From Deseret News archives:
Battle against corruption brought couple together
The song, called "Corruption e do so" ("Corruption: Enough Is Enough"), became a pan-African hit, and the album became the most popular in the history of Sierra Leone.
The singer/songwriter of "Corruption" is Daddy Saj, aka Joseph Gerald Adolphus Cole. Since last fall, Saj has been living in Utah, in the little town of Providence, after marrying Cache County native Ann Norman. It was the battle against corruption, and a shared tendency to say what they think, that brought Saj and Norman together.
Norman is a farm girl from Paradise who went on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Paris, graduated from Utah State University, got a job in public relations in New York and ended up raising private money for United Nations microloan programs for the world's poorest countries. In the summer of 2005 she made a quick stop in Sierra Leone, the West African country that by U.N. ranking is the poorest of the poor.
"I said, 'I don't know the first thing about any of that, but I'll see if I can find someone else who does,"' Norman remembers telling the U.N. officer. "No," he told her "they want you."
Later, after Norman did, indeed, move to Sierra Leone to help President Tejan Kabbah with his communications campaign, she discovered why she had made such a favorable first impression. "They said, 'You weren't afraid of us and you're bossy. ... You were bold enough to say what you thought."'
"A blabbermouth," is how Norman describes herself. "My M.O.," she says, "is 'when bad stuff happens, tell someone."'
Meanwhile, Daddy Saj already had established himself as the boldest singer in Sierra Leone.
His song "Corruption" was "the talk of the town," remembers Chukwu Adeyemi Paul, a journalist for Sierra Express Media. "People thought he would be locked up. It was risky for his life and his family, to come out and slam (the government)." The song encouraged other people to talk publicly about corruption, Paul says, and other singers followed with similar songs.
Recent comments
this is a story of true love. hero's are good for the world. Ann...
sombo | June 12, 2008 at 1:59 a.m.
This is a wonderful story of selfless service, love, and commitment...
Glen | May 12, 2008 at 2:03 p.m.
Great example of true hero's changing the world on the scale of "me"...
Rednael | May 12, 2008 at 5:14 a.m.
- Williams to miss Cavs game, too 4:06 p.m.
- Weber St. gets past No. Arizona 4:01 p.m.
- In Asia, Obama pushing arms control 3:50 p.m.
- Texas rolls 47-14 over Baylor 3:48 p.m.
- Snowstorm hits Utah; 1 dead 3:43 p.m.
- Montana wins Big Sky with win 3:43 p.m.
- Rep. bashes Dems over health care 3:41 p.m.
- No. 21 Wisconsin beats Michigan 3:26 p.m.
- Hotline doctors field colon questions 3:18 p.m.
- No. 22 BYU holds off pesky Lobos 3:14 p.m.
- Apostle's wife felt comfort in attack
- Short-handed Jazz fly past Sixers
- Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
- D-Will home for daughter
- Bench proves fruitful for Y.
- Utes excited for 'dream' game
- Born of water and the spirit
- Woods Cross refinery to shut down
- 5A: Bingham rolls to title game
- Man killed during 3rd I-15 crash
- SLC council OKs gay rights policies
352 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
199 - Senators want food tax restored
164 - Will state consider gay rights law?
146 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
129 - Utes remain silent about BCS
120 - Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
120 - S.L. vote pending on gay protections
113 - Pratt pleads not guilty to sex charges
105 - Celtics crush Jazz
104
If you are looking for a bird on the cheap, the following specials from...
How do you handle kids and contests? Our oldest daughter, 7, is of the...
Why would it matter what religion Washington was? The US isn't a christian...
Hey Dick - See any similarity between BYU/NM and last years Utah/TCU...
Utah 45 UNM 14 YBU 24 UNM 19 Utah is 26 points better than YBU. ...
Looking good Tigers. We love you so much. Keep up the good work and bring...
The data shows the earth is cooling, not warming! But like Groucho Marks...
Wow. Top-25 team, BYU is not. The MWC has really 3 classes: Class...
"FACT #2: BYU has received $2.0M in charity handouts from the University of...
4 of the first 5 comments from cougar trolls. Great win for the coogs by the...
Considering that two of the high priest group leaders in my stake (at...
Science is a fraud. We all know people are black because Cain killed Abel. ...

