Bans on masquerades of secret societies when they are menacing are common but not the ban on their internal operations which is why the recent ban on their activities is unique.
It arose from the initiation into the Poro Society at Sierra Rutile. It followed a clash that left at least two people dead, nine police officers injured and seventeen arrested over an incident relating to the operations of secret society initiations in the south and east of the country. It is noteworthy that secret societies are more prevalent in those parts of the country inhabited mainly by the Mende tribe. As a result they should take the blame or credit for any of the societies practices that impact on society at large.
The government said in a statement that they had received unsatisfactory reports of the misuse of secret societies in parts of the country as certain individuals were using secret societies to settle scores with political opponents. This may be a pointer to some of the ritual murders albeit the North and West of the country or the tribes in those parts cannot be entirely absolved from the nefarious practice.
Of all secret societies in the North and South of the country it is the use of violence by the poro and bondo societies in the South and East of the country that ostracizes other innocent societies. “Eight employees of our company and a contract driver have been kidnapped on their way to work,” a worker of the Sierra Rutile Limited said. But for the outdated activities of these two societies our country should have been free of mafia activities which are now bedeviling the so-called developed countries. The bondo societies too are not immune from violent initiation followed by violent cutting. “We welcome the immediate ban on all secret society initiations,” Secretary General for the Forum Against Harmful Traditional Practices, Aminata Koroma said. She added that a 10 year old girl died recently in a bondo bush during FGM. If the statistics that 90 percent of men and women in Sierra Leone are going through FGM and poro then our religious leaders are not making the desired national effect on their congregations. It seems they are only consumed with pure theological issues which do not augur well for holistic national development. This is because people tend to listen more to their priests than politicians.
Not all is evil about secret societies because people get together to achieve objectives which they agree upon but the recruitment should be voluntary. That said, the state has a right to see that all practices even within societies should conform to universal human rights. Abducting peaceful citizens going about their business in broad daylight is unacceptable in this 21st century. Sierra Leone’s first Head of State Sir Milton was a supporter of the Bondo society though his position on FGM is not clear. In any case it was known that at least he taught them basic medicine which could not have excluded maternal and child health care.
It is feathers to Islam’s cap that they have forbidden their members from joining secret societies while Christianity has no such prohibition. As a result it should be safely assumed that the 90 percent of initiates of the poro and bondo societies are Christians. These secret societies should henceforth be known as terrorist societies because of their methods of violent recruitment.
Few governments could possess the dare-devilry to suspend the activities of secret societies that have been virtually etched in the DNAs of the people for ages past. Government should keep suspending their activities until they demonstrate a voltre face of policy.