After His Daughter Was Involuntarily Initiated Into The Traditional Sande Society
By Amara Konneh
MONROVIA— A local Liberian Businessman identified as Sekou S. Konneh narrowly escaped the anger and persecution of traditional actors in the northwestern Lofa County, after he is said to have prevented the group from initiating his daughter into the traditional Sande Society.
“My Life is in danger as a result of this altercation between me and the traditional community in Konia. They have threatened to hunt me down through physical and traditional means once I’m in the territorial space of Liberia,” Mr. Konneh noted.
In an interview with this Reporter, the man narrated that upon the death of his wife, his in-laws requested that his daughter (Aisha) pays a visit to the home of her deceased mother on a regular vacation – a request which he gladly granted.
However, Mr. Konneh revealed that he got a shocking call from his daughter informing him of her aunties desire to forcibly initiate her into the traditional Sande Society as a way of paying respect to her dead mother who was once a member of the fraternity.
Upon receiving such troubling message, he immediately journeyed to Konia, Lofa County, Northern Liberia with the intention of bringing his daughter back to Monrovia but this was not the case as he met harsh resistance from the traditional group, Mr. Konneh narrated.
He explained that when he reached Konia, the aunties of his daughter uncovered his intention of preventing them from initiating his daughter and that they also began aware that he opted to bring her back with him – this, he said prompted resistance and disagreement among the relatives.
Mr. Konneh also disclosed that his in-laws involved the entire traditional community as a means of evoking the wrath of the traditional people upon him, alleging that he uttered damming comments against the traditional people.
“They accused me of damming their society which I didn’t do. This matter has become a serious issue between me and the traditional community in Konia, Lofa County,” Mr. Konneh emphasized.
According to him, that the matter escalated, and he had to flee the scene after the locals unleashed a “Country Devil” (traditional mask deity) to intimidating him against his quest.
The whereabouts of the Liberian Businessman is not known. He has declined to say where he is, but he could only tell this Reporter that he is still living in fear because of threats against his person.
Latest in series of showdown by traditionalists
Mr. Konneh is just one of several persons to face this wrath of traditionalists in various parts of the country in recent times. Others have stood their grounds against similar ordeal but did not live to tell the story.
In some instances, many who stood in opposition to said traditional initiation were forced to flee, abandoning their properties and livelihood so that they can have the chance to live another day.
The Sande Society, exclusively for girls and women have come under the spotlight for harmful traditional practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and was on February 2022 prohibited for three consecutive years by the Traditional Council of Liberia headed by Chief Zanzan Karwor.
Although Liberia is a signatory to regional and international Human Rights conventions, such as the Maputu Protocol that denounces the practice, Liberia continues to be one of the three West African Nations without a statute that makes FGM illegal.