Dreaded Secret Society Members Vow To Forcefully Initiate Umu Hawa Jalloh

Reports from the Village of Baoma, in the Kenema District, South-Eastern Sierra Leone, states that members of the dreaded female secret society, the ‘Bondo’, have vowed to forcefully initiate one Umu Hawa Jalloh, daughter of one of their late leader, into the society to take her late mother’s place, a proposal that Umu outrightly rejected, due to considerations of the risks involved and the health implications of the practice.

According to our source, after the death of Umu Hawa Jalloh’s mother, members of the secret society, during the fortieth day ceremony for the deceased, engaged the family of their late leader, asserting that prior to the death of the late mother, which is the normal practice and their modus operadum, she had intimated that in her demise, her daughter, Umu Hawa Jalloh, should replace her as leader. This was brought to the attention of Umu, who was present at the village during the ceremony, but she is said to have vehemently rejected the proposal, stressing that it is against her religious beliefs, and that it is demonic to engage in any act that has to do with the shedding of blood. Our source furthered that Umu left the village immediately that day, otherwise they would have abducted and initiated her that night, regardless of her refusal to be initiated. She is said to have hurriedly left the village without the knowledge of her kinsmen, and returned to her 24 Cole Street house in Freetown.

As it became clear that she was opposed to the initiation into the secret society, the elders of the society decided that they will ensure that they force her to be initiated. It is the usual practice that anyone who refuses to join a secret society, they are abducted and forcefully initiated, in some cases with disastrous results.

According to our source, Umu has been going on well with her job, until news of a pending abduction reached her that the secret society members had organized affiliates in Freetown to abduct her and take her for the initiation rites. It was disclosed that leaders of the secret society undergo a special initiation ritual, which is said to be dangerous than the ordinary one where young girls often die of bleeding and develop other health complications.

According to our investigation, a friend of Umu Hawa Jalloh explained that Umu had confided in her that she has no interest in becoming a member of the secret society, due, in the first place, to her religious beliefs, and secondly, because of the risk of death associated with the initiation rites. She furthered that Umu has simply disappeared from her house and her whereabouts are unknown.

Our investigation also took us to speak with some activists against the practice of initiating girls into the secret society, who told us that many initiates end up dead from excessive bleeding associated with the cutting, whilst others are unable to bear kids, and even develop some complications later in life. They further explained that there have been cases of girls bleeding to death from the cutting after the ceremony, the most recent being a young girl that died of bleeding after an initiation ceremony by the secret society in Kenema and another in Kailahun (all in eastern Sierra Leone), which are currently being investigated by the police. In those matters, both ‘soweis’ (the female cutters), who did the cutting, are at large, and their whereabouts unknown. They explained that much effort is not being made by the police to find them, as the female secret society is a traditional practice undertaken by women on women folks, and men are forbidden to interfere into same.

They disclosed that some women in top positions in government are part of the secret society, and even politicians looking for votes, encourage such practices, despite the danger that the entire process poses to women, adding that It is even a taboo to talk about it in public. They further disclosed that several female advocates against the practice have been chased out of their family homes, and do not go to their villages to visit, as they may be abducted, and could possibly face death.

According to some who have abandoned the practice, they maintain that the initiation is barbaric, as it involves cutting of the clitoris with unsterilized instruments by untrained women, as well as other inhumane practices, which included encounter with snakes. They maintained that there are records of a lot of deaths from the initiation ceremonies, adding that these deaths are not brought to the fore due to the secrecy associated with the practice,  and that the government, due to traditional pressure from elders and traditional women groups, had not taken any stand to abolish this practice. These advocates maintain that their lives are in danger, as they are campaigning against the practice.

As we go to press, we have information that the members of the secret society have mounted a man-hunt for Umu, as she is said to have disappeared from her known residence in Freetown. Umu’s friend told this medium that one day Umu left her house and has not returned. She too is worried about the safety of her friend, as her whereabouts are still unknown. Umu’s residence at 24 Cole Street, Portee Junction, in Eastern Freetown, is constantly being monitored by members of the secret society affiliates in Freetown.