Feature

By Mohamed Makmid Kamara

In the last week, I have been on self-isolation at home in Accra. I decided to self-isolate after I returned from Conakry for a week-long work trip. I returned to Accra just before borders were shut and flights were cancelled. I feel very lucky. It was such a relief to be back in Accra, safely. But I don’t feel relieved.

By Edward William Fashole-Luke11

In April 1993, at the memorial service of my late Father, the Rev Canon Professor Edward William Fashole-Luke1, Professor Eldred Jones said inter alia the following " I should not be giving this tribute to one of my star pupils. I would have expected Edward to be giving this tribute to his me his teacher who taught him firstly at the CMS Grammar School and then at Fourah Bay College."

A Man of Honour

Eldred Durosimi Jones is no more.

He left our world sooner

Than our minds could register

Calmly departing as he had lived.

In the quietness of emptiness,

He faded away to remain

Remembered in our grateful hearts

And in those generations to come.

For all the joys he had once brought us,

Growing the bounds of our intellect;

Freely sharing love unselfishly

With family, friends and students all,

We in homage to his memory

Dear Marjorie Jones

Since you hovered over Durosimi like a guardian angel after you left

you would have known that Durosimi Eldred Jones left us today

He left us filled with your shared memories to quench the emptiness in our lives

He left us with a ripple of light streaking across

the sky like a comet illuminating souls even though his light dimmed decades ago

Big kɔtintri fɔdɔm na Salon ɛn shek di wɔl.

Wɛn pipul yɛri,̌ sɔm ala wit shɔk!

Ɔdawan dɛn jɛs ɛng dɛn ed ɛn se,

O ya, I dɔn go mit in wɛf.

Dis Salon man to di bakbon

Mek nem fɔ insɛf ɛn in kɔntri.

Wi yon Krio Edman,

We jɔin an fɔ wrait di KRIO DIKSHƆNƐRI

Wi yon Profɛsɔ we tich ɛn wrait Inglish

Buk dɛm, wi yon yon

Profɛsɔ Dr. Eldred Durosimi Jones

Di wan, di onli Dr. Eldred Jones

Dɔn lɛf wi tide fɔ itaniti.

Slip Prɔf, tek yu rɛst wit Marj.

By Lulu Wright\

Eldred was of a rare breed. Disarmingly honest and sincere, he could be relaxed with people from all walks of life. He capitalised on his exceptional talents. You could not meet him without being conscious of his inner strength, even in adversity. I was fortunate to get to know him through my lifelong friendship with his wife Marjorie. In our youth, we often met at dinner parties, dances and in each others’ homes. In later years, we have enjoyed hours of sparkling conversation and mixed reminiscence.

By Franklin Sisabu Bendu

In my last piece on this topic (Coronavirus – the present and the future), I drew attention to the need for the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Bank of Sierra Leone to outline special policy measures that will ensure our economy is able to respond to the challenges COVID-19 brings. In this follow-up article, I make bold to say that there are going to be tough times and government institutions have to be proactive and innovative in developing policies that will help mitigate the consequences of COVID-19.