By: Aaron Bundu Lahai
On Friday 27th December, 2024 the Sierra Leone Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh observed the Friday Juma prayers at the Fullah Mosque Bo Road in Mogbuaka Town. In his address to the Jamaat after prayers, Vice President Jalloh flashbacked on the recent skirmish that occurred in Freetown relating to the arrest of some members of the Fullah Ethnic group while he was out of Sierra Leone.
He assured the Jammat of the Mosque and the Fullah community in Tonkilili in particular that nothing will happen to them, noting that the issue has been stabilized and investigation is going on in Freetown. “We the Fullahs are Sierra Leoneans, we were born here, we grew up here, and we will die here” Hon Vice President Jalloh emphasized. He concluded that a team of the Fullah Ethnic Group from Freetown will be in Magburaka to engage the wider Fullah community in Tonkolili district.
Hon Vice President Jalloh informed the Jammat that he was praying in the mosque for the first time, noting that he had prayed in other mosques in the Mogburaka Township multiple times. He told the Jammat that he was in Magburaka town on an official assignment on behalf of President Julius Maada Bio and the Government of Sierra Leone to sympathize with the bereaved family of the late Paramount Chief of Kholifa Rowalla Chiefdom.
Hon Vice President Jalloh requested for some representatives of the Mosque to accompany him together with the Paramount Chiefs to the late Chief’s residence to deliver the message of consolation, and for the Mosque representatives to help offer Dua prayers for the late Paramount Chief.
The Hon Vice President pledged to support the mosque with any assistance requested by the Jamaat within his reach in his capacity as a practicing Muslim with Quranic and Tapsil memorization, he furthered that it is the responsibility of a Muslim child to ensure that the Islamic religion grows. He pledged to provide hajj scholarships to some Muslims in the mosque to perform the 2025 pilgrimage in Mecca, but noted that it is the responsibility of the Jammat to choose the beneficiaries of the scholarships.
Sheik Ibrahim Habib Jalloh, the Deputy Chief Imam of the Fullah Mosque in Maburaka who delivered the Friday Sermon stated that Vice President Jalloh and other stakeholders at the helm of affairs are Ambassadors with supervision over all Sierra Leoneans, quoting the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him). He prayed for God’s guidance in the execution of the responsibilities God has bestowed on those at the helm of State Governance to govern safely. He noted that the Fullah Mosque wholeheartedly welcomed the Honourable Vice President, stressing that Fullah Mosque stand out as the only mosque without green or red emphasizing that green or red is not the business of the Fullah Mosque.
Immediately after the Juma Prayers, the Honourable Vice President proceeded to the residence of late Paramount Chief Alhaji Masakama Kanamanka III of Kholifa Rowalla Chiefdom where he delivered the consolation message to the bereaved family at Mabum Street in Magburaka Town.
