-Flee to unknown location as traditional women launch hunt for them
Mohammed Kaba, and Sekou Kaba, two young Liberians and residents of Montserrado County, have raised alarm over threats on their lives by traditional women in Todee, Lower Montserrado County.
During a one-on-one engagement with our reporter on Thursday, July 27, 2023, Mohammed Kaba articulated that it all started when his sister, Mariama Kaba who was just 13, went to spend a few days with their aunty, Kumasa Kaba in Sonkay Town, Todee District, Lower Montserrado County because they never met since she last visited them in Monrovia in 2022.
During a regular tour of the town alone, Mohammed Kaba informed our reporter that Mariama was forcibly taken by the traditional women to their ritual site and initiated into the Sande society, involving the harmful practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
“She came just to spend a few days with our aunty because they never met for more than a year. Every time my aunt went to Monrovia, the little girl was in school so because of this she insisted that she wanted to spend some time with Aunty Kumasa.” He stressed in agony: “Unfortunately, we didn’t know that this was the end of our sister. After they released her, she couldn’t say a word. She bled for days and later passed.”
Just a few days after her release by the traditional women, and following the forceful initiation, Kaba narrated that his sister Marriama Kaba began experiencing severe bleeding, a situation that led to her untimely death on July 20, 2023.
In the aftermath of his sister’s tragic passing, Mohammed and his brother sought answers from the traditional women, only to be threatened and chased out of the town. The traditional women, backed by the traditional belief system, initiated a country-wide hunt for the brothers, claiming their inquiries lacked the traditional fortitude.
“When we decided to find out what went wrong, they sent the devil to get us. Fortunately for us, we used our vehicle to escape. The next day, they were in town in search of us. We informed the police but we were only advised to protest ourselves because it was beyond them.”
In Liberia, the government doesn’t interfere in traditional matters. Because of this, and with his vivid experience with how a lot of other persons have lost their lives in similar situations, Kaba said he and his younger brother have decided to stay in exile, as they fear being killed but to also keep the public informed that their lives are at risk.
“My brother, we only showed you this place because we want the public to be aware of what’s happening so if we are discovered dead, that means it’s the zoes (traditional women). I have contacted a few of our relatives abroad but I was told to wait but I don’t know whether it will work out and I’m afraid, we both know that those people don’t joke with their words. If they could kill my sister, what more about me or my younger brother?” he asked.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), the act that led to Mariama Kaba’s death, involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
In Liberia and other parts of Africa, the practice is attributed to traditional belief and sometimes religion. It is practiced in eleven (11) out of the fifteen (15) counties in
Liberia.
The practice has no health benefits for girls and women, as it can also cause severe bleeding, problems urinating, and infections, as well as complications in childbirth
and an increased risk of newborn deaths.
Howbeit, Liberia remains one of the three West African countries that do not have a law criminalizing FGM despite having signed and ratified regional and international human rights instruments condemning the practice as a human rights violation,
including the Maputo Protocol.
In February 2022, the National Council of Chiefs and Elders of Liberia, in collaboration with the Government of Liberia, proclaimed a three-year ban on the practice of FGM from 2022 to 2025. However, it is still being practiced in other areas of the country as there’s no legislation that prohibits it.
