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VideoWelcome to Frederick Kamara MySpace site. First of all, let me tell about myself before rumours fester into facts! Yes, I was born Alfred Kamara in Finsbury Park, North London (not actually in the park but in a hospital!), the second son fo Alfred and Maria Kamara. I am : a Londoner, graduate, christian, corporate-professional, cosmopolitan, straight-forward, easy-going, friendly and loyal.I've chosen the name Seborah because the Seborahs are a "ruling house" in Sierra Leone (where my parents are from). In the 1700s, they were allied to Great Britain. Other interesting Seborahs include: Seborah-N'Imbana, Seborah-N'Soyella, Seborah-N'Jala and Seborah-N'Runk; it is also believed that Queen Nefretiti was from the same House. Saying that, the Seborahs were not as tough as the Faramas or Burehs. Faramas like : Farama-Tami or Farama-Tass, and Burehs like: Mangeh-Bureh and Jan Jan-Bureh were quite tough too. In fact if you've watched or read JRR Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", the characters Faramir and Boromir are named after Farama-Tass and Mangeh-Bureh (Buremah) respectively!!!So here's the history lesson: the Mansas (e.g, Loma, Kama)were Mande (Mandingo/Malinke) kings living in that part in West Africa before the Faramas.RammsteinThe Faramas (or Great Pharoahs)were from Egypt and come to Sierra Leone between the 6th-10th century just after the Islamic Invasions of North Africa. Farama-Tami and his followers fought wars all the from North Africa and eventally settled in Sierra Leone. They were called Temnes (or Tamis/conquerors) after their Leader Farama-Tami (Great Pharoah "The Conqueror"). The Temnes are NOT Mandingoes. There language is a Niger-Congo language not a Mande language. Sierra Leone was once a Mighty Kingdom that stretched from the south of Guinea to the south of Liberia and had an "formidable" reputation. It was known as "the land that cannot be conquered"! In the 1400s Sierra Leone was allied to the Portuguese after the arrival of Pedro Da Cintra in 1462 (a protege of Prince Henry The Navigator), a Portuguese explorer who gave the region its name, and in the 1500s were allied to the Spanish (were the country gets its modern name - Sierra Leone or Sierra Leona. It gets it's name from the fact that the early Sierra Leoneans were "warriors" - they fought like "lions" and thus "the land of warriors, or "The Mountain of Lions". Specically, it's named after Farama-Tass, "the lion on the range" who won many wars against invaders. The Faramas spent much of their time fighting pirates & kidnappers like : Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, Cumbernauld; and keeping the Spanish Monopoly on Trade, particular controlling the Atlantic sea route that led to the Americas. One of the reasons for the wars that went on, was to break this tight monopoly that was controlled particularly by the spanish. Oh yes, they were converted to Roman Catholism and Bai Farama-Tass then became King Philip of Sierra Leone (or Philip of Leoni)and began a programme to make Sierra Leone Catholic.During this alliance with Spain, instead of fighting over diamonds (which occurs nowadays), people were fighting over "gold" and contol of trade routes. Before discovering gold in the New World, the Spanish used to get their gold from Sierra Leone, in exchange for weapons that Farama-Tass used to expand his empire. Sierra Leoneans were educated in Spain as diplomates, priests and also fought for Spain. Many Sierra Leoneans eventaully settled in Spain and other places. Many things came to Sierra Leone because of the alliance, like: sweet potatoes, cassava, corn, guns, etc.
The Burehs overcame the Faramas in a famous battle after they allied themselves with the Dutch in the 1600s under Mangeh-Bureh (aka Buremah)their king. Mangeh-Bureh then became King of Sierra Leone. Under Mangeh-Bureh, arms also came to Sierra Leone and there was a lot of co-operation between Sierra Leone and "The Netherlands".The Seborahs then overcame the Burehs under Bai Seborah-N'Imbana or King Naimbana (The Big Cow) after they were allied to Great Britain in another famous battle. Seborah N'Imbana was a "Freemason" and established the colony of Freedom (not Granville Sharp) today Freetown - a region originally of 1-mile squared!) It was originally established for The Black Poor (African-American Loyalists who had become destitute in London, England); along with his friends William Wilberforce and Granville Sharpe. In the 1780s a committee was set up to re-pariate the Black Poor to Africa to solve the problem of destitution.The Committee also realised the opportunity, that this would also establish a base in that part of Africa to secure their economic interests (I guess you could call Freetown the "Hong Kong" of Sierra Leone). Those who had become destitute were horrified by the idea and many resorted to suicide instead of having anything to do with the enterprise. The colony was suppose to be established in Ghana; however, King Nana Prempeh the Ashanti King would not give his consent and so the settlement was established in Sierra Leone. The settlers left England (originally about 400) in 3 ships called the Belasario, the Vernon and the Atlantic. King Naimbana "The King of Sierra Leone" (not a Regent or local chief) established the settlement on a piece of land formerly called Robang (not Romerong) which was part of the Koya chiefdom, and gave the local chiefs 30 pounds as a gesture of goowill, and asked the chiefs to accept the settlers (about 100) as "brothers". By custom, land is "family land" and cannot be sold. This region then became a Crown Colony in 1810, run by the Sierra Leone Company. There was concern over whether the settlement would survive; whether Seborah-N'Imbana would change