Kande Bureh

Kande Bureh (born Saidu Bai Kamara in 1908 in Mange, Port Loko District, Sierra Leone) was a prominent Sierra Leonean political figure from the Temne ethnic group who was one of the leading members that guided Sierra Leone from colonial rule to national independence in 1961.

Early life and education

Kande Bureh was born as Saidu Bai Kamara in 1908 at Mange Bureh in what is now Port Loko District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone to Temne parents. He started his primary education at the A.M.E. Primary School in Mange, Port Loko District and also learnt Arabic through the articulate Arabic scholar, Santigie Rembu. In 1920, Kande Bureh left his native home of Mange to settle in the capital Freetown, where he attended the Methodist Boys' High School and later qualified as a teacher.

His abiding desire to educate the young and prepare them for a better future, and his unquenchable urge to spread knowledge far and wide, saw Kande Bureh serving as a teacher for well over fifteen years. He taught at the Bethel Primary School at Kossoh Town, Freetown; later he moved to the Ebenezer Amalgamated School and then to the Madrassa Islamic school.

Political career

He left the teaching field in 1945 and was elected Tribal Headman for the Temne community in Freetown. At this stage in his life, Kande Bureh wanted to do more work for his people. His major task, and one which he successfully accomplished, was to bring about a closer relationship between the various ethnic groups in Sierra Leone. He worked amicably with other tribal leaders and, in his desire to foster participation and integration in Sierra Leone, founded several friendly societies such as Murkaramin, the now legendary Ambas Geda, and the Temne Progressive Union. Through these various organisations, over eleven mosques were built throughout Sierra Leone to cater to the religious needs of his people. The mosques were also utilised as "barries" where people met and discussed social and political issues. Thus Kande Bureh started a development which contributed to the enlightenment of his countrymen in the drive towards independence. He sponsored the Ahmadiyya Muslim Movement in Freetown and also helped the Movement secure lands at Rokupr, Bo, Boajibu and several other towns in the provinces.

Kande Bureh eventually entered national politics. He joined the Sierra Leone Organisation Society (SOS) formed by the protectorate elite. In mid-1951, the SOS which, until then, was essentially an instrument for educational advancement in the protectorate, was dissolved and in its place, a political party, the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), was formed. Following elections in 1957, in which the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) emerged as the victorious party, Kande Bureh was appointed Minister of Works and Housing by the party leader Sir Milton Margai. After the 1962 elections, he became Minister of Transport and Communications and, on several occasions, acted as Prime Minister.

Kande Bureh is a prominent member of that great generation of leaders from the then protectorate who guided the transition from colonial rule to national independence.

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