By Musa Paul Feika
An investigation mounted by this press shows that women in Sierra Leone are still marginalised economically, politically and educationally. At times they are being looked low upon.
Biblically, women are considered as the weaker sex. Because of this, they should always be treated with the utmost seriousness in society. But is this the case in Sierra Leone?
Although Sierra Leone has some women icons, like Dr Syliva O. Blyden and Hon Bernadette Lahai, marginalization of women is still widespread.
Women are in the majority in most cases: they are the poorest; they form the largest number of street beggars as could be seen in the major streets of Freetown.
Most of these women beggars carry babies stuck to their backs. In fact, some are even pregnant while they go about begging. Engaging in street begging gives the picture that they cannot easily fend for themselves.
Adama Sillah, who resides in Freetown, aged twenty five years, was divorced by her husband about two years ago. She is left to take care of her two children.
Before their divorce, she and her husband used to own a plot of land. But immediately they divorced, the husband sold the land without her knowledge.
“I only came to know when the buyer asked me, one day, to vacate the land,” Adama said.
In politics, also, women are marginalised. In the just concluded cabinet reshuffle, President Julius Maada Bio sacked Nabela Tunis as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and appointed former Chief Minister, Professor David Francis, as substantive Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Thirty seven year old Elizabeth Korya, a banker, was also marginalized by the erstwhile Minister of Lands during former Earnest Bai Koroma’s regime. In President Julius Maada Bio’s administration, this same minister grabbed Elizabeth Korya’s land at Regent in Freetown and she is yet to receive justice from the ordeal.
Elizabeth Korya initially erected both a pre-primary and primary school and also dug water well. However, she was about to put up a secondary school structure when Dr Denis Sandi forced her out of the land.
According to her, she has reported the matter to the police, but the police were dragging their feet to charge the matter to court. When she eventually hired the services of Lawyer Elvis Kargbo, a court threw out her matter.
“I was expecting the court to give me justice. But it was never done.”
One of the ways of improving the status of Sierra Leonean women is through political empowerment and donor opportunities for their progress. Education is another method that can improve and put forth pressure for solving concrete problems of poorer women in the country.
Although some women organizations have achieved initial positive results, which can be expanded by appropriate working partnership with some civil society organizations and international women`s NGOs.
Gender inequality, in Sierra Leone, is among the worst. They continue to be marginalized socially, economically and politically.
However, some progress has been made. There is donor pressure to open up new opportunities for the progress of women. There are also women organizations like the 50-50 group, which has achieved positive gains. It has also consolidated and expanded through appropriate partnership with both local and international women`s NGOs.
There are 132 seats in the Sierra Leone Parliament. 112 of these seats are elected concurrently with the presidential elections. Also 14 of these seats are occupied by Paramount Chiefs from each of the country’s administrative districts. But out of these 132 seats, there are only 16 women representatives.
This disparity, in the number of seats occupied by women in the Parliament of Sierra Leone, shows how women are been marginalized in this country.
Women in Sierra Leone have now been reduced into the mining of stones, more especially in Freetown. Of course, this can only earn them few Leones.