Freetown- May 19th, 2024-Gay activist and practitioner, John Kamara of Lumley Road, in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown is wanted by the Sierra Leone police, after been caught in a romantic mood with another gay partner during a beach outing. John Kamara has long been suspected by his community of being gay having problem with his wife the family got for him.
In 2018 John was accused of gay activities and was mercilessly beaten only for the police and some community stakeholders who came to his rescue.
The Lumley Community in Freetown is a deep rooted religious community with strong religious presence, as majority of its inhabitants are either Christians or Muslims and anything deem devilish will be frown at.
With a Muslim background his father is a fervent believer of the Muslim faith and anything that has to do with same sex is frown upon. John is now on the run, wanted by the police as anything associated with same sex is a crime in Sierra Leone.
He is also accused to have organized an all-white party inviting only gay friends to the annoyance of his community. The party according to information disturbed the peace and quiet of his community, leaving community people with no alternative but to report to the police.
In May of 2024 community people descended on the John and his friend while they were having fun on the beach but managed to escape. His gay friend Aruna Sesay was caught and handed over to the police who is now in jail.
Information gathered reveals, the Gay Activist was able to escape and has not been seen since then.
The police have now put out a wanted notice after the young man escape from his pursuers. The whereabouts of John Kamara is still unknown as not even family members or close friends could tell his whereabouts.
Community stakeholders including his father have vow to deal with the young man and any other person caught practicing same sex within their community. Sierra Leone is among countries in Africa that frowns on same sex activities as this is not part of their tradition or culture.
People who practice Gay risk their lives or go to jail for a long time. John Kamara now finds himself in this dilemma after he was caught in an open kissing and romancing with another gay friend.
The Sierra Leone community frowns on gay activities and anybody practicing such trade risk going to jail or can even loss his life.
In Sierra Leone, same-sex activity is illegal, carrying a potential penalty of life imprisonment with hard labor. There’s a perception among some Sierra Leoneans that homosexuality is either a foreign import or financially motivated, rather than a natural expression of identity.
