FGM Practitioners Seek Vengeance

Practitioners of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), locally referred to as ‘Sowei society’, have accused one Isha Samura and Mustapha Fornah of desecrating their ‘Sowei Society’.

In Madina Town, Kambia District, Northern Province of the Republic of Sierra Leone, tradition dictates that desecrating the ‘Sowei Society’ carries severe consequences.

According to sources, Isha was initiated into the FGM practice when she was nine-year-old. Since then, she has been battling with the trauma, the shock and pain of the forceful FGM initiation ceremony; especially the cutting of her clitoris with a knife which was orchestrated by her late mother Mammie Fatu Samura and other family members. Findings by this medium indicated that, Isha was never in support of her mother performing the rituals of initiating young girls into the Bondo society. Report further added that, most of the initiation ceremonies conducted by the soweis were not successful, as out of ten girls initiated four would die during the process.

Report further indicated that, Isha’s mother was the head of the Soweis in Madina Town and after her death, Isha and her husband travelled from Freetown to Madina Town to pay their last respect to late Mammie Fatu Samura.

On the day for the burial ceremony, as tradition demands, members of the Sowei’s Council were allowed to perform the burial rite before the corpse could be taken for final burial. However, on that fateful day, members of the Sowei’s Council surreptitiously took Isha to the Sowei’s secret bush to initiate her into the Sowei’s Council so that she could take up the mantle of leadership from her late mother before her mother can be buried.

Our findings further indicated that, during the process Isha became suspicious and she wanted to escape but the heavy bodied women overpowered her and push her to the ground where she was allegedly beaten and forcefully dragged to the Bondo Bush for initiation into the sowei’s council.

Whilst in the bush, according to report, her husband Mustapha Fornah was informed about the degrading and inhumane treatment of her wife, he allegedly entered the bush and took her wife away.

This act of Mustapha Fornah angered members of the Sowei’s Council and according to tradition, the punishment for none members entering into the Bondo Bush is death.

In an exclusive chat with one of the religious leaders in Madina Town who prefers anonymity, described the act of the Sowei’s Council by forcefully initiate people without their consent as “barbaric” and “inhumane”. The source however refused to comment on the matter claiming that he fears for his safety and that of his wife.

Efforts made to get the response of Isha Samura and Mustapha Fornah have proven futile.