At a consultative meeting held with key stakeholders in Moriba town, Bonthe District, the home district of President Julius Maada Bio, stakeholders in the community have expressed their full collaboration with the Amazonian Initiative Movement (AIM-SL) to fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) in that part of the country.
The consultative meeting which took place on Tuesday 4 October 2022 in the district is also geared towards commencement of the end of the FGM campaign in the district.
In attendance during the consultative meeting were the Regent Chiefs, Chiefdom Speaker, Public Relation Officer of Sowei Council, Chiefdoms Imams, Head of Civil Society, FSUs among many stakeholders.
Giving the background of the campaign, the Administrative Manager of the Amazonian Initiative Movement (AIM), Alpha Kamara, said the primary aim of their organisation is to remove the FGM aspect of “Bondo” society based on its associated health, social and economic risks.
He informed that people should wholesomely uphold some of the good aspects of Bondo society, which include dancing, teaching women and girls how to respect elders, how to take care of their husbands, children and members of their family among others.
The other important aspect of “Bondo” without shedding blood, according to Alpha Kamara, is the fact that the Bondo society is a place where women can learn and imbibe the culture of good leadership in community.
He said women and girls of this country have suffered as a result of the terrible practice of FGM, and apparently most of them have lost their lives and dignity with some made permanently disabled, a reason they as CSOs have stood firm to ensure that this heinous practice is eliminated.
He appealed to stakeholders in Bonthe District to work towards saving women and girls from harmful traditional practices and join the “end FGM” campaign.
During the meeting, Alpha Kamara also explained to stakeholders about the successes of AIM-SL and how the organisation has successfully piloted the Bondo without cutting in Tonkolili and Port Loko Districts which will also soon be implemented in Bonthe District.
Making her submission, the district Coordinator for Women Forum and Development, Madam Augusta Nuwoma, said every nation has its own culture which they maintain, which simultaneously goes with development.
‘Why has the Bondo society been a barrier to our national development?’ he asked.
He said the answer is that people focus on their culture more than on harming women and girls who are vital to community and national development.
‘As stakeholders we need to focus more on educating our younger generation instead of harming them. Working on age of consent means waiting and supporting your daughter to achieve higher education and allow her to make decision on what should happen on her body,’ she said.
A Police Officer, Ishaka Koneh, said issues of FGM are solely manned by Sowies and they spare no child in their communities due to their thirst for money and gaining political recognition by politicians around the South-eastern Region where politicians hugely support the initiation of women and girls.
He said the bulk of the blame lies on the Sowies who need to show more concern for their colleague women and girls.
The Public Relations Officer for the Sowies in the Bonthe District, Madam Isata Koroma, said AIM needs to collect data on all existing Bondo houses in each chiefdom in the district, and try to merge these houses into either two or at least three.
She said this will help in monitoring the activities of their colleagues especially when practicing the alternative rite of passage.
The District Coordinator for Street Child Sierra Leone, Jonathan E. Gamdoh, said women and traditional leaders need to bring back and maintain the old glory of the Bondo society which has been missing for many years.
According to Gamdoh, many NGOs engaged in different child protection campaigns have failed to realise that FGM has played a crucial role in the problems of the girl child in Sierra Leone. He therefore said it will be good to partner with AIM-SL for the good of all women and girls in the society.
The Regent Chief of Emperie Chiefdom, Leslie Tucker Thomas, said many years ago it was full grown women who were initiated into FGM but now they are seeing children as young as four years being initiated into FGM and this has invited more untold stories into the Bondo Bush.
He said as stakeholders they are calling on all Sowies to prioritise the education of their daughters instead of spending millions on their initiation.
‘Let the Sowies heads take a brighter example on the death of Maseray Sei who is a 21 old woman, so age of consent is just an excuse to continue the practice,’ he said.
He also called on organisations working on FGM to find ways of engaging the practitioners on developmental programmes like Village Savings Level (VSL), providing business support or establishing skills training which can help in diverting the minds of these women away from the cutting.
A Sowie from Matru-Jong, Sando Barkeh, said before now FGM practitioners didn’t initiate young girls, adding that even the women spent at least one year in the Bondo Bush before graduating, but today the initiates only spend at most two weeks, she furthered.
She is calling on all parents to seek the consent of their daughters and even if the girls agree they need to allow the girls to first get an education, which is key to their personal development.
