I had never met the late Mrs. Florence Bangura of Washington DC, USA and Makorie village, Yoni Chiefdom, Tonkolili district, Sierra Leone. In fact I never knew she was from Yoni, my ancestral chiefdom or that her village is not too far away from my ancestral village in the same chiefdom in that part of the country.
What I do remember is that my friend in Washington Arolyn Koroma who is now publisher of Bai Bureh Times used to enthusiastically send me stories and articles about her to publish when she was boss of the APC chapter in Washington DC. I used to wonder why Arolyn was so enthusiastic about the lady. Now I know. I am glad I published those stories and articles as soon as I received them.
She was not an ordinary person considering the turn out under reportedly inclement weather by thousands of Sierra Leoneans and non-Sierra Leoneans at her funeral in Virginia last week.People are generally extremely busy in the West and for them to turn up in such huge numbers at somebody’s funeral means a lot. It means a person of substance has passed away as Ambassador Yansaneh of the APC secretariat in Freetown rightly observed in his tribute to the great lady (see front page).
As we mourn our sister under the Rising Sun banner, we all should reflect on her selfless service,unflinching loyalty and huge sacrifices for the party she had decided to support. Hers was no lip service, but real and actual service.
Service to party and country is the greatest legacy a human being should bequeath to this earth before stepping into the great beyond. I have been coincidentally reading a book on George Washington the first President of the United States and Founder of the Nation in the last couple of days. It’s amazing what that man did for his country before he passed. He even put his life at stake on the battlefield to help free his country from British colonialism among many other sacrifices he made. No wonder there is a majestic monument dedicated to him in Washington today.
Florence was of course not a George Washington but her life was an ode to him in many ways. She served and served and served her party and her country, without looking back. She led her troops into the battlefield over and over and won. Just like George Washington.
And she did all that in the city founded by George Washington along the Potomac River.
May her soul rest in perfect peace.
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