By Yankuba Kai- Samba
Many youngsters today, who were not around before the 1967 general election, are peddling the misleading information that there were no ritual killings of young girls, who were vigin by politicians and their supporters for power, money and influence.
Instead, they politicised what’s a barbaric murder of girls by saying that it’s the APC politicians who scattered the bloods of dead animals on the streets of Kenema and then accused the SLPP of engaging in Canibalism.
The truth is that it’s not cannibalism. It’s a frenzy of ritual killings for power that brought terror and fear especially in the South East were girls were killed during the 1967 election.
This is the problem with youngsters. They tend to discuss issues they don’t fully understand. Like the person who wrote the statement, blaming APC propaganda, I was also a young teenager at the time. However, the story he denied happened right before my eyes.
It’s a fact that ritual killings for power took place in Kenema during the 1967 general election. One of the girls sacrificed was my childhood friend, Musu, a girl from Pujehun. The first girl who disappeared and was later found in a reserved, forested area near the Kenema show field was Margaret Tiaga Tommy. She attended SLC Primary School, while I attended St. Paul’s on Dama Road.
After her disappearance, the Inspector of Schools, by the name of Taylor, visited all primary schools in Kenema and instructed every school to have children go out and look for Margaret Tianga Tommy. Both Musu and Tommy were sacrificed for power, and their body parts were cut off in the same manner. Musu’s mutilated remains were found in the then-forested area of K School.
Kenema was a frightening place to live in during the 1967 election. Parents wouldn’t allow their children to go out, and school children were accompanied by their parents or guardians to and from classes. In Kenema, those involved in these ritual killings were never caught or prosecuted.
However, after Siaka Stevens became Prime Minister following the 1967 election, he did not tolerate ritual murders for power. Only young, underage girls were targeted. In Tiayama, a girl was kidnapped and killed, with her body parts cut off in the same ritualistic manner as the others. The perpetrators were charged with murder in Bo, and the case was presided over by Justice S. F. M. Kutubu. Solomon Berewa was the lead defence lawyer, and Lawyer Turay was the lead prosecutor.
During the trial, which I attended as a teenage boy, the defendants admitted to killing the girls but claimed they did so to increase L. A. M. Brewah’s power and influence. The defendants were relatives of Brewah, and Solomon Berewa, as the lead defence lawyer, was related to the Brewah family by marriage. There was a prolonged legal argument between the state prosecutor and defence lawyer over whether incriminating L. A. M. Brewah was admissible in court. The court ruled in favour of the defence. All five accused were convicted of murder and hanged at Pandemba Road.
There’s another ritual murder that took place in the North. A young girl was kidnapped and taken to the bush by men, where she was killed in front of a palm wine tapper. The tapper witnessed the murder but remained silent, fearing for his life. Once the perpetrators left, he reported the incident to the police. The men were arrested and charged, and a northern politician named Khazali was arrested and charged as the mastermind behind the ritual killing. Khazali was a serving member of Stevens’ administration. After his conviction, he was hanged at Pandemba Road.
President Stevens was strongly against ritual killings and ensured that anyone caught engaging in them was punished accordingly. Unfortunately, ritual killings still persist, often during general elections or chieftaincy elections. We need leaders who understand the weight of our history and are guided by facts in their decision-making process. Youngsters should learn the history and truth first.”
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