“We were shocked listening to Hon. Lahai Marah of Constituency 042 in Fabala District in one of his audio messages referring to the Kurankos as tribalists; while trying to please his paymasters”, Mohamed Marah, a son of Fabala District and a Kuranko told this medium in a short interview.
“As a stakeholder in Kurankoya and for the Sierra Leonean populace, I want to make it categorically clear that such a damning statement from Hon. Lahai Marah against the Kuranko tribe does not reflect the real characterization of Kurankos anywhere, particularly in our twin districts of Koinadugu and Falaba, and by extension, Sierra
Leone as a country. Such statements should be condemned in all certain terms by all meaningful Sierra Leoneans”, he continued.
“Since time immemorial, when all the five tribes including Fullah, Limba, Mandingo, Yalunka and Kurankos co-habited the then Koinadugu District, we had perfectly co-existed as brothers and sisters to an extent that we won the district the accolade; “Land of powerful mixture”.
He added that this marks the cultural and intermarriage traditions that continue to keep them as a people together as one another’s keeper. “Even as Koinadugu got split politically, in our minds, we as a people still consider the two districts as homogeneous.
Mr Marah said their ancestors have tried for far too long not to allow politics to divide them, though they can be diametrically so divided but only in political thoughts and that has never been reflected by tribe or ethnicity as the case may be.
He noted that for such a statement to come from Hon. Lahai Marah from whom much is expected beats his imagination as an elder brother that was expecting so much from him as the Kurankos have always sought to foster peaceful co-existence between their people; brothers and sisters from the other tribes and ethnicities in both districts.
Kurankos across the globe have condemned such an inflammatory statement in no uncertain terms as it aims to foment hatred, division and disunity among their people.
“His statement and characterization of Kurankos is unfortunate, baseless, preposterous and toxic”, Mohamed Marah opined. It can only come from someone who doesn’t believe in the tenets of peaceful co-existence and good neighbourhood.
He said if Hon. Marah wanted to play cheap politics, he ought to understand that using the tribal card as he has demonstrated has no place in present-day civilization and the national psyche. People are now very consciousness of tribalism in politics and its negative consequences, Rwanda, Liberia and Ivory Coast are still fresh in people’s minds and as such they cannot be drifted by any such spurious commentaries that seek to satisfy politician’s selfish political aggrandizement.
“Playing the tribal or ethnic card is a dangerous field to trek by any sober and reasonable politician, because when it flares up into catastrophe, the consequences could be more far-reaching than that of his myopic agenda”, Mohamed Marah.
He told the Informant that for the past few days, Kurankos have spoken out loudly by condemning Hon. Lahai Marah, the reason he wants to encourage all citizens of the twin districts of Falaba and Koinadugu to discountenance that singular outburst which by all indications, is the hallmark of immature exuberance and an innate insensitivity, and to make it abundantly clear that some of them will not take it lightly to any such future balderdash in the name of scoring political goals at a targeted opponent.
Kurankos across the country are known and respected for their tolerance, obedience, loyalty, commitment and peacefulness.
This is not about APC’s politics but our Kuranko tribe, and we will go against any political party that goes against our tribe in the name of politics. We value our tribe more than any political party, and we are ready to lay our lives for its sanctity.
We hope the International Criminal Court is listening and watching that a certain Member of Parliament in the person of Hon. Lahai Marah is fuelling tribal conflicts through hate speech and tribal sensibilities.