Kumba Momoh lives through her legacy
John Baimba Sesay
I met the late Kumba Alice Momoh in mid-2014 following her appointment by His Excellency former president Ernest Korma as deputy ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.
As Press Attaché, I had the opportunity of working with Kumba Momoh and a great team of dedicated diplomats in fostering the ties of cooperation between Sierra Leone and the People’s Republic of China. Her arrival in Beijing in May 2014 strategically helped in adding value to the existing excellent relationship between the two countries. She worked with, and greatly supported then ambassador Victor Bockarie Foh.
When ambassador Foh was appointed vice president in March 2015, Kumba superintended the embassy until Alimamy P. Koroma was appointed ambassador, a year later. She believed in consultations and sought advice on almost every decision she took as deputy envoy and later as charge d’affaires.
I recall her first meeting with staff in Beijing, her call to action was for teamwork so as to deliver, saying, “…our being here should ensure we add value by attracting investors who will be committed to deliver purposeful businesses that will benefit the people of Sierra Leone.” Like the two ambassadors she worked with, the late Kumba Momoh played her role in opening up the embassy, making it accessible to all, devoid of one’s background. Kumba Momoh believed, the embassy needed to move towards building stronger economic ties and exploring new co-operations frameworks specifically in line with private sector involvement. So, when in 2016, the cooperation ties between Sierra Leone and China were escalated to a Comprehensive Strategic Status, the highest pinnacle of bilateral relationship that the People’s Republic of China extends to countries, Kumba was moved and expressed how happy she was that, much was being achieved.
The late Kumba Momoh was a friend of the media, having worked as a broadcaster at the then Sierra Leone Broadcasting Services between 1974/76. The media, she once said, should take centre stage in discussing national development. “Your role is strategic to the growth of democracy”, she told a delegation of 32 media professionals in 2016.
Beyond her diplomatic engagements, Kumba Momoh was a mother to hundreds of Sierra Leonean students, with China having the highest number of Sierra Leonean students every year. Sierra Leone’s growth potentials, she told a gathering of students in Beijing in 2017, depended on the capacity of human resource, referring them as “the agents of growth and development that Sierra Leone is building.” Mamie Kumba’s passing came at a time the family and friends needed her most.
Though gone to the Lord, her wonderful service to humanity will serve as a showdown to see her on earth. Her legacies will serve as a true reflection of her contribution to the growth of the different people she had helped.
Death is unescapable but not a product wished for. When it happens, we all should, by faith, believe, that heaven is assured! Mourning her will last longer than she lived and until we forget about her, mamie Kumba is not dead. She was more than an ambassador to many of us; she became everything to her family, workmates and students and the Sierra Leonean community at large.
Rest and do it well in the Lord’s bosom till we meet in heaven!
Enter
John
