Monrovia – Over drinks on a recent week day, Ishmeal Sheriff, popularly known as Tamba “The Mayonnaise” was quick to point out he is very proud of who he is.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
Never mind the fact that Liberians rarely take those making their livelihood as comedians seriously.
“Now, looking at the ghetto base, Takun also has strength in the ghetto. So, with Acarous also having strength there, it will be a benefit for me. Takun will help to reduce Acarous vote base. His support will be reduced in the ghetto.”
But the underdog in the hotly-contested District No. 8 Montserrado County legislative race is quick to point out some high-profile politicians that have made the successful transition into politics.
“Al Franken, from the US state of Minnesota, he’s a comedian; Jimmy Morales, the recently-elected President of Guatemala, also is,” he says.
At a recent town hall gathering with constituents, Sheriff, 40, reminded voters that he is not about the abandon the name or persona that has brought him this far.
“On October 10, when you go to the polls, don’t look for my face, don’t look for my name, just look on the ballot paper; find the Mayonnaise jar”.
The comedian eyeing a shot at politics explains that the use of the Mayonnaise jar as a logo on his campaign posters which is drawing a lot of attention around Monrovia and on social media is deliberate.
“It is our identity from over the years. Since 1988 I’ve been identified as a comedian, an entertainer and the rest of it and that Mayonnaise jar has been standing by me all along.
“Now, that today when I am ascending, I have no intentions of forgetting the steps I climbed while going up because you use them to come down. So, me and my Mayonnaise, we are on the ballot paper.”
‘Butter’ vs ‘Mayonnaise’
The Mayonnaise name, he says came at an opportune time when Monrovia was gripped with fear of “Joe the Butter, a post-war petty robber known for causing embarrassment to a lot of people.
“It was real,” the comedian recalls. “You had people from Bardnersville and other places living in fear. You know after the war, there were a lot of evildoers; Joe the Butter would Butt people and take their belongings.”
Sheriff explains that Joe the Butter used to move around in the community and tap peoples’ shoulders and when they turned around, he would butt their heads, then tell them, “I’m Joe the Butter”, before snatching their belongings and vanishing into thin air.
“That thing took over Monrovia. It took over the entire city, people were threatened by it. All on the radio, you had people calling, “Joe the Butter was in Bardnersville last night; Joe the Butter attacked us in Stephen Tolbert Estate, he attacking us this or that place,” the District No. 8 candidate says.
As the fear heightened, Sheriff says he came up with a strange joke one day in a bid to take “Joe the Butter” head on.
“It was a growing concern until I came on the radio with this guy who is now on Hot FM called DJ Rogers – that day I think it was 1995 and I said, “Joe, the Butter”, you are a butter, but I’m a Tamba.
“My Tamba is a Mayonnaise, not a butter, but then understand that, Mayonnaise is sour more than butter. So, if you continue butting people, when the butter and the Mayonnaise meet, understand that I will give you the sour side of the Mayonnaise.”
It didn’t take long after that, the candidate says that “Joe the Butter” became the butt of the joke.
“When I said that it just took on a life of its own and became a serious joke around Monrovia, and people began to say, “Joe the Butter” see “Tamba the Mayonnaise”, “Joe the Butter” hide; and that’s how that joke and the name came about and the whole “Joe the Butter” fear came to rest and from that time, 1995 until today, the Mayonnaise name, there is no way I can get rid of it.”
Jokes aside, Sheriff knows he faces an uphill battle in what is regarded as a high-profile race featuring a controversial incumbent in Acarous Moses Gray (Coalition for Democratic Change) and Jonathan Koffa, alias Takun J (Alternative National Congress).
Marginalized by CDC Primary
Ironically, Sheriff is still a member of the CDC, explaining that he felt the primary process marginalized he and many other candidates, forcing him to run as an incumbent, thereby presenting a major challenge to Gray.
“I’m going as an independent candidate but then I still hold the position as the national chair for Ways, Means and Finance within the CDC. That’s my position in the CDC, but I chose to run as an independent.
The reason is simple, the CDC was not formed to marginalize people; the CDC was formed to work in line with the down-trodden, to ensure perfect leadership, to serve as a bridge between the marginalized and the marginalizers.
