Par devoir de mémoire [Par Jacqueline Fatima Bocoum]
There are families who welcome you as if you were a full-fledged member, a child among children, a beloved elder. Words are superfluous, so much does the affection received seem a guarantee of eternity. One thus inherits sisters, brothers, a mother, and a father of whom one is proud, a blood tie not recorded in the civil registry but whose kinship is attested to by the affection felt. From this perspective, Bousso Kasse is my sister, and Mamy Astou, the late, is my mother. As Bousso so beautifully says: Jackie Fatima, you are my sister from another mother.
This family, the worthy children of Professor Mamadou Moustapha Kassé, who recently passed away, is a haven of modesty and affection, of faith in Allah and sharing. Everything at Fann Résidence exudes good manners and respect for others. I would settle barefoot in Mamadou and Bousso's parents' room, with the feeling of having finally reached a haven of peace, of a child who had arrived safely. With Mamy Astou, we would talk for hours, and her advice would be shared wisely in the tenderness of the place. "Jacquie, my daughter," she would say, "you must learn to forget, to forgive, and always draw closer to Allah, the best of confidants." A pious woman, a loving wife, a protective mother.
And Father Moustapha let us chat as we pleased.
In his home office, he received people with the exquisite delicacy of learned individuals who have nothing to prove, test, or approve. An accomplished intellectual, a renowned economist, and a respected academic, he was proud of his greatest honor, bestowed upon him by his family: that of a beloved and respected father. Bousso was so proud of him and spoke of him constantly. She, along with her aunts, uncles, her husband Papis, and her adorable older brother Mamadou, had masterfully organized the final book signing for her father's work at L'Harmattan, for which I coordinated the entertainment. Bousso inherited everything from him: his commitment to great causes, his unwavering sense of friendship, and his irrepressible need for social justice.
On a painful day, May 6th, I paid a final written tribute to our departed mother. I continued to visit Mamadou in his offices, to visit Bousso, to call her, to have dinner with her, to evoke again and again the powerful and overwhelming memory of Mamy Astou.
Today I reiterate the duty of remembrance for a truly great man, a precious mentor to African elites, whom Africa will mourn for a long time. May all those who knew and loved Professor Mamadou Moustapha Kassé be worthy custodians of such a perfect legacy of acquired knowledge and transmitted qualities.
Massa Bousso Kassé Fall, younger sister of the same mother and an extraordinary father.
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