Amadu John Bangura Kakay, a native of Kabala, Koinadugu District, Northern part of Sierra Leone has been declared wanted by a Secret Society for failing to go through the initiation process.
Bangura who hailed from a traditional background is alleged to have deliberately turned down an offer to be initiated into his family’s secret society of which his late father was a leader.
It is understood that the Family Secret Society was an inheritance from their forefathers who will ensure eldest son was allowed to go through certain rituals which is part of their culture and tradition.
Kabala is named the land of powerful mixtures, a place that is notorious for traditional beliefs with wise men and seers who will predict the future of upcoming boys and girls and as well manufacture traditional charms used as guidance and protection for their children.
In the case of John Bangura, family sources disclosed to this media that he had been dodging the process ever since he transferred to the main city of Freetown. In one of his visits to Kabala, Bangura was kidnapped by one of his uncles and then placed in a secluded area within the village awaiting to undergo initiation. Part of the initiation process is to embalm you with traditional herbs and as well be swallowed by the traditional evil spirit who will cleanse you and prepare you for the future. The process is followed by severe torture, beating, and strangulation making young boys now become afraid of being initiated.
Times SL Newspaper gathered that at the time Bangura was been prepared for cleansing, he was crying for help when a passerby within the surrounding villages heard him sobbing bitterly and later rescued him. He then fled from the village and managed to escape leaving the family in pain as to the predicament behind anyone exposing them.
Since then, he was declared wanted by the family and his whereabouts remained unknown.
Civil Society Organizations have been denouncing such harmful practices but their concerns have never crossed the district as the majority of those in authority are from different backgrounds which in essence speaks to the fact that every background has its traditional ways of preparing their children for the future.
In certain cases, there have been reports of boys allowed to be initiated losing their lives during the process and those cases never pass through any court of law as even police officers and law court officers are afraid of prosecuting anyone involved in such practice.
Therefore, the case of Amadu John Bangura Kakay is just one of many others who have been suffering in silence. Times SL will continue to follow the issue to its logical conclusion.