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News & Views from the Diaspora with
Nvasekie N. Konneh Sekou Kanneh, a Liberian Success Story 16 June, 2010  When
I returned to the states in 2008 after a brief visit to Liberia, I wrote
an article with the caption, “Some Good News from Home.” The
focus of the article was the heart warming success stories of fellow
Liberians who did not leave the country despite all the upheavals; they
stayed on and engaged in businesses and are striving to succeed or have
achieved some level of success despite everything. I was one way or the
other celebrating the success of those Liberians who are making the
difference in Liberia. Some email responses to that article were very
negative. The writers of the emails who are used to reading all the
negative stories about Liberia on the internet and don’t see beyond such
stories accused me of being on the government pay role. They thought
that I was trying to whitewash the “ugly reality” in the country. In my
responses to some of the emails, I simply said that even though things
may not be as great as we all want in the country, there were some good
stories that caught my attention and I felt good to talk about them in
my writing. What these emails tell me is that in the minds of these
writers, nothing good can come out of Liberia. They don’t expect to read
anything positive about their country and fellow country men and women.
Their minds have been conditioned to only reading the political
shenanigans of politicians and financial scandals that are the staple of
the Liberian media, as if to say the media is only there to talk about
the bad and the ugly, and not to celebrate human success and achievement
of fellow Liberians in the country. Now back in Liberia again and writing a weekly column in the local newspaper, Public Agenda, I want write more of those success stories of Liberians who have not allowed themselves to be held back by the many challenges in the nation but are climbing the ladder of success little by little. In the country whose economic is dominated by the Lebanese and Indians, I am inspired by every Liberian success story in business. I need that as antidote to all the sensational negative stories that scream at me from the pages of these newspapers every day. For Liberians living abroad who want to be informed about what is going on in the country, it is very important and necessary to also read about the success stories of their fellow Liberians who are making it and how they are making in Liberia. One of such persons I came across recently is Sekou Kanneh of Don-Kan, a major petroleum distributor in Liberia with nine gas stations in Monrovia and one each in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, Tubmansburg, Bomi County and Gbarnga, Bong County. All together, Don-Kan under Mr. Kanneh’s leadership employs more than 100 Liberians. That is tremendous contribution to national economic progress because each one of those 100 plus persons has some families to feed. Not only do these successful Liberians have to employ some Liberians, they also have to respond to countless desperate needs for assistance from their fellow Liberians. More than their foreign counterparts, Liberian successful business people have to share their success with their less successful compatriots. Whatever they earn stays right here at home and as such we must support and celebrate Liberian business leaders and their success stories. Don-Kan simply stands for Donzo and Kanneh and the story behind it is about two cousins, Sekou Donzo and Sekou Kanneh. It was some years ago when the two Sekous were attending the Cuttington University College in Suacoco, Bong County. One day they sat down and talked about what they would like to do after graduation. After toying with many ideas, they agreed to start a business venture. That was the beginning of partnership between the two cousins. They started with used cars from 1991 through 1993. By 2004 they shifted to petroleum products, opening their first gas station at Catholic Junction, Congon Town. Today, their business has grown to be one of the successful Liberian businesses. All along, Sekou Kanneh has not only been contented with business, he has been in and out of government with the last position held from 2003 to 2004 as comptroller of the National Port Authority. Now he’s eying the representative seat of the electoral District #7. When I asked why he’s not content with his business and why politic at this time, he said, “You can’t divorce politic from business.” Even though campaign season is yet to start, Mr. Kanneh has been moving around meeting and greeting people in District #7, making financial contributions to community projects here and there as well as providing scholarships for deserving students at various colleges and universities in Liberia through the National Mandingo Caucus of Liberia scholarship fund. Recently, he contributed $1000.00 USD to a school building project on Peace Island, Gardnerville. This is how much he has been involved with the development initiatives of District #7 since he moved there in March 2010. The house he built in the Chicken Farm area in Jacob’s Town is certainly a land mark attraction for the entire neighborhood. On the academic side of things, Sekou is not a light weight either. He holds a master in Regional Planning from the Graduate School of Regional Planning at the University of Liberia. He also holds diploma in Port Management from the International Program for Port Planning & Management in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. When I asked for the motivation for his expected run for the representative seat of District #7, he said he would be in the race to empower Liberians economically. He believes that Liberians must be in the driving seat of Liberian economic which according to him is the real poverty reduction strategy the government must set into motion. “We cannot continue to be mere beggars in our own country; we own it and we must be in the driving seat of its economic activities.” So in short, the core message of Sekou Kanneh’s campaign is the economic empowerment of Liberian people, beginning with people in District #7. He and his campaign strategists are working on his platform that will be unveiled at the appropriate time. Already there is Friends of Sekou Kanneh (FOSEK) which comprises of young and old people in the district. In talking to one of the founding members of FOSEK, Mike Jabateh, “Sekou Kanneh is contributing immensely to the capacity building of the community by providing scholarships to young people and as such he’s demonstrated his commitment to the upliftment of the community. I am one of the beneficiaries of his generosity which has enabled me to continue my school at AMEU.” On the question of why there are too many persons running for the same seat when there will be only one winner, he said he has heard that stakeholders in the community will convene a special meeting to screen various candidates, their platforms as well as electability and as such he will respect and abide by any decision that comes out of such forum. Some critics think that Sekou Kanneh is too “arrogant” and can’t relate to people. When I brought this up during our discussion, he said, “We all get our admirers and detractors. Our detractors will say things about us that are not true.” He emphasized that despite his success, he’s a down to earth person. “I have always been a people’s person and you can tell that by the places I go. I am on the streets most of the time where you won’t show me apart from the next person. I am of the people and for the people and I owe my success as a business man to the people. The people’s interest and welfare are at the top of my agenda.” There are others who think Sekou is a carpetbagger, meaning he only moved to Chicken Farm in Jacob’s Town with political motive. According to him, wherever he has lived he’s always been there for the people. “Yes, I used to live on Newport Street but whenever our people in Jacob’s Town have needed help we have always been there for them. No matter where we live we can’t divorce ourselves from the interests of our people.” NEC laws calls for one year residency to be able to run for an elected office in a place. March 2011 will make it one year since Sekou moved into what some people call his “million dollar mansion.” Sekou Kanneh was born on September 15, 1962 in Gbartala, Bong County. He spent his formative years in Gbarnga until his father, Alhaji Saranfoday Kanneh moved the family to Monrovia in 1968. He and his 23 brothers and sisters grew up in his father’s big yard on Newport Street. His father was a successful business man who owned many properties in Monrovia. Saranfoday Kanneh was a prominent, well respected and a very influential member of the community. So it won’t be far fetched to say that Sekou Kanneh was born into success and he’s only now stepping into his father’s shoes. For anyone who knows his father, he or she will not be surprised to see that the son has also risen to step in his father’s shoes and even grown beyond them. While his father only worried about having enough to feed the family of more than 30 persons, the son with his own children of four, two boys and two girls has not to only worry about how to feed them, he has enough time and energy to run for public office to serve his people. |
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