Sources say Adama Whyte Conteh faces pressure to assume hereditary ‘Sowei’ role after forced initiation at 15
A Sierra Leonean woman currently residing abroad fears abduction if she returns home after being named as the next head of Bondo(Sowei) Secret Society.
Authoritative sources told this outlet that Adama Whyte Conteh, now in her mid-30s, has been named successor to her late grandmother as “Sowei,” the chief initiator of the Bondo society. Conteh was forcibly initiated into the society at age 15 in Sendouku village, Bombali District, northern Sierra Leone, without her mother’s consent, according to a family member who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The initiation was ordered by members loyal to her grandmother, Marie Kamara, who led the society until her death,” the relative said. “Before she died, her grandmother told us that she should take over immediately she passed away with the instruction that she must be her successor.”
The family member said Bondo elders in both Sendouku and Freetown have instructed Conteh’s aunt, a society member, to bring her back to the village for installation. In Sierra Leone, the Sowei oversees female initiation rites and often resides for extended periods in the “Bondo bush.”
A relative said she was informed by her mother of the death of her grandmother while attending a conference abroad. During the burial ceremony, family members understood she was out of the country.
According to the relative, Conteh should not return, warning that “after the burial, they will kidnap and forcefully bring her to the village to take over the Bondo society as head of the Sowei.”
“If she returns to Sierra Leone, they will take her forcefully to the village. She will not be free,” the relative reportedly relayed the message to this outlet.
Meanwhile, the mother of Adama Whyte Conteh, and her daughter are nowhere to be seen since the death of her grandmother.
Rights groups say refusing a hereditary Sowei role is considered a grave offense against tradition in some communities. The U.S. State Department and Amnesty International have documented cases of women being abducted, beaten, and confined for rejecting society leadership.
The majority of women accused police typically treat Bondo disputes as cultural matters and do not intervene. Conteh’s current location is being withheld for safety.
The Bondo society is a women-only traditional institution with authority over female initiation rites in Sierra Leone. The practice of female genital mutilation, often linked to Bondo initiation, is illegal under Sierra Leone’s Child Rights Act of 2007, though enforcement remains inconsistent.
