Freetown, March 10, 2023 – Reports indicate that Madam Emma Mabinty Bangura is currently in hiding due to mounting pressure from members of the Bondo secret society. Following the death of her mother, women from the society have been insistent that Emma should assume her late mother’s leadership role within the group.
Emma Mabinty Bangura, a resident of Freetown, has familial ties to the village of Makoth in the Mambolo Chiefdom, Kambia District, where the Bondo society is a traditional practice. According to reports, Emma was previously initiated into the society against her will. She describes that undergoing such a traumatic experience during the initiation, which she found to be barbaric and unprogressive. As a devoted Muslim, she states her faith does not permit such practices and has decided to disassociate herself from the Bondo society, calling their acts inhuman.
While recounting her ordeal, Emma revealed that two individuals died in front of her during the initiation process. Her recent visit to her mother’s village for the burial led to her being captured by society members, who intended to force her into her mother’s former position.
Despite the severe nature of these practices, little appears to be done to intervene, as many government officials and law enforcers are reportedly members of such secret societies.
Emma now faces the dilemma of being compelled to become a head Sowie, a role she has consistently refused. Following her refusal, Bondo women from the Village openly confronted her by storming her home with the aim of physically taking her to the society’s sacred bush for rituals. She managed to fight her way out of the village and has since been declared wanted by the group.
The Bondo women in the village have described her refusal as a total disrespect to their customs and traditions, which dictate that a daughter should inherit her mother’s position as Sowie. Emma is now a fugitive not only from the village but the entire country.
Despite international treaties and UN conventions on human rights, Sierra Leone remains among the countries where the forceful initiation of women continues, a practice not limited to Mambolo Chiefdom but occurring in various parts of the country.
The current whereabouts of Emma Mabinty Bangura remain unknown, and it is unclear where she has sought refuge.
