Not In My Name

Several activists @DiakaTheKQueen, @KamSarian including myself have seen the disturbing videos of little girls one looking no older than a year who have been subjected to FGM. The videos are sickening to watch. As it’s the holidays I have reached out to the following authorities and senior cabinet members @dsengeh , @IsataMahoi,@Cee_Bah @RainboInitiativ, @USEmbFreetown ,@UKinSierraLeone With the support of @Avaaz, I launched a petition that has reached over 500,000 people worldwide, yet President Bio has ignored our pleas. As we approach the 2028 general elections, we are deeply concerned by reports and credible indications that some political actors are financing or encouraging mass initiation (FGM) ceremonies, including the cutting of girls in Sierra Leone. We are calling on the international community, including the United Nations, to press for accountability and decisive action to protect children. The President has a clear opportunity to end this harm by supporting an explicit legal prohibition of FGM, particularly for children, and by ensuring consistent enforcement. Instead, many activists and survivors are concerned that the Child Rights Act did not retain clear, explicit language that would have unambiguously prohibited FGM, despite sustained advocacy and repeated calls from civil society and survivors.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE @StateHouseSL @MoGCASL @MoJ_SL @SierraLeonePolice @NPSE_Salone @USEmbFreetown @StateDept @UKinSierraLeone @FCDOGovUK @EUinSierraLeone @UNICEFSL @UNFPASierraLeone @WHOAFRO @ECOWAS_Cedeao @AUCommission @julius_maadabio @Cee_Bah @dsengeh @IsataMahoi

I’ve published an opinion piece responding to a Journal of Medical Ethics article that suggests reframing female genital mutilation as “female genital practices.” As a survivor of FGM, I reject language that sanitises violence against children or misuses “decolonisation” to silence scrutiny. FGM is not a practice. The evidence is settled. Read more : @thealima/a9f66939ddb7" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">medium.com/@thealima/a9f6…

Exactly, Sir. @jmarah_arnold1 Can you imagine a bill that was meant to protect our children was hijacked by adults mostly women whose sole purpose in Parliament seems to be defending Soweis (traditional cutters). Imagine this - It’s as if paedophiles had a lobby in Parliament and were granted permission to continue harming our girls. That is what has happened. President Bio knows this. His own ministers told him and his Attorney General advised him not too. I know this because I recently returned from Sierra Leone and spoke directly with MPs who voted against the bill. They told me that those who supported the removal of the protective clause were led by an actual Sowei. In any other part of the world, this would be unacceptable. We all know this. And now, President Maada Bio has shown both the world and the citizens of Sierra Leone that he has no respect for victims and survivors. He has ignored the @ecowas_cedeao Court’s ruling and since 2019 disregarded repeated calls from the United Nations @UN at the commission on the status of women #CSW @UNSRVAW has written his government, @unwomenchief @UNFPA has sent a delegate—calling on him to enact law that seeks to protect and safeguard girls from female genital mutilation. He totally ignored all these calls. His government even includes a former top UN official, yet neither he @yumkella nor the President had the courage to take a stand. Instead, they are both relying on the Soweis who cut our daughters to deliver them votes in 2028. Soweis exploit the practice of cutting to coerce parents and young girls, using it as a tool for political manipulation. We know and we are no longer going to stay silent.

