By Tejay Mans
A 32-year-old Sierra Leonean mother of three children, Zainab Brewah, is another case of the horrors of forced initiation into the traditional female Bondo Society in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone is a secularist democracy that suffered a 11-year civil war, survived the Ebola and Corona virus outbreaks and mudslide which claimed thousands of lives.
The country’s people are admired for their resilience and religious tolerance despite enormous developmental and socio-political challenges.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that at least 200 million girls and women in 31 countries have undergone one of four types of FGM.
Sierra Leone has the seventh-highest FGM rate in Africa, according to UNICEF.
The prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) among women and girls aged 15-49 in Sierra Leone is 83%, according to recent data from sources like UNICEF and the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in 2019. This makes Sierra Leone one of the countries with the highest FGM rates in Africa.
A case under review is an unfortunate incident that happened in Kambia District, Northern Sierra Leone, where the group of Bondo women in connivance with the parents took it upon themselves as a rite of passage to forcefully initiate Zainab Brewah and daughter into the Bondo society beyond her wish.
Zainab Brewah, who hailed from a devoted Muslim and traditionalist family was eventually converted to Christianity by her husband, George Brewah a move that placed her on a collision path with her parents.
The parents, who are strong traditionalists and her grandmother, a senior officer (Sowei) did not only see her conversion to Christianity as leeway to abandon their family heritage, but left Zainab’s husband George Brewah as a proverbial Whiteman in the Achebe’s Things Fall Apart who came to sow seeds of discord between them and their daughter.
George, a fervent Christian and father of Zainab’s kids – Ulric Ryan S. Brewah, 4, David Joseph G. Brewah, 11 and daughter, Georgiana E. Josephine Brewah,2 vehemently opposed the idea of his wife’s initiation or association with secret society citing biblical, medical and other reasons.
t should be noted that Zainab’s family did not only hell-bent on forcefully initiating her into the secret Bondo society, but also her innocent baby girl, simply because it a family tradition that every female born into the family should be cut in keeping with her grandmother’s position.
George, reportedly objected and in a bid to protect his wife and children, asked his wife to refrain from visiting her parents following threats that by hook or crook, she must be circumcised.
It all came down crashing fast for the young Christian family when in June 2024, Zainab Brewah received a telephone call informing her about the passing of her uncle in Gbalamuya Village, Kambia District. Upon her arrival, Zainab Brewah was reportedly surprised to discover that it was a hoax and a setup to nab her.
Eyewitnesses say they saw Women dressed in the traditional Sowe attire trooping and shuttling the Zainab’s family house with songs and chanting with one eyewitness describing the event as “like soldiers preparing for war.”
In the twinkle of an eye, the atmosphere changed, the men and boys disappeared, old and young women took charge and Zainab’s family gave her away. She was dragged through the village to the society bush, according to Witnesses.
“Her mouth was gagged with a cloth so that she could not shout. She made attempts to fight back and unbound herself but the sheer number of women overpowered her making her escape an impossibility,” Zainab’s friend said in an interview.
Sources who wished not to be named said that Zainab’s horror began when she refused to accept a ritual conferring upon her the powers of her grandma.
She refused to subscribe the oath and processes and that is where her beaten and torture started. The Sowei’s got agitated as they view Zainab’s refusal as a rejection of their family culture and heritage, a taboo.
“Her being inside the Bondo bush was like a living hell on earth. Her left eye got swollen. She was beaten mercilessly. She was deprived of food and water. She was deprived of sleep. The screams of other girls being cut was like rolling thunders. It is a nightmare that no girl or woman must endure,” another forced initiate confessed in church.
Amidst this agony, Zainab Brewah reportedly secretly prevailed on one of male guards to rescue. By a struck of luck, the compassionate guard understood her plight and assisted her to escape. This was the moment of freedom and breakthrough for Zainab who is believed to have hidden for hours in the bush until it was dark enough to trek tens of miles across the border where she is said to have disappeared and suspectedly entered the Republic of Guinea Conakry.
Sources say George saw it coming in 2019, upon seeing extremist moves by the family to subject them to the whims of tradition and had to marry Zainab in a civil instead of traditionally wedding.
“The wife was fearful that the children were going to be the next target,” a neighbour said. He suspected that it was at this point that the couple could have agreed to run away with their children for safety.
Critics described the practice of FGM as evil, barbaric and horrendous for any woman or girl to experience.
In an interview, Rights Activist, Neneh Turay slammed politicians for being hypocrites on the issue of forced initiation.
“How can you sign an international treaty that says FGM is a harmful practice but yet still politicians use Bondo initiation as a political tool to secure votes. Many of them, male or female are scared to talk about this issue less to talk about taking a stance against it. They fear that it will cost them a loss of votes. This is unfortunately sad and at the detriment of human rights and human life.”
In 2024, Adamsay Sesay, 12; Salamatu Jalloh, 13; and Kadiatu Bangura, 17, died during initiation ceremonies in the country’s North West province.
In August 2016, girlfriend (Fatmata Turay, 19) of Journalist Tyson Conteh, was being initiated into the Bondo society, a century-old tradition involving music and dancing where young women are prepared for adulthood. Thirty-six hours later, Fatmata was dead.
In Kambia, —the deaths of Salamatu Jalloh, 13-year-old and 17-year-old Kadiatu Bangura sparked a debate on ending the culture of impunity but sadly, the Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Isata Mahoi told CNN:
“We are looking forward to seeing it come to an end. (But) you prepare communities.
You don’t just go and stop a practice in one day.”
It is against this background that Rights Campaigners say Zainab Brewah and family surfacing home would be a dangerous gamble apparently due to lack of political and judicial will to bring perpetrators to justice.
