By Ibrahim J. Conteh
Thirty-four-year-old Rosina Kargbo, fears for her life and that of her two daughters, Odile Kandyrose Seinya Kargbo and Mariella Paulina Seibatu Kargbo, nine and three years old respectively as her own mother-in-law (her husband’s mother) plans to initiate all three of them into the secret female Bondo society otherwise known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), an age-old practice rooted in the customs and traditions of Sierra Leone.
The initiation is scheduled to take place in April this year during the Easter holidays when schools are on vacation and a time when most girls are initiated nationwide.
Rosina Kargbo informed the media that her husband is the only son to her aged mother who is the head of the secret female Bondo Society and that as tradition demands she (Rosina Kargbo) and her two daughters should replace the aged mother who does not have a daughter adding that the decision was taken at a family meeting her husband attended to which she was not invited.
She furthered that during the family meeting, the elders in the village brought the matter to the attention of her husband reiterating that since her aged mother does not have a daughter, her daughter-in-law (Rosina Kargbo) and two daughters are the perfect replacements to which all consented.
Luckily for Rosina Kargbo, a friend broke the top secret to her that as the only and eldest daughter of her old own mother-in-law and other senior members of the Bondo Society in Moyamba District are planning to initiate her and her two daughters into the society this April when she and her two daughters visit her mother-in-law in Moyamba District during which they would be cajoled, captured and forcefully initiated.
According to Rosina Kargbo, she is totally against the decision of her husband and family for her two daughters to be initiated into the secret female Bondo Society to replace his mother during which initiation most of the female organs of her two daughters will be removed for cultural and religious purposes.
She also informed the media that she had no alternative but to report the matter to the police in Moyamba where her mother-in-law resides but that because the Paramount Chief is also a member of the secret female Bondo Society and head of the cultural and traditional law, the matter was swept under the carpet adding that she has heard several cases of girls dying during initiations due to severe bleeding and other serious complications they encounter as was the case with her next door neighbor.
To the Bondo Society, when such incidents happened, it is an honor and respect.
Over the years, Rosina Kargbo has been accustomed to leaving her two daughters in the care of her mother-in-law whenever she travels to Freetown and especially in remote villages in Moyamba District and other parts of the country, a recollection that has already traumatized and put her in perpetual fear, as she does not know what her mother-in-law could have done to them over the period.
The news alone of the forceful initiation has traumatized and caused Rosina Kargbo sleepless nights, nightmare and stress, especially when she is not accustomed to even the basics of Sierra Leonean cultural traditions let alone been initiated into the secret female Bondo Society.
Rosina Kargbo, who has been transferred and now working in Moyamba, Southern Sierra Leone, informed this medium in tears that her aged mother-in-law is the head of the Bondo Society in Moyamba District, and that according to their family customs and traditions, it is mandatory that she must succeed her old mother-in-law as head of the Bondo Society otherwise the entire family would not only disown her but even kill her and her two daughters through supernatural means or black magic for betraying them.
She added that her mother-in-law claims that the family tradition has existed from one generation to another for decades and that nobody has ever attempted to break it reminding her that during the traditional engagement and married respectively she consented to succeed her mother-in-law as head of the Secret Bondo Society in the presence of all the guests and traditional leaders.
She further revealed that as head of the Bondo Society she would be exposed to many evil, supernatural and underworld practices that may cause her mental disorder in addition to the fact that FGM has health implications that has caused some girls to even lose their lives in mysterious circumstances during initiations nationwide, the reason she would not advise even her enemy to be initiated let alone herself and her two daughters.
She said she would do all humanly possible and all within her power to resist the forceful initiation.
FGM is an old-age cultural and traditional practice in Sierra Leone. Proponents of the practice say during the initiation, apart from cutting of the woman’s clitoris that reduces has sexual desires, young girls are trained to become productive citizens in society as they are groomed to be good homemakers, take care of their families, cook, dance and perform other household chores.
However, others opposed to the practice argue that cutting of the clitoris causes fatal damage to a woman’s reproductive organs due to the use of contaminated and outdated instruments, causes harmful physical and psychological efforts on girls and women and accused Western and European countries of providing funds to the Sierra Leone Government to ban it.
Bondo is found in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. For traditional people, it serves as an important cultural institution responsible for training young girls in various aspects of adult life including womanhood, fertility, childbearing, traditional skills, social etiquette and values.
In recent years, there have been campaigns to stop the cutting of the clitoris as the law now allows girls who have reached the age of 18 to be initiated with their consent, though some activists are calling for its total abolition.