Principles Over Personalities in Sierra Leone’s Civic Renewal @sierraeyesalone condemns racism in all its forms. Our home city, #Freetown, was founded as a refuge from racial injustice, so we must remain a beacon of shared humanity and respect for diverse voices. The debate over Kate Krontiris’s appointment as co-chair of the Miatta Civic Center Advisory Council must not descend into racial hostility or xenophobia. Krontiris, an American ethnographer and musician who speaks Mende and works with Telem, brings competence and experience. Decades ago, #SierraLeone welcomed #Singapore-born Kitty Fadlu-Deen, whose exceptional service enriched our nation. The issue today is not about race or nationality. It is about fairness, transparency, and institutional integrity. Public concern should focus on the process. Krontiris’s marriage to Chief Minister Dr @dsengeh, a senior government figure, raises legitimate questions about potential conflicts of interest. Yet this matter extends beyond one appointment. It speaks to the entire Advisory Council. Was the process open and inclusive? Were experienced Sierra Leonean cultural professionals consulted from the outset? The speed and structure of the selection suggest an old pattern where proximity outweighs merit. This habit corrodes public trust and weakens governance. This challenge is not unique to this Advisory Council. It is a challenge across our public sector where connections by and large trump competence. Yet examples from across Africa show another way. In Ghana and Nigeria, cultural institutions often thrive under leaders whose authority comes from expertise and service, not association. Sierra Leone must follow that path. The Miatta Civic Center holds great promise as a national space for cultural expression, innovation, and civic engagement. To fulfil that promise, its leadership must rest on integrity and public confidence. Positions earned through merit inspire unity and pride. Those secured through privilege invite resentment and cynicism. The Advisory Council should reflect carefully, review its process, and ensure its composition reflects national values. Our civic renewal depends on leaders who uphold principles over personalities, and systems that reward competence over connection. Only then will Sierra Leone’s cultural rebirth stand on solid ground. @Cee_Bah @VickieRemoe @eddiebel @MoiceComm

A Grave Disappointment - Sierra Leone’s Child Rights Act Is a Hollow Victory for Girls On October 14, 2025, a day after the International Day of the Girl Child, #InternationalDayOfTheGirl, #SierraLeone's Solicitor General, Robert Kowa, announced that President @julius_maadabio had assented to the Child Rights Act 2024, making it the law of the land. This should have been a momentous step forward in safeguarding the nation's children, introducing protections against abuse, exploitation, and ensuring rights to education, health, and identity. Yet, this legislation represents a profound betrayal. It deliberately omits an explicit prohibition on female genital mutilation ( #FGM), thereby mocking the very principles of child protection it claims to uphold. As Alimatu Dimonekene MBE @TheAlima rightly stated, ‘To every Member of Parliament who supported this version of the bill you have failed our children and disgraced the humanity you swore to defend. Removing the FGM clause because some believe mutilating girls is “culture” is indefensible.’ The Child Rights Act 2024 was supposed to build on earlier efforts to align Sierra Leone's laws with international standards, such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. However, its failure to address FGM exposes a glaring inconsistency. The Government celebrated the ban on child marriage. What it fails to understand is that FGM and #childmarriage are deeply interwoven. Both are rooted in patriarchal control over girls' bodies, sexuality, and futures. In Sierra Leone, where 83% of women aged 15-49 have undergone FGM and 71% were cut before age 15, banning one without the other is a half-measure that leaves girls vulnerable to lifelong physical and psychological harm. Complications from FGM include severe pain, hemorrhage, infections, sepsis, death, traumatic sexual experiences, obstructed labor, and obstetric fistula, leading to incontinence and social stigma. This omission is particularly egregious in light of the July 8, 2025, ruling by the @ecowas_cedeao Community Court of Justice in the case of FAHP & Ors v. Republic of Sierra Leone. The court declared that Sierra Leone's failure to criminalize FGM violates multiple international obligations, including Articles 2(1)(b), 4, and 5 of the #MaputoProtocol, which mandates states to "prohibit, through legislative measures backed by sanctions, all forms of female genital mutilation... in order to eradicate them." It also breaches Article 21 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, requiring measures to eliminate harmful practices prejudicial to children's health. The court found FGM to constitute inhuman and degrading treatment, violating rights to dignity, security of person, and effective remedies under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Ordering Sierra Leone to enact immediate legislative measures to prohibit and sanction FGM, investigate perpetrators, and adopt educational and socioeconomic policies to eradicate it, the ruling awarded $30,000 in compensation to survivor Kadijatu Balaima Allieu, who was forcibly subjected to the practice in 2016. The court rejected Sierra Leone's claims that general laws, like the Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (#GEWE) Act 2022, suffice, noting they do not specifically criminalize FGM. President Bio's decision to sign the Act without revisions flouts this binding ruling from the very regional body he chairs. By ignoring the court's directive, he undermines ECOWAS's authority and his own credibility. As Yasmin Jusu-Sheriff put it bluntly in an interview to @guardian, "The matter is in his hands, and his hands alone. He holds the sword of Damocles over himself. This is the thing that will determine whether he will go down as the greatest, most human rights-loving president of all time, or not.” The GEWE Act, intended to advance gender equality, becomes a mockery without addressing FGM, as it fails to fulfill the state's due diligence to protect against private acts of violence. The disappointment echoes across civil society. @VickieRemoe called the signing "shameful," lamenting that girls as young as 6 or 7 will continue suffering in "back bushes" because President Bio "refused to take a stand." Alimatu Dimonekene MBE described it as "a sad day," accusing parliamentarians of failing children by removing the FGM clause under the guise of "culture," even mocking advocates in debates. Organizations like the Advocacy Movement Network, @agirlatatime and @ILRAJ2 had urged reinstatement of FGM provisions during parliamentary deliberations. Internationally, UN experts have called for ending impunity for FGM, while activists highlight recent deaths, such as two girls in 2024 from FGM-related complications. This is not just a missed opportunity; it's a regression that contravenes Sierra Leone's commitments under the UN's 2012 resolution banning FGM globally. Culture can never justify torture or the systemic violation of girls' bodily integrity and human rights. With the Act now signed into law, President Bio and parliament must urgently prioritize amendments to incorporate an explicit FGM ban in alignment with the ECOWAS ruling, while civil society ramps up advocacy, education, and legal challenges to protect vulnerable girls from further harm. Sierra Leone's girls deserve nothing less than unwavering protection and justice. @UNWOMEN_SL @UNICEFSL @UNWomen @mogca_sl @stopfgm_fdn @GirlsNotBrides @borgenproject @Purposeful_org @L_A_W_Y_E_R_S_

