Nimba County’s traditional rulers, including chiefs and elders, have suspended all traditional activities in the county until after the elections, precisely by January 2024.
The local leaders took the decision recently, ahead of the start of campaigning for the Tuesday, October 10 Presidential and Legislative Elections, which is expected to be a tense affair.
According to the report, the suspension is intended to give politicians, or everyone, free movement, to have access to the voters while canvassing in rural communities in the county.
It said there are some rural communities in the county that respect their traditional norms or practices, therefore they do not allow strangers, including, but not limited to, politicians or journalists there.
According to the report, one such practice is when the Poro Masters are performing in those rural communities, no visitor or stranger is permitted, once you are not a resident of that village or town.
Besides Nimba, it is not yet known whether other counties will follow suit by suspending their traditional activities too until after the elections.
The voluntary suspension of traditional or secret society activities is understandable, as we do not want a repeat of the 2021 incident in Nimba County.
Then, Commissioner Yealue W. Yealue of Sanniquillie-Mahn Administrative District, was forced into the poro society against his will.
He was involuntarily enlisted into the society at the time by the poro master in Sehyikimpa Town, situated over 298 kilometers from Monrovia.
The Commissioner had gone to the town to inquire from chiefs in the area why they allowed the Poro Master out in the day, following the death of a prominent Zoe, traditionally known as “Nyan Gon-Gon.”
While doing his inquiry, the poro master was unleashed onto the town, causing the commissioner to flee to a house.
But he was later nabbed and forcefully initiated in the cult, much to his disappointment and dismay.
Traditional and cultural practices have long played an important role in Liberian society and continue to permeate many aspects of life in the country.
Liberia’s indigenous ethnic groups may be classified into three linguistic groups, all belonging to the Niger-Congo language family: the Mande, Kwa, and Mel (southern Atlantic).
The Mande are located in the northwest and central regions of Liberia and also in Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
Sande and Poro societies are found throughout Sierra Leone and Liberia, in parts of Guinea, and as Far East as the borders of the Ivory Coast.
Many different cultural groups, such as the Gola, Temne, Mende, Vai, Kpelle, Dei, and Bassa, belong to these associations.
The Sande and Poro societies are the trusted custodians of “culture’” in much of Liberia and have been present in the region for centuries.
These societies are traditionally believed to inculcate values and teach skills conducive to communal harmony and to prepare children for the rigors of adulthood.
