The Man Who Never Lied

An African folktale told across generations in Ghana and Nigeria — a story of a man whose honesty was tested by a king and who proved that truth, spoken with wisdom, is stronger than pride.

Illustration inspired by West African storytelling traditions

The Story

Long ago, in a small African kingdom, there lived a man named Mamad. People said Mamad had never told a lie — not once in his life. His words were as clean as clear water, and his honesty brought peace wherever he went.

One day, the king heard of this man and became curious. “No one can live without lying,” said the king proudly. “Bring Mamad to me. I shall make him lie before sunset.”

When Mamad arrived, the king studied him closely. “Is it true,” he asked, “that you have never lied?”

“It is true, Your Majesty,” Mamad replied calmly.

“And will you never lie — not even once?” the king pressed.

“I am certain of it,” Mamad said. “Truth is lighter to carry than lies.”

The king frowned. “Very well. We shall see.” He ordered Mamad to go tell the queen to prepare a grand feast for his return from hunting. “We ride today, and we shall dine tomorrow!” the king declared.

But as soon as Mamad left, the king laughed. “We will not go hunting,” he whispered to his men. “Tomorrow, we shall expose this man as a liar.”

Mamad reached the palace and bowed to the queen. “Your Majesty,” he said gently, “perhaps you should prepare a great feast for tomorrow — and perhaps not. Perhaps the king will come to dine, and perhaps he will not.”

The queen looked puzzled. “What do you mean, Mamad?”

“When I left,” Mamad said, “the king had his right foot in the stirrup and his left foot still on the ground. I do not know whether he will go hunting or stay behind.”

The next morning, the king marched proudly into the palace. “Queen!” he shouted. “Did Mamad tell you I would return for lunch?”

The queen smiled. “He said, perhaps you would come — and perhaps not.”

The king froze. He realized that Mamad had spoken the truth — perfectly, humbly, and wisely. He had said only what he truly knew.

From that day forward, the king respected Mamad and said to his people, “Honesty is not silence — it is knowing when to speak and when to wait.”

Moral of the Story

Truth is not loud — it is steady. A wise person speaks only what they know, and that makes their words unbreakable.

Read More African Folktales

• 📘 The Mighty Little Hedgehog
• 🌿 The Story of Tribal Marks
• 🪶 Nkasa Tree Test for Witches

📚 This story is part of the Explore Africa Collection .

Sierra Leone community surveillance project with the Environmental Justice Foundation is working to combat illegal fishing in the small Western African country.

What is the big deal about illegal fishing in Sierra Leone

Over a billion people, most of whom are poor, depend on fish as a source of animal protein. Fish is the cheapest source of animal protein in the country and it, therefore, affects positively on Sierra Leone food security issues. Sierra Leone is gifted with abundant fish resources that have the potential of contributing significantly to food security, income, and employment.

Opportunities for aqua-farming are plentiful in Sierra Leone's marine environment and the inland water bodies. Sierra Leone made around US $1.1 million in the fishing industry. Overfishing can result in the collapse of entire communities due to loss of income from illegal fishing.

Response to illegal fishing in Africa.

Sierra Leone’s industrial fisheries are significantly export-oriented and the fleet ownership is almost wholly foreign based. According to Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) website has developed partnerships with local communities, the Government of Sierra Leone and local and international organizations working to combat pirate fishing.

EJF’s boat travels to reported locations and documents vessels fishing illegally using photography, film and GPS equipment. Images and position information are then analyzed in EJF’s offices in Sierra Leone and London to establish the identity of the vessels, which is usually concealed.

Since January 2011, EJF has documented eight vessels operating illegally. As a result, over US $100,000 in fines have been collected by the Government of Sierra Leone.

Between January 2010 and January 2012 EJF received 252 reports of illegal trawler activity in the Sherbro River Area. However, since January 2012, no trawlers have been sighted in the area after the Sierra Leone Government fined two vessels documented by EJF over US $300,000.

Differences between overfishing, legal, unreported, unregulated fishing, illegal fishing and destructive fishing practices.

Overfishing is when too many fish are caught and there are not enough adults to breed and sustain a healthy population, the stock is overfished. Catching too many fish at once the breeding population becomes too depleted to recover. Poor fishing management is the primary cause.

Legal fishing refers to fishing activities conducted in contravention of applicable laws and regulations, including those laws and rules adopted at the regional and international level.

Unreported fishing refers to fishing activities that are not reported or are misreported to relevant authorities in contravention of national laws and regulations or reporting procedures of a relevant regional fisheries management organization .

Unregulated fishing occurs in areas or for fish stocks for which there are no applicable conservation or management measures and where such fishing activities are conducted in a manner inconsistent with State responsibilities for the conservation of living marine resources under international law.

Illegal fishing is fishing activities conducted by foreign vessels without permission in waters under the jurisdiction of another state, or which contravene its fisheries law and regulations in some other manner for example, by disregarding fishing times or the existence of the state’s protected areas.

Destructive fishing practices is the capture of unwanted sea life while fishing for a different species. Also intensive legal fishing activities are a part of destructive fishing practices.

How to Cure Meat

Home cured meat is a straightforward technique used to create wonderful cured meats.

Two in every three people, around 621 million in total, have no access to electricity in Africa below the Sahara desert. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Malawi and Sierra Leone, fewer than one in 10 people have access to electricity. In Nigeria, a global oil-exporting superpower, 93 million people lack electricity. Emerging countries such as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda each have over 30 million people without electricity. With limited access to reliable electricity, curing meat is an age-old process in Africa.

Steps used to cure meat; the two most common methods of curing meat are first the brine or sugar cure process and second the dry-curing process. The dry-curing requires considerable time to rub and salt the meat at different times while the only attention that is necessary for brine-curing is to properly prepare and pack the meat in the vessel and prepare the brine for it.

How to Cure Meat

Preservatives

For curing the meat people usually uses salt, saltpeter, white or brown sugar or molasses. These are the necessary preservatives. The salt extracts moisture and acts as a preservative. 

The sugar or molasses imparts a nice flavor and has a tendency to keep the muscle tissue soft in contrast to the salt, which has a tendency to make it hard and dry. So the salt and sugar have two distinct functions to perform, the one to harden and preserve, the other to soften and sweeten. 

Saltpeter is not absolutely necessary as far as the preserving is concerned but it helps to hold the red color of the lean meat. If saltpeter is not used the lean meat will be gray in color. It may possibly be a little tenderer if the saltpeter is not used as the saltpeter tends to harden the meat. Chili saltpeter can be substituted in place of saltpeter, if only four-fifths as much is used.

The sugar brine cure

All formulas for the sugar brine cure are practically the same varying only a little in the proportions of sugar, salt and saltpeter. 

The container should be scalded thoroughly. Sprinkle a layer of salt over the bottom and over each layer of meat as it is packed in, skin down. When full, cover meat with boards and weight down with a stone so that all will be below the brine, which is made as follows:

Weigh out for each 100 pounds of meat, 8 pounds of salt, 2 pounds of sugar (preferably brown) or 3 pounds of molasses, and 2 ounces of salt peter. Dissolve all in 4 gallons of water. This should be boiled, and when thoroughly cooled, cover the meat. Seven days after brine is put on, meat should be repacked in another barrel in reverse order. The pieces that were on top should be placed on the bottom. The brine is poured over as before.

This is repeated on the fourteenth and twenty-first days, thus giving an even cure to all pieces. Bacon should remain in the brine from four to six weeks, and hams six to eight weeks, depending on the size of the pieces. When cured, each piece should be scrubbed with tepid water and hung to drain several days before smoking; no two pieces should come in contact. For all curing always use dairy salt and not table salt, as the latter contains starch to keep it dry and this starch may cause the meat to spoil. If you carefully follow these directions, you will have delicious sugar-cured hams and bacon.

Children in sub-Saharan Africa are more than 15 times more likely to die before the age of 5 than children in high income countries.

Lack of access to highly nutritious foods, and rising food prices is a common cause of malnutrition. Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods or RUTF was first introduced in situations of humanitarian emergencies during the early 2000s.

Malnutrition is the underlying cause of death in an estimated 34 percent of all children worldwide. RUTF is high energy; lipid-based nutrient supplement paste used for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition.

RUTF provides energy, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals to treat severe acute malnutrition in children six months to under 5 years of age. 

RUTF has around 550 kilo-calories per 100 grams of the product. RUTF is basically peanut butter mixed with dried skim milk, vitamins and minerals and can be stored for three to four months without refrigeration, even at tropical environments. RUTF can have a shelf life of two years when stored at 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

UNICEF is the primary global purchaser of RUTF. RUTF has transformed the treatment of severe malnutrition providing foods that are safe to use at home and ensure rapid weight gain in severely malnourished children. 

The peanut butter mixture can be consumed directly by the child and provides sufficient nutrient intake for complete recovery from severe malnutrition. RUTF is not a cure-all and is used as a supplement, not a meal replacement. Local production of RUTF paste is taking place in several countries of Africa, including DRC, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Niger.

At least 1 in 3 children under-five in Africa were stunted in 2011. Stunting hampers cognitive development of young children which undermines learning ability later in life. 

In Africa, boys are more likely to be stunted than girls are; the effects of stunting are irreversible. Five countries in Africa have more than 5 percent severe wasting South Sudan, Nigeria, Chad, Mali, and Sudan.

South African Frikkadelle is an Afrikaner dish of meatballs that's quick to make and eaten with a side of fried potatoes.

An Afrikaner or Boer is a person born, raised, or living in South Africa whose first language is Afrikaans and whose ancestors were Dutch. Afrikaners dominated South African politics for most of the 20th century but national attitudes and power shifted to the African National Congress after general elections on April 27, 1994.

Afrikaner recipes are prominent in the rainbow cooking, rainbow nation of South Africa. South African Frikkadelle is a delicious traditional meatball Afrikaner dish.

Easy Frikkadelle Meatball recipe

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 cup of dried bread crumbs

1/4 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons of your favorite Chutney

1 large egg

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon Worcester sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Soak bread crumbs in milk then mix all ingredients well with clean hands, roll the meat into medium size balls. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm with chutney or mustard on top of each meatball.

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