DUSU SORI
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Dusu Sori (circa 1840-circa March 15 or 16, 1940), was ruler of the Dembelia-Musaia chiefdom in north-eastern Sierra Leone from about 1881 to 1940, except for a short interval in the mid-1880s.
He belonged to the Jawara clan, the predominant Yalunka clan in what is now the Dembelia Musaia chiefdom in the Koinadugu district. He was born probably about the 1840s in Musaia, the chief town of Dembelia country, then part of the Solima Yalunka state. He was the son of Ba Hamadi, the second ruler of Dembelia country. His mother, Dusu, was a Koranko, for Musaia was originally Koranko country before the Jawara Yalunka came there to settle in the 18th century. Dusu Sori became ruler of Musaia in about 1881.
When the Sofa (warriors) of Samori Touré (1830- 1900), the great Mandinka warrior and leader from what is now the Republic of Guinea, took the Solima state in 1884, Dusu Sori was deposed. Another ruler, Hamadu, was installed in his place. But Hamadu disappeared in 1888-whether he was executed or fled is uncertain- and Dusu Sori was reinstated. Under Dusu Sori, Musaia became a rallying point for all Yalunka who had formerly belonged to the Solima state, as Falaba, their former capital, had been destroyed by the Sofa.
As the British moved in to establish a Protectorate over the Sierra Leone hinterland in the 1890s, Dusu Sori became a spokesman for the other Yalunka rulers in the area, dealing with the British about their appointments of paramount chiefs. From this advantageous standpoint, he was able to expand his own power. He included the Limba town of Largo and parts of the neighbouring Folosaba Yalunka country within the area he claimed as being under his jurisdiction.
The British confirmed his claims and made him paramount chief of the enlarged Dembelia Musaia chiefdom. This caused much dissatisfaction among the Folosaba and Wara Wara Limba people to whom Largo had belonged. But Dusu Sori, secure in the backing of the colonial administration, continued to exercise authority undisturbed.
He was one of the few paramount chiefs of the Protectorate who was able to rule for a very long time. On his death in 1940, he was described by the British district commissioner of Koinadugu as “the doyen of “Protectorate chiefs.” He is still remembered in the traditions of the Musaia people as one of their greatest rulers.
C. MAGBAILY FYLE
