Driver arrested in crash that killed bishop

The driver of the SUV that crashed into and killed Sierra Leone Area Bishop John K. Yambasu has been arrested and charged with seven counts, including speeding.

Mohamed Allie Saw, who police said fled the scene of the Aug. 16 accident and had been on the run, was charged in court Sept. 4, said Musa Conteh, police investigating officer. The charges include driving without due care and attention, speeding and being careless and inconsiderate.

The Toyota Land Cruiser that he was driving was uninsured. Saw, a mechanic, was taking the car owned by Festus Amara to be serviced in a garage across town, said Conteh.

According to police reports, Saw lost control of the vehicle and it jumped the median and slammed head-on into Yambasu’s car, killing the 63-year-old bishop and injuring his driver. Yambasu was on his way to Yonibana to preach at the funeral of a retired district superintendent.

Videos about Yambasu 

Watch Sierra Leone Area Bishop John K. Yambasu’s funeral.

Watch memorial video about Yambasu.

Watch prayer vigil.

“By the time we cleared the traffic and safely packed the vehicles from off the road, the driver had disappeared,” said Mbalu Kabbah, traffic commander for the Calaba Town Police.

“We first detained the owner of the vehicle when the driver could not be located. We released him after his blood pressure shot up,” she said, adding that he was let go on the condition that he hand over the driver in two days.

Family members of Amara went in search of Saw and turned him over to the police, Kabbah said.

Kabbah, who knew Yambasu since her school days, said the owner of the vehicle and his family wanted to meet the bishop’s family and offer their sympathies, but they were afraid of how they might be received.

Hassan Bangura, an eyewitness at the scene of the accident, said Bishop Yambasu was taken by taxi to Wellington Satellite Hospital.

“The door to his backseat was shut and could not open through the normal knob. We had to use implements to chop off the door and get him out,” Bangura said.

Saw was uninjured, according to police, although the vehicle he was driving was damaged beyond repair. The bishop’s driver, Abdul T. Kamara, has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering at home.

Bangura and others on the scene secured the bishop’s belongings and turned them over to two United Methodist pastors who came to the crash site later in the day.

“In the bag, we later found his Bible, a laptop, a prepared message that he was to preach and three (pairs of eye glasses),” Bangura said.

One of the bishop’s sons returned to the scene recently to thank them, he said.

Yambasu was laid to rest on the campus of United Methodist University in Freetown on Sept. 6. During a Service of Remembrance and Rites of Passage, the bishop was remembered as a bridge builder and for “being the voice of Jesus when it needed to be heard.”

Jusu is a communicator for the Sierra Leone Conference.

News media contact: Vicki Brown at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests.


Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
General Agencies
From left, Pacome Nguessan, Matt Crum, Priscilla Muzerengwa, Jennifer Rodia, Ashley Gish, North Katanga Area Bishop Mande Muyombo, Poonam Patodia and Chilima Karima celebrate together at the end of training on regionalization. All but the bishop work for United Methodist Communications. Photo courtesy of United Methodist Communications.

Training shows communications’ importance

African United Methodists who attended training sessions on communication and regionalization spoke of how it would help them tell the good news of the denomination.
Theology and Education
United Methodist communicators smile during training organized by United Methodist Communications in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Communicators from across the African continent joined in back-to-back training sessions on communications and regionalization in mid-October. Photo courtesy of United Methodist Communications.

Debunking disinformation about regionalization

United Methodists from across Africa gathered for training on communications and regionalization. Many have been contending with disinformation about the proposal and the church in general.
Bishops
Bishop Tracy S. Malone, who leads the Indiana Conference, delivers her first address as Council of Bishops president during the bishops’ meeting Nov. 4 at Epworth by the Sea Conference Center in St. Simons Island, Ga. She spoke of her hope for The United Methodist Church in moving toward a more inclusive future. Photo by Heather Hahn, UM News.

Bishops urged to perceive God’s ‘new thing’

Council of Bishops President Tracy S. Malone preached of God’s deliverance on the eve of the U.S. presidential election. She sees God at work as The United Methodist Church begins a new chapter.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2024 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved