SLPP Strongman Dies in Road Accident

Reports monitored by Awareness Times from the Southern Provincial Headquarter City of Bo disclosed that the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) Deputy Chairman, and Principal of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School in Bo, A.T. Jalloh died in a gruesome road accident last Friday at the Salcost Junction a few miles to Bo City. He died alongside his Deputy Principal, Mr. Kposowa. Mr. A.T. Jalloh was buried on Saturday after a funeral service attended by over one thousand sympathizers.

Mr. A.T Jalloh

According to reports, Mr. Jalloh and his deputy were from Freetown with two other passengers, when the Ahmadiyya Mission jeep they were traveling somersaulted at about 11:00pm at the Salcost junction and crashed at the road side killing him and his deputy instantly. The two others, whose identities were not immediately disclosed to Awareness Times reportedly, sustained "life threatening injuries".

Shops and other businesses reportedly closed in Bo throughout the morning of Saturday and only resumed business late in the afternoon after the burial.

According to Numukeh Sannoh, owner of a video center along Fenton Road in Bo, when news of the death of the accident and consequent demise of Mr. Jalloh reached Bo City, a huge number rushed to the scene of the accident and to the Bo Government Hospital, most of who he said was weeping. Most people reportedly stayed awake throughout the night in absolute bewilderment over the death.

A senior citizen contacted in Bo on Saturday morning told Awareness Times that the spontaneous reaction of the people over the news of the death of A.T. Jalloh "was no surprise" because according to him, "he commands a lot of respect among the majority of people in the district" an attribute he said that was behind his mobilizing power of the people of Bo to support the what ever cause he believes in.

Also speaking to Awareness Times, the SLPP Bo District Secretary General, J.D. Lahai, described the incident as a "big shock" to the entire people of Bo and "a huge loss to the SLPP at a time the party needed him most."

J.J. Saffa, the National Secretary General of the SLPP said the death has come as a shock, considering the double role the late Jalloh played in the development of the country. As Teacher, Mr. Saffa said the late A.T. Jalloh has helped improve the standard of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School in Bo which he said has been reflected in the output of its pupils in external examinations. As a Politician, he described him as "focused, shrewd and calculated" and "a man with vision." He prayed for the peaceful repose of his soul.

The late A.T. Jalloh was 55 years and he is survived by his wife and children.

Link to SLPP Strongman Dies in Road Accident in Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone News