Did Hugh Masekela Betray Liberia?
Took So Much Gave So Little
Published: 07 December, 2007
When Hugh Masekela needed a home owing to racial oppression in South Africa during the Apartheid era, the government and people of Liberia gave him safe haven. He had an amazing home in Liberia , on the beach of Conga Town. When he needed money to record an album and host a festival to commemorate the championship boxing fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman (the famous 'Rumble in the Jungle' - a historic boxing event that took place on October 30, 1974, in the May 20 Stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire - now Democratic Republic of the Congo) Mr. Masekela turned to his friends in the Republic of Liberia. In Mr. Masekela's book, The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekala, he gives an account of his deal with Stephen Tolbert. He said Stephen Tolbert personally gave him US$2,000,000, yes two million United States Dollars at the time! Mr. Masekela never repaid the amount owing to the untimely death of Stephen Tolbert.
Prior to asking for the loan, Mr. Masekela heard rumors that Stephen Tolbert may have acquired his massive wealth illegally. Mr. Masekela responded, “We came from the record business, one of the most exploitative and corrupt businesses in the world.” Two weeks after the meeting with Stephen Tolbert in Monrovia, Mr. Masekela, Chuck Steward, Steven Dunbar (Stephen Tolbert's lawyer) and Ian Bradshaw flew to the Bahamas, where one of Stephen Tolbert's offshore companies had been registered. The deal was sealed. Mr. Masekela got US$2,000,000 free of interest, and hosted a successful concert in Kinshasa, Zaire. Many years after the famous "Rumble in the Jungle', a film, When We Were Kings, won the prestigious movie award, the Oscar for best feature documentary, and not a word of gratitude was mentioned about the late Stephen Tolbert, the man who financed the entire project.
After all that Stephen Tolbert and the good people of Liberia did for Mr. Masekela, Mr. Masekela never came to Liberia's aid when Liberians needed help most. In 1988, the late opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti orchestrated a concert and all the proceeds benefited the children of Liberia. Pavarotti's concert included a spectacular and diverse lineup: The Spice Girls, Vanessa Williams, Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole and Jon Bon Jovi, all took part. Conspicuously, Hugh Masekela was not among the rich and famous who volunteered their time and resources to help Liberia.
Mr. Masekela, it isn't too late to help the people of Liberia, especially the youngest generation of Liberians. In 1978 when Mr. Masekela's daughter, Motlalepula Masekela, was an infant, she was treated at Liberia's famous John F. Kennedy Medical Center.
Now that amazing hospital, which was once a beacon of hope and healing for the entire African Continent, is in desperate financial need. Mr. Masekela could host a fundraising concert and enable the hospital to purchase life-saving medicines and equipment. As a result, the lives of countless Liberians, and refugees in Liberia , will be saved. This would be an amazing first step, and a grand gesture to repay Mr. Masekela's gratitude to the country and people who rescued him, and many South Africans, in time of need.
About the Author:
Rufus S. Berry II, (former President of the Liberian Community Association of Northern California - LCANC) a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area (Northern California), and the author of many articles including: " Liberia’s National Security Alert: President Johnson-Sirleaf’s Government Needs Discipline to Stay the Course", and "Bystanders are Just as Guilty as the Molester".
He can be reached at: rufus_berry@yahoo.com or (510) 393-1825
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