This is no time for payback, to serve as a bridge between the elites and the down-trodden. If we see people going against the norms of the CDC, we will not sit there; we will move to ensure that we get them out.”
Sheriff’s candidacy poses a serious challenge to the party’s standard bearer George Weah who has good relationship with both Gray and Sheriff and many political observers say, the race in District No. 8 could be one of the most-watched in the coming days.
Uphill Task Against Gray, Takun J
But even amid the challenges and the opponents standing in his way, Sheriff says, he’s not deterred and feels strongly that he could benefit the most as both Gray and Takun J fight over votes.
“I see it as not being a fight. The reason is plain and simple. To have Acarous and Takun J in the race while I’m there, I see it as a pat on the back. Reason being, Acarous has a fixed vote base. The voting communities that will say vote one; vote all, that’s the ghetto voters.
A lot of them, some of them are not rational in electing leaders but some are. Some vote based on anyone they see on the emblem; others are from the rational voting class. While it is true that some voters are from the ghetto, they are very rational. And they know what’s good and what’s bad; so, their vote is going to be based on who is going to be the right person for the job.”
In that regards, Sheriff says, looking at the ghetto base, where Takun J also has strength – as does Acarous, he will stand to benefit.
“Takun will help to reduce Acarous vote base. His support will be reduced in the ghetto. So, let’s assume we have 10,000 voters in the district; you will have 4,000 voting for Takun simply because they can see him more than they can see Acarous. So, they want to go for someone they see frequently, so they will want to go with Takun J.
So, besides the 4000, Acarous will benefit from around 3,000. Many will say, we are still committed to our party, no matter what happens, whoever comes on the party ticket we will take the person. But there will be rational CDCians in the ghetto, rational ghetto voters that will say, this man (Mayonnaise) is from our party too, not because he’s going as independent, he’s from our party too.”
In addition, Sheriff, who is also a businessman, says, he has implemented more projects than any of the candidates. Thus, voters will be more inclined to give him their votes. “You will have 2,500 giving us their support and another five hundred voters that may decide not to vote for either of the candidates.
With that in play, Sheriff says he hopes to capitalize on what he perceives as his strength. “Now, when we leave the ghetto and start to face the intellectual class, can Takun get votes from the intellectual base?
That will be his limitation. The intellectual class is where we are grounded. The intellectual class, the marketers, those are the people that are behind us. What we have been doing in the community and our role in the intellectual circle has them glued to what we are trying to do. So, it’s a pat on our back seeing us in the race.”
Trumpeting Creative Legislative Style
Sheriff is trumpeting a creative route to the legislative seat, pledging to jump start a water community project he says will enhance not just development but empowerment of the community and end the age-old reliance on community development projects when key issues of healthcare and education are being ignored.
“What do you think is going to happen if we introduce our own water where District-8 will have its own water called District-8 water. It will create opportunities. You know we need to step out of the boundary of the three cardinal functions where you will be speaking of oversight representation and lawmaking.
To be a good lawmaker, you need to go beyond that, we need to be creative, you need to be honest and you need to add humanity to politics. This is what we bring to the table.
If the 22 community chairpersons are employed by this community their functions will be to wake up in morning, walk to businesses on Capitol Hill and talk to them, give them the need to sell only D8 water and stop selling other water. The need will be, we don’t want to wait for District development funds anymore.”
He adds: “We want to change our human capital into liquid cash wherein we can fend for ourselves District-wise. How are we going to do this? We sell the water and proceeds from the water will go toward community development.
So, we have come to tell you that we don’t need my money to develop you or develop our district. Even the richest man that will come to the race, when he wins he will not come to the community and share.
What you need is honesty, humanity and innovation, working together for the community good of our nation. To achieve together, is to understand together and work together.”
In spite of the odds stacked against him, the candidate dubbed, “The Mayonnaise Man” says his bid is no laughing matter.
Sheriff who spent 34 years in the field of journalism has also spent much of his life as involved in movie and television production under the Cross-Atlantic network.
He is CEO of his own company, called My Own Incorporated that has provided logistics support to the US embassy.
“Even the Ebola Project when the marines came to Liberia, the 3000 marines, I did logistics for them; when President Bush came here, I did logistics for them, when Hilary Clinton came here, I did logistics when Robert Johnson came here.
