Aminata Jariatu Sesay Life in Jeopardy For Raising Awareness against FGM

By Sulaiman T. Jalloh

 Reports from Mile 91, a Themne dominated Community in northern SierraLeone have intimated this press that members of the ‘Bondo’ Secret Society have mounted nationwide hunt for one Aminata Jariatu Sesay, a daughter of Mr. Mustapha Sesay, the Section Chief of Yeleh Chiefdom in Tonkolili District and a mother of Jariatu Sesay who has 3 siblings.

Aminata is said to be a victim of the ‘Bondo’ Secret Society as she encountered serious tortures and maltreatment in the hands of society members.

According to investigation undertaken by this press, Aminata had been taken to the Secret Society shrine where she undergone all forms of initiation rites.

It came out glaringly from our investigation that Aminata Grand mother Yamakapre was the head of the ‘Bondo’ Secret Society in Mile 91 and had submitted the name of her grand daughter to be her successor immediately she passed on.

When Yamakapre passed away, Aminata was approached by Society members to replace her grandmother in the ‘Bondo’ secret society, but she vehemently refused in doing so.

As a result of this, Aminata decided to embark on a crusade to expose the ills and wickedness of the ‘Bondo’ Society.

Due to her advocacy and campaign against FGM, Aminata was recruited at Voice of Salone Newspaper and later became volunteer at the Women’s in the Media Organization. She was using both platforms to raise awareness about the risks and harmful practices done in the Bondo Secret Society.

Since she started her advocacy, Aminata has been considered as enemy in the Community by Initiates who were going all out to silence her.

Aminata’s advocacy and campaign has yielded fruits and helped to change the dynamics by enlightening young girls about the risks and dangers associated with FGM practice.

As a result of this, Aminata became the main target in her community as her life is in jeopardy owing to the death threats she received from unknown individuals and members of the Secret Society.

On several occasions, Aminata continues to receive death threats from members of the ‘Bondo’ Secret Society and unknown individuals for exposing the harmful practices and deeds of the ‘Bondo’ Society.

According to sources, that exposure  has put Aminata’s life in danger, resulting her to be hunted by the upholders of the society.

Investigation also uncovered how Aminata became very traumatized when she realized that she had been hunted by the upholders of the society, resulting her to leave Mile 91 and the country in protection of her life.

The “Bondo” Secret Society is a Secret Society that has its traditional practice, Female Genital Mutiliation (FGM), which has been widely condemned by International Organizations and Women’s organizations locally and around the World, with many advocating for its abolishment, but nothing has been done about it.

The Government is talking about the age of consent for those who could be initiated. This practice has resulted in the deaths of so many young girls mostly from profuse bleeding, as well as other complications. Despite all of this evidence of dangers of this practice, the government has not made any move to address this problem. Even the Parliament has failed to arrive at any decision to call for its abolition, for fear of losing votes during elections, as it is a traditional practice that no one dares to tamper with. Many women in government and in positions of trust belong to such secret society and do not share any inclination to abolish them.

It is a taboo to even talk of the practice in public.

Meanwhile, many young girls in some of these villages have fled to safer regions, with some even leaving the country. Cases of death from these traditional practices have been raised by medical experts, and even advocates for the abolition of this harmful practice, but their activities have been focus mainly in urban settings and have not ventured into the remote villages to disseminate their messages for fear of being lynched by traditionalists, as the police do not investigate such female-related society issues.