Bondo’ Secret Society members Intensify Search for Sitta Isha Kamara and Children
‘Bondo’, a secret female traditional society that demands the cutting of the female genital organ is widely practiced in Sierra Leone West Africa. Even though the practice has been criticized by many human rights activists describing it as a cruel act, many parents still force their children as young as 2 years into undergoing the practice to full traditional rites. In March 2023, a two-year-old-child lost her life in the hands of initiates at a Secret Society Bush (bondo bush) in Waterloo whilst in January 2024, three girls within the age bracket of 12,13 and 17 died in the southern and northern part of the country which Doctors say was as a result of health complications allegedly linked with the cutting off of their genital organs. This press can authoritatively confirm that, these are just few of the recorded cases as most people are afraid to come out in the open to report such incidents due to either fear of repercussions from traditional authorities or the fact that law enforcement bodies treat these cases with little or no seriousness. A related incident which occurred on 13th August 2024 sent tongues wagging as to how a certain section of society could be so cruel to their children. This ugly development has placed the life of Sitta Isha Kamara and her children at risk after this press gathered that because of her refusal to handover her two daughters to the traditional authorities to undergo the cruel Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) she and her children have become targets. Sources close to this medium state that a group of female traditional leaders headed by her grandmother visited the resident of Mrs.Sitta Isha Kamara requesting that it is time for her to handover her daughters for initiation as tradition demands, emphasizing that tradition must be respected. The “soweis’’vowed to initiate them at all cost because it is a rite of passage which Sitta Kamara too did undergo. A lady staying with Madam Sitta confirmed to this medium that, Madam Sitta was not at home with the kids and her husband too and she fails to reveal their whereabouts when the traditional authority came at their resident and asked for them. “They asked me if I knew their whereabouts but I told them no” and she said they started making lots of threat with phone calls in a bid to reach Sitta Kamara which seems unreachable. ‘They vowed to join my kids at all cost just because of the dictates of a savage and inhuman tradition but I will do all it takes to not let that happen as my husband and I are strongly united against that’, Sitta told this medium on phone . Female Genital Mutilation is a rite of passage for young girls before they could reach maturity stage which Sitta Isha Kamara doesn’t want her children to undergo and has defied the traditional authority by describing the act as inhuman and may lead to her children losing their lives. Successive governments have always remained silent over the act, describing it as a sensitive issue thus, leaving the practice widely carried out across the country. Reports gathered by this medium indicates that, Sitta Isha Kamara hailed from a traditional family whose belief for tradition is second to none and she is the latest person to be subjected to threats to allow her daughters to undergo the FGM as the initiators have been frequenting her home. So what we gathered was that staying in hiding is the only option she is left with to save her children from this practice. This medium also gathered that the practice also demands blood from the initiates which is normally used as a sacrifice by the ‘SOWEIS’, traditionally haggard looking old women who carry out the act. The worst thing is that, there has been no law that condemns FGM practices in Sierra Leone and therefore, those who perform this act always go free if arrested by the police and other law enforcement agencies because these authorities are also part of the society and would dare not prosecute these culprits maybe for political gain.Many a time young girls in this part of the world face the risk of being initiated to satisfy societal demand or as a requirement for inheritance and being born in northern Sierra Leone , especially from a highly traditional family whose belief for tradition is second to none has further exposes Sitta Isha to the risk of her children being initiated .Sitta Isha Kamara’s case is of special concern to the initiators because she is the eldest daughter of the family and to fulfill the traditional rites, her daughters must undergo the ‘Bondo’ secret society which according to information gathered by this press, many of her colleagues’ children had undergone. Her grandmother was one of the strongest members of the ‘Bondo’ Society and she held a very senior position which made the situation more serious for Sitta and her children. Since her disappearance , the ‘SOWEIS’ have been searching for her with lots of threats and promise to teach her the lesson of her life.
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