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Seeing on a video that has gone viral, Chief Abubakar Fofana who is widely known as Mbalu Bakarie was born on the 20th of January, 1915, in Fadu Village, Sanda-Loko, Kamalo Chiefdom, Bombali District.
(Note: Fadu Village is different from Fadugu Town that is located along the Makeni-Kabala highway.)
He is originated from the Mandingo tribe in Manjoro. He is the great-grandson of one of the greatest Mandingo warriors called Mohamed Fofana also known as Kemoh-Mamadou Forna who was the first Chief and founder of Manjoro Town, Bombali District.
Local Historians stated that Kemoh-Mamudou Forna came to Sierra Leone in the 1800s from present day Guinea along side one of Samorie Turay’s fiercest warriors known as ‘Lanka-Faali’ and hundreds of slaves under his command.
It was stated that Kemoh-Mamadou Forna, his warriors and slaves briefly lived around Potloko District, before they migrated to a place called ‘ Maselleh’ in Bombali District.
After some years in Maselleh, the Mandingo Warrior and his slaves migrated and permanently stationed in a place known today as Manjoro Town where it was reported that his slaves built many huts on the very day of their arrival at the new-found place.
Kemoh-Mamudou Forna had many children, among his children was Abubakar Fofana commonly known as Musu-Bakarie who became popular among the earlier Mandingo communities for his adventurism, fierceness and strength. Musu-Bakarie’s Mother was called ‘Musu’, hence, the prefix in his name.
In search of a fertile farmland, Musu-Bakarie took some of his Father’s slaves and discovered a place in the Sanda-Loko area which he later named ‘Fadu’ meaning Father Land in the Mandingo Language.
It is believed that Musu-Bakarie lived for over 130 years before his demise in the 1950s. Musu-Bakarie also had many sons. One of his sons named Samasine Fofana also known as Mbaimba Forna gave birth to Chief Abubakar Fofana who is popularly known today across the Mandingo tribe in Sierra Leone as Mbalu-Bakarie or the Last-Man standing. Also, of course Mbalu-Bakarie’s Mother was called Mbalu Thonkara, hence, the prefix in his name to differentiate him from the other children named after his grandfather Musu-Bakarie.
Among the current Mandingo tribe men and women, Chief Abubakar Fofana or Mbalu-Bakarie is believed to be a replica of his grandfather Musu-Bakarie. This Mandingo man is a clear manifestation that age is just but a number.
At 107 years and still counting, Mbalu Bakarie is seeing on a video that has gone international showing his strength during a backfilling of a house his eldest son Mohamed Samasine Fofana is building for him in Makeni City, North of Sierra Leone.
Check out the video below 👇🏽
