Kamalo – 14th November 2020
On 7th October, 2020 a heavy Storm swept through the township of Kamalo, in the Karene district, Northern Sierra Leone, leaving unprecedented devastation in its wake. Over 30 homes were badly affected by that disaster, some of which completely flattened or their roofs uprooted. Scores of families were made homeless as a result of the storm but despite the scale of the disaster, the victims did not receive any support from their government or any humanitarian organization.
While the government has abdicated its responsibility to its citizens, the frontrunner for the 2023 APC presidential ticket, Dr. Samura Kamara, who happens to have hailed from that part of the country, has stepped in to help out his compatriots by providing over One Hundred Million Leones (Le100, 000,000) 100 bags cement and food items to disaster victims.
Dr. Samura Kamara collaborated with the overseas based Sanda Loko Development Organization and the APC diaspora wing to mobilize resources to alleviate the plight of his people.
Presenting the disaster relief package to victims, Dr. Kamara underscored the need for Sierra Leone to prioritize environmental protection averring; “What has happened here in Kamalo could happen in other parts of Sierra Leone, the signs are already clear of worsening environmental situation. Certainly , we need to be far more serious about our environment – rapid deforestation is already showing its ugly results”. The man widely regarded as a president in waiting said that throughout his professional career to date, he has been passionate about the environment.
Samura Kamara’s strong donation has come on the back of an earlier donation of over 50 bundles of corrugated roofing sheets by Member of Parliament for the area, Hon Cecilia Bangura, who bemoaned the apparent failure from government to intervene in the Kamalo storm disaster. She also called for the immediate halt on uncontrolled logging around Karene District.
Reckless logging, and the controversial timber export authorization given to a single company/individual have reportedly become a cash cow for this government. The Africanist report of 8th November 2020 states that Le 2.1 Billion and 5M Dollars was missing as revenue from the monopolised timber trade. Yet this government could not even visit the affected area to help the victims of a disaster undoubtedly induced by state sanctioned environmental degradation through such large scale logging.
One of the victims, Mary Sallu, described how her entire family narrowly escaped death during he night of the disaster after a large mango tree fell on their home, destroying the entire structure.
Samura Kamara’s philanthropy, which is driven by his empathy for the less privileged is not limited to his kith and kin in Kamalo. Since the COVID -19 outbreak, he has been out and about providing a nation -wide economic relief support to his fellow Sierra Leoneans. As a matter of fact, today his team is headed to Koinadugu and Falaba districts where ordinary Sierra Leoneans whose livelihoods have been disrupted by the outbreak will benefit from his ongoing national COVID -19 Relief Support.
Credit: SMWK2023 Media
