NEMGBANA

Nemgbana (circa 1775-February 11, 1793) or Naim-bana, was regent of the Koya Temne in Sierra Leone. By signing a treaty with British settlers he alienated part of his country, unwittingly preparing the way, like many other African rulers, for the European partition of Africa.

In the late 18th century many of the coastal states of Sierra Leone were ruled by Mandinka, Fula, or Soso immigrants from the north. From 1775 an immigrant (probably a Mandinka) ruled the Temne of Koya, an important state which included the Sierra Leone peninsula and adjoining mainland where the harbour and watering place frequented by Europeans was located. These travelers paid customs and other dues to the ruler.

The French traveler Golberry recorded the regent’s name as ‘Panabouro,’ but he was more usually known by the title of ‘Nemgbana’, meaning regent. Tall, thin, and dignified, he had great influence in the country, but never held the title of king, though Europeans often referred to him as such. His capital was at Robana, up the Sierra Leone estuary. In 1785, he granted a French officer land on Gambia Island, a small island not far from the modern town of Hastings. But it was so unhealthy that the French abandoned it after a few years.

In 1787, prospective settlers from England, sponsored by Granville Sharp (1735-1813), a fervent campaigner against slavery, arrived in Sierra Leone. Nemgbana’s deputy, King Tom, who lived on what it today still called King Tom Point, Freetown, let them land. Though Nemgbana apparently consented, he did not make any formal agreement with them, and when King Tom died in 1788 he told them to leave.

In August, however, he changed his mind and put his mark to a treaty by which he gave up all claim to a stretch of territory 9 or 10 miles long, and 20 miles wide. Normally in West Africa rulers only allowed Europeans to settle in return for annual rents, and retained ultimate sovereignty over the ceded place, whether fort, settlement, or hut. But Nemgbana, by this treaty, renounced sovereignty altogether probably unwittingly, for he could not read English-in return for an assortment of trade goods.

In 1791 King Tom’s successor, King Jimmy, quarreled with the settlers and destroyed their town. It was then refounded under the name Freetown by a British trading company, the Sierra Leone Company. Nemgbana permitted them to settle, and acted as landlord and protector. The company’s governors, however, refused to make any further agreement with him for the land, maintaining that he had ceded it in perpetuity under the 1788 treaty and had no more rights to it. He seems to have accepted this situation, and remained on friendly terms with them until his death on February 11, 1793.

During the time he had been negotiating with the French, Nemgbana had sent one of his sons to be educated in France. Another son was brought up a Muslim. A third went to England under the care of the directors of the Sierra Leone Company, and received a strict Christian education. Eventually this son returned with dreams of becoming a missionary in Africa, but fell ill on the voyage and died as soon as he landed. This was Prince John Frederick Nemgbana.

By renouncing sovereignty over the Colony, Nemgbana introduced into West African political practice a new principle with far-reaching consequences. It was ultimately to deprive many rulers of their territories.

CHRISTOPHER FYFE