"Hello, Mr. Publisher! How are you today?"
Those were the words of the late Sierra Leonean lawyer Mohamed Sadu Bah whenever he called me from his home or office in Maryland, USA. The late man was perhaps the most friendly and humble Sierra Leonean I had ever known in my life.
The strange thing is I had never met lawyer Bah in person. We had only been communicating via telephone and email, but it seems to like I had known him all my life. I live in Vancouver, Canada, and he lived in Maryland, USA. I had always promised to pay a visit to that part of the US to see him and other Sierra Leoneans. That was why it pained me greatly that the hand of fate prevented me from meeting this great man when he was snatched away from us last Saturday. There is a saying in Sierra Leone which goes "Man proposes, God disposes." That saying describes this sad situation very well.
Sadu Bah loved the Patriotic Vanguard with a love I had never seen in any other Sierra Leonean. He would say:
"Mr. Publisher, I know the political party you support but I have absolute respect for you and your team because you try to be fair to everybody and every political party. You therefore have my full support Sir. Please continue the good work, never look back. I am SLPP but I will praise the current government if they do something good and criticize them if they do something bad. That’s me, Sadu Bah. I am a Sierra Leonean, Sir."
My Acting editor and deputy editor have already written excellent articles on Mohamed Sadu Bah elsewhere on this newspaper, so I will be brief. All I can say is Sierra Leone and Sierra Leoneans have lost a great son of the soil. May his soul rest in perfect peace. On behalf of the Patriotic Vanguard I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the deceased’s family and friends. Sadu Bah was a great man. A great Sierra Leonean.
PV Reshuffle
This newspaper, the Patriotic Vanguard, will soon be six years old (founded July 2005). That is six years of very hard work, immense sacrifices and commitment to the progress and advancement of Mama Salone. So we decided, this year, 2011, to be the year of fundamental change in our structure.
As founder of this noble institution, I have decided to hand over more responsibilities to tried and tested colleagues, people who stood by me as we struggled in many ways to provide this service mostly pro bono (as the lawyers would say) to our country and people.
So I will now be Chief Executive Officer, a position that would allow me to pay more attention to my family and to some of the professional plans I had set aside to develop this newspaper and provide excellent coverage of events in our country and the rest of the world. I will however be in the background, attending to administrative tasks and assisting in editorial matters.
Abdulai Bayraytay, the former Deputy Editor is now the deputy CEO while Anthony Kamara, the former PV USA Bureau Chief is now Acting Editor. He is acting because he is still recuperating at home after a recent devastating illness. He will assume full responsibilities as soon as he is fully recovered. Roland Bankole Marke, a former Special Correspondent, is now Deputy Editor. See the full staff list here.
PS: This structure will continue to evolve, bringing in more people as and when necessary, while the wheels of time roll by.
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