The African princess who defied the odds to become Queen and the first woman lawmaker in Sierra Leone

Once upon a time, there was a princess named Ella in the Kingdom of Kaiyamba. She was deeply loved by her father, who made sure that unlike other maidens in the land, Ella would go to school and get a college education. At the age of 25, Kaiyama Kingdom held a royal wedding when Ella married King Koblo Pathbana of the Kingdom of Marampa Masimera on April 27, the Year of our Lord 1946.

The newly married princess left her kingdom to join her husband and (as was the custom of the day) his many wives. Being the most educated of all of the king's wives, it was Queen Ella who would travel with him in court.

Five years later, King Julius, Ella's father, the King of Kaiyamba, dies. Ella returns to her home to compete against fifteen men vying for her father's throne. The old wizards of Kaiyamba did not want Ella to be Queen of Kaiyamba because no woman had ruled the kingdom before.

They tried everything to keep Ella away from the throne, but Princess Ella believed that a woman's place was wherever she chose.

After two years and a hard-fought battle princess, Ella was able to beat all 15 men in the election. In 1953, when she was elected as the first Queen of Kaiyamba, the evil wizards refused to give the Queen her "royal staff" the emblem of the seat of the throne.

Being the fighter that she was, Queen Ella took the wizards to court far far away in the Kingdom of Britain, where it was ruled that her subjects the wizards had to return her staff. Eventually, Queen Ella was "crowned."

As this is not a fairy tale, I can not tell you that Queen Ella got to live happily ever after. What I can tell you is that she worked tirelessly to make Kaiyamba a beacon of light; supporting, and promoting the education and emancipation of girls and women and bringing electrification to Kaiyamba.

In 1957, Queen Ella solidified her place in history when she was elected as the first woman to serve in a legislative body, the second in West Africa, after Mabel Dove Danquah. For 7 years, Queen Ella was the only woman in Sierra Leone's legislative body. In 1962 she was elected to parliament and served the nation also in the cabinet as the first woman.

By 1968 Queen Ella's fortunes would change with the rise of a wicked evil Monarch named Siaka, who did everything he could to destroy her. Evil Monarch Siaka deposed Queen Ella of her throne, sent her to Pa Demba Prison, and tried her for treason for 33 months.

When she was finally released, Evil Siaka had taken all of Ella's inheritance and installed a new King of Kaiyamba. Queen Ella continued to serve her people in her personal capacity. In 1992 when she could contest for the throne again, Ella made her comeback by winning 98% of the votes, and she ascended her rightful place as Queen of Kaiyamba.

Queen Ella Koblo Gulama died on September 10, 2006, in the Kingdom of Kaiyama, in Moyamba. This is her home and grave in Moyamba District, Southern Province, Sierra Leone. Whenever people try to tell you that you can't be who you were born to be, remember Queen Ella, and don't give up.

Writers Note: This is my rendition of the real-life story of one of Africa’s greatest statesperson. You can read the book edit about Ma’Ella here. I have used “King”, “Queen”, and “Princess” to refer to our leaders because these were their titles before colonialization. It was the British who told us that only their royals could be referred to as Kings and Queens. Africans they said could only be chiefs and paramount chiefs once they were under the crown. I visited Queen Ella’s home and grave in Moyamba as part of a 16 part docuseries about Sierra Leone currently in production on the Vickie Remoe Show. You can follow the stories on the road with the hashtag #MakeSierraLeoneFamous across all social media platforms.

To support Queen Ella’s legacy please visit the Ella Koblo Foundation set up by the descandants of the Queen to provide education to girls in Sierra Leone.

If you’re looking for more about the Queen there is an excellent biography written by Talabi Aisie Lucan available on Amazon.