of national service, a period mostly characterised by total neglect by successive governments, the official cultural representatives of the country were recently given a dishonourable eviction order from where they had called home for the last 40 years.
In a desperate attempt to revive the sector, the Ministry of Tourism has recently embarked on some controversial moves that have the potential to boomerang against its long term plan.
First it was the mass demolition of 'illegal' structures along the Aberdeen Beach, which left hundreds of millions of leones in properties and the livelihoods of hundreds of Sierra Leoneans in ruins. The ministry said the move is to create room for development of the tourism sector but several months since those demolitions there is hardly any indication that any such development will be realised soon.
Those structures destroyed were said to have been built on unauthorised land. But the 'Cultural Village' which houses the National Dance Troupe is located within a legal space.
Why then are they being asked to leave?
After repeated requests, Tourism ministry officials would not grant Politico an interview. However, various local media reports had quoted Acting Tourism Minister Kadie Sesay as saying that a state of-the-earth cultural village with an art gallery would be built there.
But other sources have said the plan is to build a business center. Word around is that a Lebanese investor had acquired the piece of
land with the expressed intention of developing it.
Whatever the real reason is, this relocation promises to wipe out a monumental part of Sierra Leone’s cultural history.
Final nail on the coffin
The current crop of the NDT are all descendants of the original team founded by John Joseph Akar, known best as the composer of the music of the Sierra Leone National Anthem.
Akar, a distinguished Sierra Leonean of Lebanese origin, founded the Troupe as a way of instilling pride in Sierra Leoneans, vis-à-vis their cultural identity. Under him the Troupe established Sierra Leone’s cultural heritage globally.
Akar and the Troupe famously performed at the 1964 New York World Fair in the United States, where they emerged the best performers. They would later perform at the art festival in London, and at the Negro Arts Festival in the Senegalese capital Dakar.
In 1965 the Troupe did a four-month tour of Europe. The NDT was initially based in Hastings, until 1972 when they were relocated to Aberdeen.
Lately, however, they have been limited to performances in Africa, notably Gambia, where they have clenched trophies at almost every participation in the last three years.
The final nail on the coffin of the Troupe came in 2007 after the election of President Ernest Bai Koroma, when, according to some members, support from the government in every form was stopped.
Report about the eviction became public early January when members of the NDT took to the streets in protest. At one point they camped in front of the gate of President Lodge at Hill Station.
According to a report by state broadcaster SLBC the president, on his way to work, spared time to talk to them. SLBC later reported that he had agreed to intervene.
However, a day later the same medium cited the Tourism Minister dismissing any suggestion that the president would overturn the eviction decision. She said the decision had in fact emanated at Cabinet level.
The minister was speaking after a signing ceremony with members of the Troupe for a one-off compensation payment.
According to that report, the payment was for them to pay rent until a new cultural village was built. Sources said this was being planned for Six Mile, behind Waterloo.
In one of SLBC’s several reports on that development, Saidu Kamara, one of the affected dancers, lamented that his father had died and the only legacy he left him was his profession. He said despite government’s neglect, they had continued to participate in international cultural dance competitions, notably in Gambia, for the past three years during which period they returned home as winners.
Kamara said all supports for the dance troupe stopped since 2007 when
the current government came to power. He said their parents used to
benefit from things like feeding, transportation in the form of a bus
allocated to them, among others.
The Dance Troupe members said they had sought a court injunction to halt the eviction but they lost the case. Their only hope was on the President.
“We have no place to go. We just want government to help us,” said Kamara, surrounded by his colleagues and their extended families.
Partly deserted
The Cultural Village is located between the Mammy Yoko Radisson Blu Hotel and Bintumani Hotel, half stockade with a rich multicultural setting.
On a Monday morning, residents were busy packing up their belongings. Some men were constructing a perimeter fence while others were busy chopping down the fluttering trees: bananas, mangos, etc, which had helped to beautify the village. A short from the backdoor entrance, the only mosque of the village, Masjid Abubakarr, stands, and a few meters away is the church, the Christ Salvation Mennonete Church.
There was also a community centre but residents told Politico that it had already been reduced to rubble as part of the Tourism ministry’s project.
The Christ Salvation Mennonete Primary School, the only school in the partly deserted community, was awaiting demolition, according to Pastor Robert M. Kallon.
According to the Tourism ministry the village was originally built to house 50 people. But presently it is believe to be holding some 2000 people.
Edward Fayia Musa, a dancer and a traditional healer specializing on the bone, has lived in the village since 1996. He joined the Troupe in 2007. He inherited his talent from his late father, Tamba Musa.
The young Musa told Politico that he had no choice but to leave the community.
“I’m working for the government and whatever thing they say, I don’t have power to challenge them,” he said.
Musa was part of the contingent that took part in the annual cultural dance organized by President Yaya Jammeh of The Gambia. He recalled, in one such trip, the ministry refused to give them anything.
“Can you imagine, we were not given a single cent? We paid our way back to Sierra Leone,” he told Politico.
Besides Musa, no one among the Troupe members was willing to talk to us. They said the Tourism ministry had forbidden them to talk to journalists on the eviction issue.
“They have ordered us [non-dancers] not to talk to any journalist. You can talk to the dancers if you want any information about this place,” an elderly man said hurriedly before rushing into an already demolished building being attended to by carpenters sent by the Ministry.
Relocation letter
Despite the grief over their forced relocation, there is anger in the air among the Troupe members over the uneven distribution of the compensation fee by the ministry of Tourism. Qualified dancers were said to have been given Le4m each, while trainee dancers were given Le3m each.
Musa was completing a makeshift apartment made of corrugated iron sheet in nearby Crab Town from his Le4m share.
But some of his colleagues who received Le3m said they had larger families compared to some qualified dancers who received Le4m.
Alhaji Khalil Mara, a father of four children, is the Chief Imam of the Cultural Village. He’d lived in the community since 1982. The old man was angry that he wasn’t among those who received money from the ministry.
“What about us that do not depend on salary, what will the government do for us?” he asked. “We are also important people and the government should also consider us. But our big problem is we don’t have somebody to talk on our behalf.”
Bangali Koroma weaves for the National Dance Troupe members. He designs country clothes for the dancers whenever he is called upon to do so. He said he wasn’t considered for the compensation payment. But he looks forward to the fulfilment of a promise by the ministry to make him the head of the proposed art gallery.
“If they asked us to leave on the basis of development, I think it’s a good idea,” he said.
Pastor Kallon of the Christ Salvation Mennonete said the ministry promised to give them a relocation letter which they never received.
He told Politico that half of the village had been sold to a Lebanese businessman. He claimed he got the information from a senior official within National Dance Troupe, in a private conversation.
“As a church we are praying that the ministry will consider us as they promised to build us another church at 6 mile,” he said.
Mohamd Jaward Nyallay contributed to this article
(C) Politico 16/02/16
