By Emma Black 

On Wednesday 23 July 2025  morning, Freetown was calm. By afternoon, the sky opened releasing rains that transformed into an unrelenting deluge. From mountaintops to coastal flats, streets vanished, homes collapsed, and lives were swept away.

Among the hardest hit was New England Ville, perched high above the city. Floodwaters flooded through the hills with merciless force submerging houses, displacing families, and claiming lives. Those who survived stood in silence amid the wreckage, desperately searching for missing loved ones and clinging to shattered belongings.

In times like this, sympathy from afar is not enough. It was Hon. Chernor  Chericoco Ramadan Maju Bah who stepped forward not with words, but with presence.

Chericoco arrived in New England Ville carrying more than relief supplies he carried humanity. As he navigated the broken pathways, he offered not only clean water, food, and basic essentials, but reassurance, a listening ear, and a shared heartache. He knelt to pray with grieving families, softly told survivors, you are not alone, and made a lasting impact not visible in photos, but etched in memory.

One of his aides whispered, He’s still shaken by what he saw. The faces, the stories they haunted him.” To those who know him, this wasn’t surprising. In moments of crisis from the Wellington fuel tanker explosion in 2021 to this week’s floods Chericoco has shown up, out of service, not spectacle.

He reminds us that service does not depend on the presence of cameras. If he cannot be there in person, he ensures his support arrives through trusted channels local leaders and community representatives so no family is overlooked.

This is not a moment for politics or finger-pointing. It is a moment for collective healing. Chericoco urges all Sierra Leoneans to act:

Hear the cries from the hills, the coastline, and the mainland. Let us respond with prayer, compassion, and action. No one should be left in pain.

For the residents of New England Ville, for all affected by the floods your sorrow has been seen, your bravery acknowledged.

When the flood came, it washed away homes but not empathy. It tested lives but did not break resilience. And it revealed true leadership quiet, compassionate, and consistent.

His name is Chericoco. And when Sierra Leone weeps, he walks toward the tears not away from them.

Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Wednesday,30th July, 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)