Reports emanating from the Lofa Bridge settlement in Liberia’s western Grand Cape Mount County speak of a rift between tribal Mandingoes and the Gola-Konneh cultural group over the initiation of some seven girls.
According to the report, the conflict centered on the timeliness and venue of the ritual by a hired traditionalist from Guinea brought in by some members of the Mandingo tribe in the Garwula District.
Customarily, men and women are given specific periods or terms to perform their rites, with a term lasting between four to five years as in the case of Garwula District.
Under the arrangement, also, women are forbidden to perform initiation ceremonies during the men’s term and vice versa.
In keeping with this custom, the women of the Gola group in the settlement opposed the initiation by the Mandingo women on grounds that “the bush has already been turned over to the men”.
Besides, they were also angered by the fact that the initiation was being held in the middle of town and not in the bush as normally done.
Consequently, tension is said to have heightened when traditional people from the Mandingo side refused to halt their ceremony maintaining that it would go ahead at all cost.
The conflict which erupted last Thursday ran through Sunday of this week and was calmed only with the intervention of local county authorities.
The head of the Traditional Council of Liberia Chief Zanzar Karwor has meanwhile called for in investigation into what transpired at the weekend in the Lofa Bridge Community. Report by Garmah Never Lomo