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 “ I recognize that I am speaking to a group of experts on African Affairs, and I myself, am far from being an expert on African Affairs. I am only an African”.  An address delivered By Dr. John Karefa-Smart at the fifth annual meeting of the African Studies Association in October 12, 1962.

Effort to see Africa unite and be able to handle its own affairs has been Dr. John Karefa-Smart’s lifelong mission and at 94, he has only doubled that efforts. My hope is, for him to live long enough to see a United Africa handling its own affairs like it should.

Dr. John Karefa-Smart was born 1915 in Rotifunk, Sierra Leone. He is a three-time Minister, acting Prime Minister and 2005 Presidential contender. Dr. Karefa-Smart effectively used his positions to foster the good image of Sierra Leone and Africa.

He is a renowned politician, a nationalist, and internationally celebrated medical doctor. He is an accomplished educator, pioneer, human rights activist, (L-R, Ike Leggett Dr. Karefa-Smart and Wife Rena Karefa-Smart) author, co-author, a missionary, distinguished gentleman and a loving father and husband for 48 years. 

He is an academician with B.A., Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone (1936), B.S., Otterbein College, Westerville, OH (1940), M.D.,C.M., McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1944), Diploma in Tropical Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1945), M.P.H., Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1948), Elder, Evangelical United Brethren (later United Methodist Church] (1937)

Dr. John Karefa-Smart is also an international medical practitioner licensed in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, USA, Canada, Bahamas and China. Dr. Karefa-Smart’s career spanned over 120 countries for over 65 years. He is the only African indoctrinated into the Hall of Excellence by the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges, alongside Corretta Scott King, wife of civil rights leader; Martin Luther King Jr. Also among the inductees were William D. White of the New York Giants, retired CBS President; Dr. Frank N. Stanton, and Timothy P. Smucker of the Smucker food company, U. S. Ambassador David P. Rawson and congressman David L. Hobson from Ohio.

Among his students were Nobel laureate; Professor Wole Soyinka and Liberia President Ellen SirLeaf Johnson. Dr. Karefa-Smart is an appointed educator at Bunumbu Union Teachers Training College, Sierra Leone (1936-8), Phelps-Stokes Fellow, Virginia, USA (1945), University of Ibadan Medical School, Nigeria (1949-52), Fulbright Scholar, Xavier University of Louisiana (1953), Columbia School of Public Health, New York, USA (1964-5), Boston University Medical School, MA, USA (1972-7), Wellesley College, Department of Political Science, MA, USA (1974), Harvard School of Public Health & Medical School, Boston, MA, USA (respectively 1971-4, 71-81), Howard University Medical School, Washington, D.C., USA (1980-3), Health Management International, Inc. School of Nursing, Washington, D.C., USA (1992-4), Loma Linda Medical School & School of Public Health, Loma Linda, CA, USA (2000-....)

Long before Kofi Annan; Dr. Karefa Smart served and affiliated with the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), UN, OAU, UNESCO, ECOWAS and USAID with devotion and efficiency. His Diplomatic Decorations includes Grand Cordon of Lebanon, Republic of China and the Republic of Liberia as Commander, Star of Africa, and Grand Band, Order of African Redemption.

Amongst Dr. Karefa-Smart’s playmates are: Prime Minister Milton Margai, Ghana's late President Kwame Nkrumah, Nigeria’s first President, Nnamidi Ezikwe, late Liberian President Tubman, former Senegalese president Léopold Sédar Senghor, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Ahmed Sékou Touré of Guinea, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Farso, Alex Quaison-Sackey and former Deputy UN Secretary-General Kenneth and Diallo Telli; Sierra Leone's Dr. Davidson Nicol, and the Nigeria's Chief Simeon Adebo.

If service is measured by the impact upon populace, Dr. John Albert Musselman Karefa-Smart would be Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan and Martin Luther King Jr. combined. I am therefore, extremely honored to be here standing, with my shoulder touching his at this very moment in our history as we bid him farewell. On behalf of PANED and its affiliates, I wish him long (L-R, Dr. Karefa-Smart and Ms. Miriam Ikunaiye) healthy life and a safe trip back to Sierra Leone.