By Our Senior Correspondent
Masemira, Mayolla, Thatha Chiefdom, Tonkolili District —7th March, 2025: Tensions have erupted in the remote community of Masemira following a dramatic confrontation between tradition and resistance. Mohamed Alie Koroma a staff of the Ministry of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment and also the eldest of two siblings, is currently on the run after leading a daring rescue mission that defied centuries-old customs of the powerful Bondo secret society.
Koroma’s actions came in the wake of his mother’s death on February 28th, 2025. His mother was not only a respected community elder but also held the highest position in the Bondo society — a deeply rooted secret female initiation group. By traditional law, her death triggered an ancient ritual that requires the decapitation of the deceased leader and the initiation of her eldest daughter as her successor.
However, the children had long been cautioned against such practices by their late father, who had vehemently opposed the society’s traditions and explicitly warned his daughter never to join. Despite this, after their mother’s passing, traditional elders forcibly took Mohamed Alie’s sister, Fatima Festus Conteh to the Bondo shrine to fulfill the ritualistic succession.
Upon receiving word of his sister’s abduction, Mohamed Alie Koroma rallied a group of close friends including his younger brother, Charles Sorie Conteh and stormed the Bondo shrine. In a bold and unprecedented act, they destroyed parts of the sacred site and rescued his sister, igniting outrage among the traditional custodians.
Now, Koroma’s defiance has marked him as a fugitive. Elders of the Bondo society have declared that a man entering the sacred shrine is a grave violation of their laws — one that can only be rectified through a blood sacrifice. They have issued a bounty, offering a significant sum of money and a parcel of land to anyone who can capture Koroma and deliver him for sacrifice to appease the gods.
Local authorities have yet to intervene, as fear and reverence for the Bondo society’s influence continue to hold sway in the region.
As of now, Mohamed Alie Koroma remains in hiding, and the community of Masemira stands at a dangerous crossroads between tradition and change.
