House Cites Min. Sieh to Explain Media Coverage On Sande Society

The Informer (Monrovia)

Roland Perry

19 April 2011

The House of Representatives has invited the Minister of Information, Cletus Sieh to appear before that body on 26 April to show cause why he should not be held in contempt, for allowing the constant media publication on the Sande society of Liberia.

The House took the decision to invite the Minister last Tuesday following the publication of some Sande girls who had just graduated from that secret society in Bong County in the FrontPage Africa Newspaper.

During the debate, several lawmakers frowned on the FrontPage Africa Newspaper for the publication describing it as an affront to the cultural heritage of the country.

Some of the lawmakers said, the constant publication on the Sande society of Liberia is the work of some international non-governmental organizations in the country, whose intentions are to destroy the culture of the Liberian people, which they said has been in existence for many decades.

According to the Tuesday, April 12, 2011 publication in the Frontpage Newspaper column “Spot News” girls as young as eight years old were being initiated into the society in Bong County. The photo which showed the young graduates from the Sande society did not go down well with some to the lawmakers in the House of Representatives.

It is a taboo in Liberia for a non-member of the Sande and Poro societies to speak about issue or rituals being performed. But in recent time, many countries mainly western nations have come against the traditional practices.

In some counties, female students are being taken out of school to be initiated into the Sande society. Some time ago, this paper reported that in Gbarpolu County, many female students were taken out of school and initiated into the society.

It is unclear what exactly Min. Sieh is going tell members of the House of Representatives on the latest publication on the Sande society in the country. But what ever the case may be, the Ministry of Information which is the regulatory agency for media entities in the country needs to put in place steps that will curtail such practices.

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