Fallen Liberia’s Cultural Icon to Be Buried Today

By: Musue Haddad
Also published in The News Newspaper and The Heritage Newspaper

The late Ambassador Jallah KK Kamara, a cultural icon who died yesterday, will be buried today, Thursday, July 12, 2012 in his small home town – Bolonkoidu, in Lofa County.

As the city mourns his death, many are also holding tight to the late Ambassador’s creativity and farsightedness in the history and enlightenment of Liberian Culture and artists at home and abroad.

The late Kamara, a Folklorist whose career, spanned several decades, encompassed an astonishingly wide range of cultural activities, from stage director to Director General of the National Bureau of Culture and Tourism, from cultural performances and to tapestry of storytelling through the arts, all undertaken with creativity, flair and remarkable understanding and love of the arts.

One mourner at the family’s GSA Home said, “Yes, he was truly an icon and in many ways.” Many of his students, including Mr. Victor spoke of the late Kamara’s dedication to Kendeja, the Cultural Ambassadors, and the National Cultural troupe with tears in their eyes. Many family members, and Government officials, including Ambassador Alhaji Kromah, Commissioner Abdullai Kamara, among others were present at the family’s home on GSA to discuss burial arrangement. The late Kamara’s brothers, Kekura Kamara, the widow, Mrs. Kamara, Mr. Amara among others were visibly shaken by the death. .

Reflecting on a few one-on-one discussions with Mr. Kamara, he illustrated a few strategists in developing some of the “hit” performances by translating folktales into ballads, and devising moves that would unify and enrich the emotions, messages, the sounds of musical instruments and rhythms. “Musue, we are not talking about one day or two days, but sometimes weeks to find the right blend, but at the end of the day, we got it perfect,” the late Kamara would describe his strategies, sometimes with a joke, or the wave of one hand in the air.

The late Kamara was evidently knowledgeable in all aspect of cultural performances. He taught dance moves that rhyme with traditional songs; he interlaced traditional folktales into songs, and created performances that blended with the beat of drums and playing of other musical instruments. He also ensured that dance rhyme resonated with expressions of performers.


According to many beneficiaries of the late Kamara’s cultural ingenuity, he encouraged the nurturing of creativity and promoted the social advancement of artists. One local artist said, “Papa was like a father to me. Thought he was strict on practices, he had zero tolerance for poor academic performances.”

The late Jallah KK Kamara life illustrates devotion and growth in the cultural industry. In the early 1970’s he became Stage Director of the National Culture Troupe. In the 1980’s he became Director of the National Culture Bureau of Tourism, and also founder of the Liberian Cultural Ambassadors. During that period, his passion for the arts, and enthusiasm to promote Liberian cultural led him to personally sponsor 40 members of the culture group on a cultural Exchange Program in the United States.

In his life time, Jallah KK Kamara chose to make a career that was largely based on promoting Liberian Culture through cultural dances between and folktales. While he won immense acclaim within Liberia and outside of the country, until his death, the legendary cultural icon was still creating his own, essentially figurative, work that soon started to attract the interest of lovers of arts, including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. According to family members of the late Ambassador Kamara, publication of the [late kamara’s] manuscript on the History of Liberian Culture was to be sponsored by President Sirleaf.

Jallah KK Kamara was born in Bolonkoidu, a small town in Lofa County on March 26 1941. As a child, according to elders, Jallah KK demonstrated a high interest in creative dance, storytelling and jokes. Until his death yesterday afternoon, family members, and community members said the late Jallah KK Kamara chatted and joked with everyone before leaving home for the vicinity of the Capitol Building, where the cold hands of death snatched him.

One elder of Bolonkoidu said, while Jallah KK may be gone, his stories, jokes, and lessons from his “Wisdom of the Elders” column published in The Democrat Newspaper and online will remain with us forever.

Some beneficiaries of the late Cultural Ambassadors Princess Fatu Gayflor, Nimba Burr, Zaye Tete, Sangai, among many others in Liberia and the Diaspora.

A middle height, handsome man of considerable charm, in old age Jallah KK became a familiar figure on the streets of Monrovia and at cultural events and programs that he had helped established and supported so often when he worked within the cultural bureau.

At the time of his death, the late Kamara was a member of Vision 2030 Committee. Dr. Togba Nah Tipoteh, head of VISION 2030 committee described the late Kamara’s contribution to the future of Liberia as “exceptional.”‘ The late Ambassador was a visionary and his comments during deliberations were stimulating. It made us to think critically about issues, that affected us today, and also tomorrow.”

Jallah KK is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and an array of family members.

Also published in The News Newspaper and The Heritage Newspaper