February 22, 2021
By: James Kamara-Manneh
The name Musa Tombo has been generating traditional and social media debates over his professional and personal life. Sierra Leoneans within and without country, see him as eccentric and many tend sympathize with a football prodigy.
Let start by prying into the background of Musa Noah Kamara, an attack-centre forward and plays for local club Eastern Lions. He was born in the outskirt of Freetown-Tombo. His birth place is predominately a fishing community.
He is a household name because of his ability to score goals, strong in the air, reflexive and agile. He was the winner of the 2019 Sierra Leone Premier League golden boot.
However, two incidents have cast a dark smudge on the football genius of this enterprising football star. It would seem to many that the foreign sojourn has been a self-created undoing, stirring gossip and curious questions such as: what is wrong with Musa Tombo?
Sometimes in 2019, the young energetic lad signed a three- half years contact with Swedish Second tier side Trelleborgs FF. A little over two weeks, Musa Tombo decided to return from Sweden. He came back home maybe to still celebrate the goals he had netted for his home premier club East end Lions. This could not have been the reason for his shorlived stay in Europe. His fans felt betrayed because professional football exposure is supposed to be the cherish ambition of an upcoming footballer. The cold weather reason for his return could hardly make sense to anybody. He was seen as having squandered his opportunity as a poor lad hailing from a poverty stricken community. The discussion about his actions has generated the hit point of the unnatural. There were suggestions that some dark forces could have compelled him to give –up on all the grandeur of professional football career development to settle for the low-rate options back home.
But Musa Tombo could not accept such thoughts. For him the cold in Sweden was a reason for him to come and embrace the warmth in Sierra Leone. He missed the breezy and windy conditions of the sea, especially during the rains or sometimes even the dries. This idea can make people easily burst into laughter. Some will hear it with compassion; the idea of something is wrong somewhere.
Similar incident of excuse comes to mind, when the national team Leone Star went to Seychelles to play a qualifying match for the Africa Nation’s Cup competition. The Media man that went with the team said on BBC sport that the players did not do well or could not score a goal because the weather in that country was “too hot”. This got me laughing till date. Is our weather condition different from them or are we living in a country were snow falls?
Our traditional nurturing has place for the fetish, the black magic that is capable of holding people spellbound. It is in this light that Musa Tombo’s story had been reduced to black magic. This notion goes to extent of suggesting that Musa Tombo is possessed, a state of mental imbalance.
While some will say that superstitious belief of black Magic is not real, others strongly put faith in it. In bible times, when Satan disobeyed Jehovah he was dragged down to this earth with all his powers and followers. Why do you think Jehovah admonishes his servants to guard against evil, or to flee from idolatry practices? Whatever your response will be it will not change the perception of many; that the fate of this young talented lad rest in the in the hands of “Black Magic.”
In our local dialectal people say “if witch man able you, na 4 look under you foot”. If an individual is being bewitched he/she should check his surrounding or family. Should we say members or a member from the Musa’s family is responsible for his dark mysterious fate and decisions?
After the first saga, he got another contract to play in Norway; barely two weeks of stay in Norway I read on social media that he wants to return back home. This one shocks me to my spin! His reason is more baffling than the previous: “I am not comfortable in Norway and something is telling me to return home, if not I will die” quoting social media page.
This 19 years old lad story is supposed to be of interest to every football enthusiast or dreamer who wants to aspire to become something else. His story has become a mystery that needs to be unraveled. We are afraid that the somewhat weird tale of Musa Tombo could be national dark spot to negatively affect his peers that would be qualified to go international.
This write up is not geared towards bashing Musa Tombo; it will be unfair. He might be a victim here, a victim of something that he does not even understand. A victim of circumstance, a victim of where people go to earn more powers to control someone’s life, power for money or witchcraft. Or could we say he is physiologically imbalance! We have to dig deep and find answer to the enigma ruling a football star, notwithstanding the instability.
Well on the contrary, there are more Musa Tombo’s leaving in a mysterious dark world, than the actual under scrutiny. He may have done his worse by squandering opportunities others have been praying to earn for years. FAIR ENOUNGH TO MAKE THE ANGELS WEEP!
Before you become too judgmental have you paused a second and ask, how many opportunities you allowed to slip through knowingly or unknowingly? One needs to examine oneself whether he/she is progressing or retrogressing in life. Musa reactions to life opportunities have been made visible, while some of us are still in the dark pretending that all is well.
Life is not a bed of roses; it is filled with ups and down, especially at this time when evil deeds are on the rampage. The sources of such evil and dark forces may not be from afar- either a member of our family or somebody very close to us. Their devices can come in different forms. What is needed in the circumstance are fervent prayers for God’s intervention. Our problems in life might be deeper than expected.
We could be living silently with our problems, making life difficult to achieve your dreams and aspiration to reach the zenith of life. In between is lurking fears. We must face these fears rather than allow society to script our story, our destiny the way they want it. This is the time to join the ‘Tombo crusade’ in fighting for what is rightfully yours, your right to be a transition man; not a puppet on something, somebody’s string. It is getting confusing already.
Let’s take in a deep breath; and say our lives can never be the same again. Call on God for mental stability to rule your fate. It is a time to call on Jehovah and make him your close friend to be assured of his protection and grace. It can apply to us showing the Musa Tombo disease in different forms.
Abraham Lincoln once said: “the probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just”. An African adage says “the insect that eats Kola nut is right inside the leaf.” In this life expect that your enemy is always closer to you than you think.
Fortuitously, maybe he has a seeming phobia for the foreign land, but he has not lost his goal scoring ability for the land of his forebears. He is still a gem, a Leone star dazzling in the dark clouds. Pray for him; support him to find his bearing, his right place and purpose in life.