So, I’ve been working with them for quite a long time. So, our own light is not come to the public and make people understand who you are, there’s nothing you can do for the people but work for them.”
Jokes in time of war
In comedy he says, he finds his comfort zone to tackle everyday issues that make light of serious issues.
At the height of the civil war he recalls former President Charles Taylor inviting him for a chat after a joke he aired on the radio making fun of the former president.
“He told me that I was helping the country to heal. Even though he was the butt of my jokes but he says because I was adding humor to the country in a time of horror, I was in a way helping calm nerves and help him keep the country calm.”
“Comedy is human, comedy is life. You need to look at the terrain and look at what affects and you put that into joke wherein sometimes the joke will be very serious, actors will know that this is funny but in reality, I mean, we need to desist from this. The jokes during the war was surrounding war and surrounding how peace could come how people got victimized.”
A prodigy of the late Gbezhon Rapper T. Kpan Nimley, The Mayonnaise Man says he has had a passion for comedy from as far back as he remembers.
“T. Kpan spotted me performing for my friends and family. I used to have everyone on the floor laughing hard. My brother’s friends and other people that will come to visit; I will just share fun and make them laugh until one day they saw the need to take me out.
So, I went on the beach, me and my big brother, when we got there, there was this live performance and they called T. Kpan on the stage when he came on the microphone, he called me up and I went to him and he gave me the microphone.
“The microphone has its own spirit, especially for the first time. I was able to share fun and I saw big people laughing in the sand and I said this is something that I could keep on doing.”
Comedy, Sheriff says, took off from that point and made him famous in the height of the civil war.
“My comedy skills intensified. At that time, we realize people were living under a lot of trauma and the only sign of trauma counseling was through comedy.
So, we were always here on radio after the people leave, I would go on radio and make them laugh – In the midst of rocket falling and ambushes, I was making people laugh – amid all of the bad news, late evening we were on the radio making people laugh.”
Sheriff started his career as a Disc Jockey with Radio Monrovia but also worked with Radio Hope International which used to be owned by Kekura Kpoto.
“I was with Radio Hope when it closed down, I went back to Radio Monrovia by then they had moved to Sinkor until it was shut down. I later moved to Firestone Radio.
In fact, we opened Firestone radio, FAWUL FM. The bus used to pick me up from Monrovia and take me all the way there and in the evening when the bringing the workers, I come back. I worked with Firestone Radio for few years until Mr. Fred Bass Golakeh had DC 101 and told me to come to the city.
I worked with DC for years both TV and radio, also worked with Zubin Cooper of African Media as drama director and script editor for the institution and he was the CEO and from that point, Ambassador George Weah opened his radio he called on me and I’ve been there until today, I still serve as a consultant to the station while I do other things.”
Unsure whether he could translate his comedy success into comedy, The Mayonnaise Man says, he urged his supporters who encouraged him to enter politics to gauge the field to see whether the constituency would embrace his bid.
“I said to them, what motivated you to tell me or to ask me to run and they said, your human relations one, and two, they realize that for us as the young people here you need one person who any of us here can get to easily. You serve as a bridge to us. The third thing is your own morals.
So, when they spoke of that. I said popularity, I underline that word, and the popularity came from entertainment.
I became popular as Tamba Mayonnaise, the comedian; can you guys assure me that this comedy popularity can be transformed into political popularity? Did you guys conduct some survey or something?”
District In Need of Better Leadership
Sheriff says the feedback was impressive and spurred him to take it seriously.
“So, we were petitioned by the people and we thought it wise that this is the time and in fact the District is in need of a better leadership and our people see that in us, we should work with them to ensure that leadership.”
Comedy, Sheriff says, helps him to live his own life. It is the inspiration he hopes will drive him to the national legislature, joining a short list of aspirants from the entertainment industry looking to do so.
Comedy, he says, allows him to bury frustrations in pursuit of the happiness of the people around. With a window of opportunity lurking, The Mayonnaise Man is hopeful that in politics, voters in this populated district will see beyond the laughs and give him a shot in landing a seat at the table of Capitol where he hopes to impact decisions regarding the outcome of those languishing at the bottom of the economic ladder.