Sierra Leoneans mourn fallen tree that had symbolized liberation from slavery

A giant tree that towered over Sierra Leone's capital for centuries and symbolized freedom to its early residents came down overnight during a heavy rainstorm.

The kapok tree stood in the middle of a roundabout in central Freetown near the national museum and the president’s office.

President Julius Maada Bio called the toppling of the famed tree “a great loss to the nation” as crowds gathered to look at the wrecked trunk.

This is Freetown’s cotton tree the morning after the storm.

Seeing this view, we should just keep the trunk as is, The root is still there.

You never know with trees. Just because the top is dead don’t mean it’s not alive.

It’s the roots that matter!

📷@barmmyboy pic.twitter.com/SdgT4gkzmO

— Vickie Remoe 🇸🇱 (@VickieRemoe) May 25, 2023

Passerby Victor Tutu Rogers told Reuters he saw the tree fall around 9:40 p.m. (2140 GMT) on Wednesday, May 24.

By Thursday, the branches and debris had been cleared away, leaving only a stump.

The kapok (Ceiba pentandra) tree, known as “Cotton Tree”, was the most important landmark in the West African country, which was founded by freed American slaves.

The tree’s exact age is unknown, but it is attested to have been there in 1787, when freed American slaves, mostly former Black Loyalist soldiers ( also known as Black Nova Scotians, on account of having for a period of time resided in Nova Scotia in modern-day Canada), arrived on the spot that today is the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown. It is believed that when those former slaves arrived, they gathered under its branches to offer thanksgiving prayers before moving into their new home.

“It was regarded as a symbol of liberty and freedom by early settlers,” President Bio wrote on Twitter.

The iconic Cotton Tree has fallen due to the heavy downpour of rain in our capital this evening. A great loss to the nation. It was regarded as a symbol of liberty and freedom by early settlers. We will have something at the same spot that bears testament to the great Cotton…

— President Julius Maada Bio (@PresidentBio) May 24, 2023

“We will have something at the same spot that bears testament to the great Cotton Tree’s place in our history. All voices will be brought together for this.”

“As a municipality it was very much symbolic, the place where we hold our annual thanksgiving every November to offer prayers and for many other events,” the city’s Chief Administrator, Festus Kallay, said.

“The Freetown skyline will hardly be the same again.”