A day out in Freetown with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
Under the direction of Lawrence Spencer-Coker, the Master of Ceremony for the Royal occassion, as Prince Charles took his royal seat, children from the Prince of Wales Secondary School,
the Methodist Girls High School and the Wilberforce Primary School welcomed him in unison - "His Royal Highness - The Prince of Wales, Welcome to Sierra Leone", which was followed by raptuous applause from the crowd of about three thousand invited guests.
The occassion was not for Tony Blair, - read about his visit below - but a Cultural Celebration of Sierra Leone for the Prince of Wales, who was on a short visit to Sierra Leone. The royal celebrations took place at the beautiful surroundings of the Freetown Golf Club. In great anticipation of the arrival of the Prince, guests started arriving early. Students were bussed in and settled and adult guests arrived to ensure they had a good vantage point from which to see the Prince. Practice for the Prince's welcome message started in earnest. 
Moments before the welcome by the pupils, the Prince had been officially welcomed with drumming and singing by the National Dance Troupe of Sierra Leone. Getting in the spirit of the celebrations, Prince Charles himself had a go at traditional drumming with the National Dance Troupe, which he seemed to enjoy. He must have made a great impression as he was presented with his own pair of drumsticks. The Freetown Golf Club is ideally situated in the capital city of Sierra Leone,
Freetown, and it is right across from the world famous Lumley Beach.
In the company of Solomon Berewah, the incumbent Vice President of Sierra Leone, plus the Mayor of Freetown, the British High Commissioner and other dignitaries, including the President of the Golf Club, the Princely eventgoers were entertained by artists from Supreme Records and the Freetong Players. It was a really proud day for Supreme because Supreme Music artistes were the only contemporary musicians invited to perform for Prince Charles at the royal event.
The artistes performed songs from the Grand Award winning album: Supreme Hits Volume 1.2 - The Royal Collection.
The featured artistes included; YouthMan, a budding reggae artist who performed Bigtime Reggae; SKYY - an R&B artist who performed Hand in Hand; Lucky Rock performed Salone Music and Vlicious wowed the audience, including the international press with This Christmas. Also on the bill were the world-famous Freetong Players who performed original cultural songs. Their segment included songs titled, Thomas Peters, 1787 and Freetong, all performed in dialects local to Sierra Leone, like Krio.
Earlier in the day, the Prince had been greeted at the Lungi International Airport by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah - who hosted a reception for HRH later the same night - and
the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Sarah McIntosh.
Prince Charles left the cultural celebrations at the Freetown Golf Club to attend the Presidential reception as Guest of Honour at the State Lodge in Hillstation. On his way out, Prince Charles greeted a very wide cross section of the royal event-goers, stopping and shaking hands frequently with many who had waited all day for his arrival. Pupils from the Prince of Wales School in Freetown especially, enjoyed a lot of time with the Prince shaking hands and chatting away.
At the reception, Prince Charles told the country's leading figures that the United Kingdom has a special relationship with
Sierra Leone.
"Our two nations, two Commonwealth partners, share a long and close
friendship and I know only too well within the lifetime of everyone here Sierra
Leone has suffered so deeply and so tragically," he said.
"It was heartbreaking for people like myself to watch it happen", he added.
"Tens of thousands of people were killed, millions displaced and many
atrocities committed during the conflict".
The Prince said: "Already today amongst the groups of people I've met I've
seen encouraging evidence of the new Sierra Leone determined to turn away from
those dark years."
Prince Charles praised the "truly remarkable" role of British armed forces who
helped bring stability to the country towards the end of the war.
President Kabbah told the Prince: "Although your stay will be brief we hope
it will create lasting memories, friendship, trust and goodwill between our two
countries." Prince Charles spent the next day in Sierra Leone visiting the Methodist Boys High School in Freetown where he witnessed, first hand, the work that one of his favourite charities - ACTION AID - was doing in Sierra Leone. As a keen conservationist and environmentalist, The Prince paid a visit to the Bumbuna Hydro Project site - a hydro project that will increase the energy generation capacity in Sierra Leone.
In collaboration with the British High Commission Sierra Leone, The British Council Sierra Leone, IMATT and other security personnel AND the management of the Freetown Golf Club, Supreme Inc actively participated in the planning and management of the Cultural Celebrations organised for His Royal Highness, Prince Charles. At the event on November 27th 2006 at the Freetown Golf Club in Freetown, Supreme Events supplied the Public Address (PA) System for the ROYAL event. Supreme Music Artistes were the sole performers of contemporary popular music at the event. Lawrence Spencer-Coker - President of Supreme Inc - had the personal honour and distinction of Master of Ceremonies (MC) for the royal occassion. Tom Walsh, Director of British Council in Sierra Leone and British Cultural Attache during the time of the Prince's visit to Sierra Leone - an active member of the organising and planning committee for the Prince's visit - had the following comments to make about the participation of Supreme Inc in the organising of the cultural celebrations for His Royal Highness Prince Charles the Prince of Wales:
" Your help and that of your team was simply invaluable! Without it we simply would not have been able to put on such an impressive and very much appreciated display of the rich music, drama, cultural and educational life of Sierra Leone. I know that Prince Charles really enjoyed the whole event and I very much want to thank you for all your personal support in making it such a clear success..."
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Tony Blair paid his second visit to Sierra Leone as British Prime Minister on May 30th 2007. As was the case in 2002 when he last visited Sierra Leone in his official capacity, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair did not leave the airport environs of Lungi to visit the capital city of Freetown, citing time constraints as the main reason why he wasn't able to do so this time round. At a Cultural ceremony at Mahera, Lungi, Tony Blair was crowned as a Paramount Chief. His given title is Paramount Chief Bai Shebora Mator which translates into Chief of Peace. According to the Minister of Local Government, Sidique Brima, Tony Blair's Chieftancy was in recognition of his role in restoring peace to Sierra Leone. It must be remembered that it was during his first term as Prime Minister that British Army troops were sent to assist in the rebel war that ravaged Sierra Leone for a decade. In response, the British Prime Minister paid tribute to the people of Sierra Leone for the honour bestowed on him. "You have a friend who will stand by you and support you in the future", he assured. Tony Blair will be stepping down as British Prime Minister in June 2007. Maybe, now that Tony Blair is truly one of us - a Paramount Chief - he will build a holiday home here in Sierra Leone and spend a considerable amount of his 'retirement' with his new-found brothers and sisters! Supreme Inc wishes him well.
