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Ahead of elections in June, women in politics speak out about refusing to be silenced despite the abuse and intimidation they face
Haja Yapate Sankoh, Salamatu Baba Kamara, Onita Mariatu Koroma and Zainab Mariama Fofaneh from the Port Loko District in Sierra Leone are running for councillor positions in the June 2023 local elections. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
When Emilia Lolloh Tongi decided to become the first woman in Sierra Leone to stand as an independent Member of Parliament (MP) in the 2018 general election, she knew it would be tough.
“It was damn difficult,” Tongi says from the foyer of Sierra Leone’s House of Parliament in the capital city of Freetown. “I really went through hell to get to where I am today.”
Emilia Lolloh Tongi, became the first woman in Sierra Leone to stand as an independent MP in the 2018 general election. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
For the 2018 election campaign – despite being the most popular candidate in her constituency – Tongi says her party, the Sierra Leone People’s party (SLPP), chose a man to run for the position of MP. So, she decided to run as an independent.
“Politics in Sierra Leone can be violent and I was very fearful in the run up to the 2018 election.”
“When I decided I would run for MP as an independent, I was intimated and met with violence by supporters of rival candidates. My house was broken into, stones were raining into my house, people close to me were badly wounded. As the elections got closer, I slept in the police station for protection.”
Tongi is running for MP with the ruling SLPP party in the general election on June 24th. She hopes a new groundbreaking Gender Equality Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act will break through some of the barriers women face in politics.
In November 2022, the GEWE Act was passed, stating that 30 percent of candidates on party ballots must be women in local and national elections. Currently, just 13 percent of politicians in parliament in Sierra Leone are women. Local and national elections are to be held in Sierra Leone in June 2023.
Veronica Sesay, SLPP MP and Chair of the Women’s Caucus in Sierra Leone’s Parliament with the GEWE ACT 2023. Ms Sesay was instrumental in the passing of the Act. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
The Act also provided for access by women to finance, extended maternity leave, equal pay and stipulated a 30 percent female quota of staff in private companies with more than 25 employees.
Signing the bill into law, President Julius Maada Bio said: “Empowering women is essential to the health and social development of families, communities and countries. Women can reach their full potential when they live safe, fulfilled, productive lives. The future of Sierra Leone is female.”
The Act has been hailed by campaigners as “monumental” for the women of Sierra Leone who are routinely discriminated against and at risk of gender-based violence. Sierra Leone was ranked 182nd out of 189 countries on the UN’s 2020 Gender Development Index. One in 20 Sierra Leonean women will die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, according to the UN.
Emilia Kamara Jengo, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Trócaire partner Women’s Forum for Human Rights and Democracy (WOFHRAD), says the GEWE Act will get more women into politics.
Trócaire partners Mariama Alice Kamara, Project Officer at NMJD and Emilia Kamara Jengo, Executive Director and Co-Founder of WOFHRAD. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
With funding from Irish Aid, Trócaire and partners (Campaign for Good Governance, Association for the Wellbeing of Rural Communities and Development, Women’s Forum for Human Rights and Democracy, Social Enterprise Development, Network Movement for Justice and Development) have been campaigning for the passing of the GEWE Act for the past four years and have worked closely with members of parliament to draft the law.
The organisations also trained women to become empowered and know their political rights and developed an election manifesto to support women who are running for election.
“The GEWE Act will succeed in getting more women into politics because it is law. It is in black and white that 30 percent of all seats should go to women,” Jengo says.
“We are seeing women who are teachers and nurses coming out in droves to help make their community better by focusing on roads, healthcare and poverty rates. The women of Sierra Leone are empowered. They are ready.”
Sudie Sellu, Trócaire’s Women’s Empowerment Officer in Sierra Leone says that while women are putting themselves forward for election, they may not be elected.
“The election will be based on proportional representation for the first time since 1996. The Act only makes it mandatory for political parties to nominate a female candidate, not to choose one. We need nominations that will end up winning.”
Hawa Dumbuya (51), a teacher from the rural district of Kambia in northern Sierra Leone is hoping the GEWE Act will remove the barriers to her becoming the first female MP in her district. In 2004, Dumbuya was elected as the first female councillor in her district, and she was re-elected three times.
Isata Sesay, Hawa Dumbuya and Menunata Nallo from Kambia District in Sierra Leone who are running for political positions in the June 2023 election. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
“When I became the first female councillor in my area, it was just me at the table with the men. The GEWE act will now state that seven of the 23 positions in my council will have to go to women. That is game changing for the women of Sierra Leone.”
Dumbuya says her district is very patriarchal and women are forbidden from attending many political spaces.
“It was very challenging,” Dumbuya says. “There are many barriers for women such as deeply embedded gender norms, lack of funding and an exclusion from political spaces.”
“Our biggest barrier in politics is the men. The GEWE Act is about bringing the men and the women to the same space where they are equal and they make decisions together. When I was the only woman at the table, it was very hard to have a voice. I was marginalised and intimated by my male colleagues. With training from Trócaire and partner ABC, I know my political rights and have developed a thick skin to take on the men.”
Menunata Nallo (51), who is aspiring to be one of those seven women who will be legally entitled to taking up a position on the Kambia District council, says she hopes the GEWE bill will force men in her party (SLPP) to cease intimidation tactics.
“I was told by male colleagues that I shouldn’t speak at rallies because I am a woman and so I don’t have the knowledge. When I posted my election posters, men in my party tore them down and created violence when I tried to canvass. It is changing now with the GEWE Act, I am now being invited to speak at rallies,” Nallo says.
Kamara Hajaratu (40) a councillor and teacher in the Port Loko district says she faced a lot of sexual harassment from her male colleagues.
“It’s a big problem,” Hajaratu says. “Male colleagues will say that I’m bluffing, I’m all talk. They’ll say I must do something for them in return for getting ahead in politics.”
“Male councillors ask you to make love to them. They will constantly call you and ask you how you are doing. It’s too much attention, it’s distracting and puts you under a lot of pressure. It’s not easy.”
Salamatu Osmatu Koroma, Mary Tarawalie, Alimatu H Kamara, Marion Fola Musu Kamara, Momunatu Fousad Kamara who are running for election in June 2023 in Western Area Rural, Sierra Leone. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
In the rural area of Karene district in the North West Province of Sierra Leone, Inaina Tina Bangura (56) who is also running for MP knows the challenges of male intimidation all too well.
“In Karene, there are still cultural beliefs that women are inferior to men. As a woman and teacher, I am always with the community, I know much better than the male candidates what is good for my community,” Bangura says.
“When I ran for deputy chairperson of my council, my male colleagues dumped my voting cards in the toilet. What chance did I have if I couldn’t even give my voting cards to my constituents?”
Mary Tarawalie (blue) who is running for election in June 2023 at a community collection centre in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Photo: Tolu J. Bade/Trócaire
Dumbuya adds that she hopes women who are now vying for political positions will not have to face what she and her colleagues did.
“Even now, men in my party aren’t intimidating me as much. The women of Sierra Leone are ready and proud to take up seats in parliament. Our main problem now is money for our campaigns. But we are going to do it. I’m going to continue being a trail blazer for my district. I won’t stop at MP, I want to be the first female president of Sierra Leone,” Dumbuya says.