his mind and reclaim the setllement; whether the settlement would just fizzle away; or whether it would be lost to a rival power!The settlement needed two thing: Funds to run it and a population to defend it. Naimbana had stopped the French displacing Great Britain in the region after a famous battle in the early 1800s, where beforehand Pa Demba had evacuated the setllement during the battle with Napolean's forces. Sierra Leone as a Kingdom, then came under the protection of Great Britain in 1898 after the proclamation of The Protectorate Ordinance which sparked the Hut Tax and Head Tax Wars - which were taxes raised to solve the problem on how The Colony was going to fund itself, since it didn't produce anything. Treaties had initially been signed with local neighbours (particularly with the Burehs who had their chiefdom next door), to co-exist with the Settlement peacefully, and one of the triggers for the Hut Tax War was that these Treaties had always been broken.The population problem was solved by the arrival of The Nova Scotians - African-American who had settled in Canada; The Recaptives - intercepted slave ships from "rival powers" - the individuals on those ships were given "english names" and resettled on the settlement instead of being taken back to their families; The Maroons from Jamaica who were brought in to defend it; The Lebanese - who were brought in to counter the rise of Pan-Africanism that was spreading in Africa in the early 1900s; and The Fulas from Guinea in the 1940s and 50s.In "The Scrabble for Africa" in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Sierra Leone saw its territory reduced in the Anglo-French and Anglo-Liberia Conventions: Liberia used to be a part of Sierra Leone! Then political parties were then formed starting with the UPP, SLPP and the APC whose leaders were not from traditional families...in fact, the background of many of them was simply unknown! In fact Siaka Stevens was rumoured to be Nigerian - that he was adopted as an orphan by Sir Leslie Probyn and systematically groomed for leadership! He was leader of many of the institutions he joined and joined the SLPP and tried to become its leader but he was rebuffed. He then left and formed his own party called the PNP (the Peoples National Party), which nobody joined. When individuals from the North of the country broke away and set up the APC, he saw his oppotunity and used his experience as trade union leader, mayor, Oxford education to make his case for leadership.It is also believed that the 1967 coup attempt was a publicity stunt. Siaka Stevens' rule was typified by the devaluation of the currency during the Arab Oil Crisis; political assassinattions of opponents, and the building of buildings that were never used. In over 15 years, all political opposition was crushed. The soul behind the party was SI Koroma, whose father was a Mandingo shoe salesman from Guinea who gave the party its mass appeal.After The Head Tax War, the major chiefs were very wary of the settlement. Most of the chiefs decided to pay the Head Tax, which was a form of "Poll Tax" where everyone could pay the same amount (instead of paying in proportion to the size of your house (a form of council tax)). Because cooperation was not coming from the Major Chiefs, and who were believed to be trouble, the authorities in the settlement then turn their attention to a Mende chief in the south of the country called Mammy Yoko for support after the two wars (the Mendes represent the largest minority group in Sierra Leone) that resulted in the selection of Sir Milton Margai as the first prime minister and president of the country.The UPP (United Peoples Party) was the first political party founded in Freetown. It was created in the settlement to counter the power of the chiefs which was strong. The chiefs (especially the major chiefs) had the power in the country. Nothing happened without their authority. Because a new King/Obai had not been crowned since Seborah-N'Imbana - a system that was normally rotated, the chiefs then started operating independently of each other at this time. The introduction of "political parties", the "protecorate assembly" and the "paramount chieftaincy system" was to further weaken their control.
People were encouraged to form political parties, however The UPP was deemed to be illigal and it's leadership were arrested and placed under "house arrest". The SLPP (The Sierra Leone Peoples Party) was then formed in the Provinces.It was called the SLPP deliberately as a "snub" to the leaders of the UPP (who included Juxon-Smith and Wallace-Johnson). It was then a surprise when its leader turn out to be Sir Milton Margai - whose father was rumoured to be a Mr Milton who had worked in the mines in the south of the country. However, he was not opposed because many people had nothing to do with the party, and one of his assets it wa beileved and that was refered to time and time again, was that he was highly educated (He studied at Oxford University). Part of this grooming was carried out by an individual called Sir Maurice Dorman. As first prime minister and president along with an alleged cabal of mostly outsiders, they were responsible for signing the terms of independence from Great Britain at Lancaster House.After the death of Sir Milton Margai, his half-brother Albert became President (many people believe they were not even biologically related). He was known for buying houses abroad with government money, which he later lost. In 1961, Sierra Leone was declared an Independent country under the 1961 Sierra Leone Independent Act; and in 1972, declared a Republic.....and then, as they say, the rest is history. That's why I chose the name Seborah - (I know, its a long-winded explanation!).You Tube CodeYou Tube
Euro 2008: What do you think so far?
