Komeh Gulama Lansana

Komeh Gulama Lansana was the wife of Brigadier David Lansana, Force Commander of the Sierra Leone Army until his execution in 1975.[1]

Komeh Gulama Lansana
David and Komeh Lansana arriving in Israel
April 1965
Born
Moyamba, Sierra Leone
SpouseBrigadier David Lansana
Children
  • Sheku Lansana
  • Judy J. L. Rogers
  • Tala Lansana
  • Foday Lansana
  • Kornya Lansana
Parents

Lansana is the daughter of Paramount Chief Julius Gulama, one of the Founding Fathers of postcolonial Sierra Leone, and Chief Consort Lucy Gulama. Her sister Paramount Chief Madam Ella Koblo Gulama was one of Sierra Leone's foremost stateswomen.[2]

Early life

Komeh was born in Moyamba, Moyamba District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone to Paramount Chief Julius Gulama and his wife Chief Consort Lucy Gulama. Her father was the ruler Kaiyamba, the largest and most powerful Mende chiefdom in Sierra Leone. Her mother was also an ethnic Mende.

Marriage and family

Her husband, David Lansana was appointed Commander of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces by Prime Minister Albert Margai while her sister Madam Gulama was serving as the first female Cabinet Minister in Sierra Leone and sub-Saharan African.[2]

1967 Election

When Siaka Stevens was pronounced the winner of the hotly contested 1967 Elections, Prime Minister Albert Margai refused to concede defeat. Prime Minister Margai accused the All People's Congress of election fraud. There was no clear winner in the election.[3]

Lansana's husband was Commander of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces at the time and staged an intervention.[3] He had Governor General Sir Henry Lightfoot Boston and Siaka Stevens arrested.[3] He announced that the election results void and declared martial law, and proclaimed himself the interim head of state.[3] He staged the first coup d'état in the history of Sierra Leone.[4]

A series of coups and counter-coups ensued which ended with both her husband and her sister arrested and held at Pademba Road Prisons.[5] Her husband was arrested by his own soldiers and taken to Pademba Road Prison.

After more than a year in prison, her sister was exonerated and freed.[2]

Execution of David Lansana

In July 1975, her husband David Lansana and his colleague Dr. Sorie Fornah were executed for treason after the alleged coup plot trials.[6]

References
  1. Woods, Larry J. (2010). Military Interventions in Sierra Leone: Lessons from a Failed State. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9781437923100. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  2. Tribute to the Honourable PC Ella Koblo Gulama
  3. H, Tucker, Sigismund (2015-04-02). From the Land of Diamonds to the Isle of Spice. Sierra Leonean Writers Series. ISBN 9789988181345. Retrieved 2018-07-15.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Bundu, Abass (2001). Democracy by Force?: A Study of International Military Intervention in the Civil War in Sierra Leone from 1991-2000. Universal-Publishers. ISBN 9781581126983. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
  5. Sierra Leone: Chronology
  6. Killer "Bills" and Decrees: The Sierra Leone Media's Struggle for Survival by Kakuna Kerina, Matthew Leone & David Tam-Baryoh
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