In this my OpEd, I reflect on how a visit to ⁦@Tacugama⁩ Chimpanzee Sanctuary in 2018 rescued my own sense of hope after working with young survivors of sexual violence and why its imminent closure over land encroachment should alarm us all. @thealima/how-a-chimpanzee-sanctuary-helped-me-find-hope-and-why-we-must-save-it-3ae285698830?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwL-14FleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHp5V3k4sVx69dhdDOAQF5fMxr72MkKNXIbEKw3vEf91lH5WYYWUXXb4SV-hf_aem_h3bxJLuWWEsRe60UEpILDA" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">medium.com/@thealima/how-…

The Child Rights Act and Separation of Powers Last week, Parliament passed the long-awaited Child Rights Bill. It is yet to become law as the President has not yet assented the same. Despite many good provisions in the law, one of female genital cutting has ignited a storm of controversy. In response to widespread public debate and conflicting media reports, Parliament issued a disclaimer stating that the Act does not criminalise #FGM nor prescribe penalties for it. This clarification, however, has only deepened the controversy. The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone @HRCommissionSL has since voiced serious concern, urging the President to withhold assent and instead amend the legislation to provide stronger safeguards for underage girls. #SierraLeone’s legislative history is marked by a persistent tension between the defence of cultural traditions and the imperative to uphold human rights. The 2007 Child Rights Act sought to advance child protection but met with resistance from those defending deeply embedded social practices. The present situation mirrors this complex dynamic. This episode raises a fundamental issue - once a Bill is enacted by Parliament, its interpretation and application fall within the remit of the courts. It is not the role of the legislature to issue post-hoc disclaimers that muddy the legal waters. Such interventions risk undermining legal certainty and the principle of separation of powers. If assented by the President, Parliament must therefore allow the judicial process to take its course. It is the courts that are constitutionally empowered to determine the scope and effect of legislation. To ensure that our legal framework protects the rights of the most vulnerable, particularly children, political institutions must resist the temptation to override this process in pursuit of expedience. Only by upholding the rule of law and respecting institutional boundaries can we demonstrate our commitment to justice, human dignity, and the rights of all its citizens, especially our children. @mogca_sl @NotInMyNameSL @agirlatatime @lansana_i @MichaelBasita

🇸🇱 Sierra Leone’s children deserve safety! @ILRAJ2 CEO @MichaelBasita urges Parliament to pass the Child Rights Act, 2024! Protect our children from abuse, child marriage, & FGM. Reinstate protections against harmful practices for a safer future. 🇸🇱 #ChildRightsAct2024 #EndFGM #SierraLeone @julius_maadabio @FirstLadyBio @dsengeh @IsataMahoi @mogca_S_L @UNICEFSL @NotInMyNameSL @GMCEndFGM @ibarrie44