On the morning of August 30, 2016, after having two hours of extra-curricular study, I decided to log into Facebook to ramble through some of the educative, informative, and entertaining posts from some of the brilliant brothers and sisters who dedicate their time to uploading information that are germane to the growth and development of the motherland. Upon my arrival on Facebook, I read with 100% skepticism the passing of a patriotic journalist and erudite talk show host- Attorney Mamadee Fanta Sulaimani Diakite.
I could not believe the shocking news of a patriot demise, because his last time on the radio, he sounded high-spirited, and full of life. There was no report of a sign or symptom indicating that Brother Mamadee was not in the right frame of health.
The only thing abnormal of him that I knew of was the terrible flight he experienced on Air Morocco while returning from the U.S. where he went to see his newly born baby girl. Despite such disappointment, I could still hear him in his noble nationalistic and optimistic tune: “The motherland will never fall; trust me, Liberia is getting better”. Regardless of the inevitability of death, I did not believe that God could take such a decent soldier away from our generation at this time.
I took the social media’s news of Mr. Diakite’s passing as one of the many propaganda rants usually spewed at him because of where he stood in the national discourse. He was an ally of the status quo. He was critical of the opposition that stands as an alternative to the power that be.
For this, he was met by many counter-lambasting from leaders and supporters of opposition political parties. I read through the perceived inane post and asked myself, “Can one gain political capital by ridiculously announcing on social media the demise of his/her political adversary?”.
By 7:00AM, my disbelieve about the news of Brother Mamadee giving up the ghost was finally defeated when I listened to ELBC’s News Half Hour announced in its headlines the death of a great fighter who regardless of where he stood politically fought in the national interest of the motherland. Like many Liberians, my heart is broken; my heart is bleeding; I am a militant, but I can’t hold back the tears. The demise of Atty. Diakite is a leakage to our emerging democracy.
Yes, he brought sense to the discourse. He replaced perceptions with facts. He ran with the conviction that irrespective of the many challenges our country faces today, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Brother Fanta Diakite preached peace; he was an ambassador of ethical journalism. He introduced many new phenomena to talk show hosting, and radio broadcasting. In spite of where Mamadee stood in the national political debate, he was very tolerant of his oppositions’ views.
He accommodated civility and politeness in the many dialogues he moderated, for he understood that the persistence of an honest and a civil disagreement anywhere is the beginning of progress. Mamadee was one of the roots that upholds Liberia’s emerging democracy, and was fighting to make Liberia a quantum leap to democratic maturity and stability. He was also a leader leading by example, and willing to sacrifice in the interest of his country.
Unfortunately, the cold hands of death took him away from us. His demise is a great loss to the motherland, because we may never get another Attorney Mamadee F. S. Diakite.
What we are sure of is the persistence of his legacy, as the greatest wish of a man is the continuation of his positive contributions to humanity. Our hearts are also with the family, especially his young and beautiful wife, and children including the newly born baby girl Khadijah.
Rest in peace Brother Mamadee, we will meet some day, rest on brother!
Moses Uneh Yahmia, Contributing Writer
