Dala Modu Dumbuya

Dala Modu was an important Sierra Leonean Susu trader and translator between the British Colonial Government and the local chiefs in the interior in the early decades of the British Colony in Sierra Leone. His efforts helped in resolving a number of conflicts between the colonial and interior rulers. His reputation as a major commercial force was enhanced in the process, and he built up the prominent Soso community around Lungi in the Kafu Bullom country.

Dala Modu was born in 1770 in Wonkafong, Sumbuya near Conakry, Guinea into a family of traders. His father, Fenda Modu, had been advisor to the King of Sumbuya and Headman of Wonkafong. Although born in Guinea, he was raised in Freetown. Dala Modu first came to Freetown at the age of four years, with his father in 1774. Desirous of fostering his commercial contacts with the new colony, Fenda Modu sent his son Dala Modu with fifty followers in 1795 to settle on the outskirts of Freetown. The town Dala Modu built up there, named Dalamodiya after him, quickly became a commercial centre, and he became landlord for many traders from the interior, mostly from his own Soso ethnic group. Dala Modu was welcomed by the British, who were also keen on developing the trade with the interior on which the colony's survival depended. In Freetown Dala Modu learned English and studied the colony's monetary system and weights and measures.

Dala Modu's business activities became very extensive, involving colony officials, both European and African, and the local traders, for whom he acted as agent. He became the primary landlord to visiting traders from the distant interior, giving them advice and assistance on how to get the best out of their trade goods in the colony. In this process, he developed close contacts with the Freetown merchants to whom he directed the interior traders.

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