Honorable Musa Tamba Sam

Hon. Musa Tamba Sam 

The Segbwema blog joins many other Sierra Leoneans at home and in the diaspora to mourn the untimely demise of Honorable Musa Tamba Sam, a former Member of Parliament and the current Publicity Secretary for the Sierra Leone Peoples Party, the oldest political party in the country.

Tamba Sam was a vocal member of Parliament and has been a tireless voice of the opposition, adept at exposing government malpractice in the troubled West African nation.  Tamba was never one to shy away from public controversy not even when it came to his own party.  He recently took part in an abortive attempt to replace the current Chairman of his party Chief Somano Kapen and the Secretary General over accusations of gross incomptetence.

Chief Somano Kapen's tenure as overseer of the SLPP has been characterized by incessant internal party squabbles that has resulted in near paralysis and detracted from it's role as the country's major opposition entity. Fed up with a party Chairman full of excuses and no tangible solutions, Tamba had joined the Vice Chair Dr. Prince Harding in a failed attempt to get rid of the party top brass. However, their approach was not strictly constitutional and had been seen as an act of sabotage by members allied to a certain partisan faction. Though abortive,  the attempt has brought some urgency to opposition business.

As Publicity Secretary, Tamba Sam has only been too willing to rise up to the challenge,  in spite of some persistent health issues, compounded by the inadequate health infrastructure in the country. However, this foot soldier for democracy never let  health issues slow him down,  but was constantly on radio stations and tours around the country, lamenting the unbridled corruption,  nepotism, sycophancy and economic mismanagement that have become the hallmarks of the Koroma Presidency.

Chairman Chief Somano
Kapen SLPP 

As the country moves from one crisis to the other and continues to be rocked by one scandal and another, the loss of a brave voice representing the interests of the downtrodden masses will be a major blow to popular aspirations in a fragile democracy. The voice of Jeremiah has surely faded into the political wilderness.

The fight against attempts to use the current Ebola crisis in the country to extend the mandate of President Ernest Bai Koroma beyond his constitutional two-term limit has lost a major voice. Musa Tamba Sam's demise will be a major blow in the struggle to prevent this great travesty.

Democracy has lost a champion in Sierra Leone. Even though the forces of tyranny and evil seem to be having a field day in the country, it is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that no individual, group or entity hijacks the democracy whose reestablishment in Sierra Leone led to the loss of so many thousands of innocent lives.

Funeral Arrangements 

We join thousands of Sierra Leoneans in extending messages of condolence to members of his family and pray that he receives the blessing of his Maker.