Society Women in Yele, Gbokenleken Chiefdom, Tonkolili District, have declared war against the Sankoh Family, whom they claimed had offended the gods of their land .
Times SL Correspondent from the North, Mohamed Koroma, who had an interview with a cross section of the Bondo Women, filed this report.
There was serious confusion within the township of Yele on the night of November 15th 2023, when Women within the township went to the house of the Sankoh Family at Yele, demanding that girls within the house be brought forward for their usual traditional ceremony (Bondo). Bondo Society is a well recognised tradition in Sierra Leone, which was introduced by Madam Yoko, a traditional Sierra Leonean woman, who, at the time, took the challenge to have upcoming girls go through Female Gential Mutilation. The Bondo is a Secret Society widely recognised countrywide, as all 16 official tribes in Sierra Leone see the Bondo Society as an option for upcoming girls, strongly believing that it is the only option to prepare them for adult life. In the Bondo Bush, girls are taught to do house chores, and other domestic work, but the main aspect is the cutting of the clitoris, which has been a subject of public debate in and out of Sierra Leone. There are Sierra Leoneans who hold the view that despite coming from villages, towns or cities, which have those customs and tradition, yet they believe their daughters should not go through the Bondo Society.
In the past, there have been reported cases of girls taken to the Bush and not returning alive. The Bondo Women leaders usually do the cuttings, often using either kitchen knives or scissors. The results from such initiation rites have been disastrous, with many young girls bleeding to death. Because of the harmful practice, there are those who believe that customs and tradition should not be seen to force their girls to undergo FGM. In that light, majority of those who go against the practice could either be targeted or banished from the township. There are reported cases of parents who were secretly murdered for refusing to allow their daughters to undergo FGM. These reports are swept under the carpet, with no Investigation by the police, as such matters are termed as taboo to be discussed by non-iniates, and purely a female traditional matter
In the case of the Sankoh Family, though resident in Freetown, they usually visit their hometown on vacations, and during such periods, the Secret Society will embark on initiating young boys and girls into the Poro, Gbeties and Bondo Societies. Reports are that, during their visit to Yele on vacation to celebrate the festivity, they were requested by the Bondo Women and Poros to surrender all the girls and boys within the house . Despite numerous attempts and pleas by the Bondo Women, they claimed that neither the parents nor the children were brought forward for the ceremony.
According to our source, the great grandparents of the Sankoh Family were known to be leaders in those secret societies. So, as tradition demands, they were obliged to do exactly what is expected of them. David Sankoh and wife , according to our investigation, deliberately refused to surrender their daughters for the Ceremonial rites, on the grounds that their belief on customs and tradition nolonger holds, and have been replaced by western values. The Bondo Women also alleged that David Sankoh, who is a staff of the United States Embassy in Sierra Leone, is against Bondo Society, because he is one among those sponsored by the west to discourage the traditional practice of FGM, with its replacement by western values. They argued that David Sankoh should be ashamed of himself to support the values of the white man as against his root, an allegation the Sankoh Family failed to refute. After deliberately refusing to handover their daughters to the Bondo Women, this caused serious confrontation, leading to skirmishes that left several houses burnt down.
What happened on the night of November 15th was a direct confrontation between the Sankoh Family and Bondo Women. David Sankoh, who happened to be a worker at the US Embassy in Freetown, was accused of taking advantage of his diplomatic office, sources say . The township is presently a ghost town, as majority of the villagers have gone into hiding in the Bush. There are rumors that the Bondo Women had also threatened to come out in full force, displaying their traditional mystical powers, and in doing so, members who are not part and parcel of the society, could risk losing their lives once seen outside. The Sankoh Family is presently under serious threat over their refusal to allow their daughters to undergo the FGM.
Sierra Leone has, over the last years, been faced with serious challenges regarding the issue of FGM. Civil Society Activists have been raising concerns on that, but all those concerns have gone on deaf ears, either because authorities concern could not be seen taking necessary action to either stop or prosecute Bondo Women, because of their influential positions.
Therefore, the girls were forcefully kidnapped and taken to the Secret Bondo Bush where they were expected to undergo FGM. The decision of the Bondo Women irritated David Sankoh, who, report states, took some gallant guys within the township and forced their way to the Secret bush to rescue his children. During the course of the rescue mission,they met stiff resistance from some cross section of the Bondo Women. Some parts of the secret society bush was destroyed to make way for the girls, who were quickly rescued and taken into an undisclosed location. News of the rescue mission spread within the township, and the Women came out in their Chinese numbers to devour the Sankoh Family, accusing them of committing sacrilege. The family house was first targeted, as the Bondo Women demanded that either the Sankoh Family surrender the children or risk their lives. Unfortunately, at the time the Bondo Women visited the house, David Sankoh, his wife and children were not around. So the entire house was ransacked, looted and set ablaze. In their customs and traditions, the punishment for a man or men to enter the Secret Bondo Bush of Women is punishable, and part of the penalty is that members of the family will be stripped naked for three days. Because of the penalty tied to that , David Sankoh and Family’s life were in danger. Efforts made to contact the Sankoh Family proved futile, as the township was under serious tension. David Sankoh and his family have been declared wanted with their photos in every corner, with words like ” wanted dead or alive” circulating.
We learned that they had used the Bush path to escape the wrath of the Bondo Women.
At the time of going to Press, efforts made in trying to contact the Sankoh Family proved futile.