DALLA MODU

Dalla Modu (circa 1770-1841) was for many years an intermediary between the British in Freetown and the chiefs of the hinterland, coming to wield great influence with both. In 1836, he was recognised as regent of Loko Masama, a chiefdom between the Bullom Shore, north of Freetown, and the Small Scarcies River. In 1837, he became chief of Rokon.

He was the son of Fenda Modu, an important Soso who was the virtual ruler of Wonkafong, near Conakry in what is now Guinea. In 1794, Fenda Modu, bringing Dalla Modu with him, visited Freetown to establish trade links. On May 18, 1795, Dalla Modu and 50 followers decided to settle in the Colony to trade. The government welcomed them, as it wished to trade with the interior. 

In Freetown, Dalla Modu learned English and also studied the Colony’s currency and its system of weights and measures. He thus became eminently well equipped to play the role of political and economic intermediary. He and his followers lived in a settlement adjoining Freetown to the west, just outside the defensive wall.

In 1800 the Nova Scotian immigrants in the Colony staged an uprising, with the support of Soso and Mandinka chiefs. In 1802, Dalla Modu, with the help of Betsy Heard, the ruler of Bereira in what is now Guinea, helped to end the uprising. They persuaded the Soso and Mandinka chiefs to withdraw their support from the Nova Scotians, and to hand the leader of the uprising, Nathaniel Wansey, and two others, over to the British.

In 1806, Dalla Modu was charged by the British with slave trading. At the hearing he appeared not in the European clothes that he usually wore, but in Muslim dress.  This was seen by the British authorities as a sign of his defiance. Expelled from the Colony, he and his men joined his grandfather-in-law, the Bai Sherbro, at Medina on the Bullom Shore, north of the Rokel (Sierra Leone River). Here he continued to act as a broker between the Colony and the chiefs of the interior, to the advantage of both the British and himself.

In the years that followed he consolidated his position on the Bullom shore. The wealth that he acquired as a broker enabled him to protect and foster the expansion of the Soso community. He consolidated his power by marrying relatives of local rulers.

He claimed part ownership of the Islands of Los, off the coast opposite Conakry, and in 1818 he persuaded other chiefs to join him in ceding them to the British crown. He did this to help Governor Sir Charles MacCarthy (term of office 1814-24), who sought authority over the islands to stop British traders there from using the islands to smuggle goods into the Colony, thereby evading customs dues. In return for this service he received an annual payment of 500 bars of iron from the British, which they were still paying him in 1826.

Later, in 1825, he acted to ensure that Matacong Island, off the coast of what is now Guinea, was also ceded to the British. He did this to prevent business rivals from using it as a cattle depot, thereby jeopardising the army meat contract held by Dalla Modu’s business associate, Kenneth Macaulay, who was acting governor for a short time in 1826.

He maintained his contacts with the Freetown trading community, and in 1824 became the agent of Macaulay and Babington, a timber firm. He employed his slaves to fell trees and bring the timber to river banks for loading. He received £1,000 as partial payment for the 1826 season alone.

Traders coming from the interior via Port Loko used his house as the last stop before reaching the Colony. It was there that they received information on the best prices and places to sell their goods in Freetown. Dalla Modu sometimes directed them to particular merchants, or sent people to accompany them into the Colony.

Chiefs in the interior also used him to send messages to the governor. In November 1832, for example, Alimamy Bokari of Timbo in Futa Jallon assured the governor, through Dalla Modu, of his willingness to cooperate in maintaining peace along the trade routes. In 1833, Lt. Governor Octavius Temple (term of office 1833-34) saw Dalla Modu’s role as beneficial to all parties, and sent him gifts in appreciation. Further benefits accrued to him in 1834 when many gold merchants from the interior came to the Colony, bringing him wealth in broker’s fees.

In 1833 a Mandinka resident of Freetown was hanged for kidnapping. He had been a tenant of Dalla Modu, who therefore had to pay compensation to the Mandinka’s relatives, and also found himself accused of abetting slave trading. But in 1835, he again proved his value to the British. A rebellion by Sesay Bety of North Rokel disrupted trade and placed British subjects and their property in danger. Accompanied by an officer from the Colony, Dalla Modu undertook a mission of arbitration, which resulted in a truce.

Lt. Governor Henry Dundas Campbell (term of office 1835-37) visited him, and was struck by his intelligence as well as by the style in which he lived. The two men cooperated to end the Temne-Loko war then in progress. In April 1836, Dalla Modu organised a gathering of the leading Temne and Loko chiefs at Magbele on the Rokel River. Campbell arrived, and a peace treaty was signed. 

Dalla Modu was then recognised as regent of Loko Masama-a position he had held since 1829. He then crowned a sub-chief named Pa Charly as Bai Maro (ruler) of Loko Masama. He himself stayed on at Magbele as Campbell’s agent, with powers which made him dominant in the Rokel region.

Campbell, however, had difficulty in having the treaty confirmed by his superiors, as one clause provided for the return of runaway slaves to the chiefs. Campbell therefore had to negotiate a new treaty. Dalla Modu continued to help him, and also used his followers, armed with muskets, to help Freetown traders to collect their debts.

Campbell’s successor, Governor Richard Doherty (term of office 1837-40), followed a different policy, however, and found Dalla Modu uncooperative. Not until 1841, when Governor Sir John Jeremie (term of office 1840-41) reaffirmed Campbell’s treaty, and made payments to the chiefs-Dalla Modu receiving £341-was cooperation restored. In July of the same year, at the behest of the governor, he secured the release of “liberated” Africans, who were British subjects, from the hands of Temne and Loko chiefs.

Dalla Modu’s funeral was attended by many chiefs, as well as by Europeans from the Colony. During the celebrations more than 80 cows were killed and eaten. One of his sons, Amara Modu, succeeded him.

VICTOR BONG AMAAZEE