-Amid Death Threats
MONROVIA, Liberia – Melvin P. Tamba, a Liberian activist campaigning against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and the practices of the secretive Poro and Sande societies, has been driven into hiding and is now publicly appealing for international refuge and protection. His desperate plea follows a sustained campaign of death threats, physical assault, and torture allegedly orchestrated by traditional leaders in Nimba County, culminating in the recent death of a family member he believes was targeted due to his advocacy.
The situation underscores the extreme perils faced by human rights defenders in Liberia, where deeply entrenched cultural practices collide with a growing movement to outlaw gender-based violence. Tamba’s case emerges amid intensified national debate and stalled legislative action on a bill to permanently ban FGM and other harmful traditional practices.
The advocate’s ordeal escalated dramatically on April 11, 2025, when his nine-year-old daughter, Sandra Kumba Tamba, was forcibly abducted. The child was reportedly taken from Gbellie Town, Lao Clan, in Nimba County, where she was visiting her aunt for the Easter vacation, and detained within a Sande society bush school. “My daughter was forcibly taken away without my consent for the purpose of ritual traditional practice,” Tamba stated in an interview conducted prior to his disappearance.
In response, Tamba engaged in a two-day mediation effort with traditional elders and Zoes—the leaders of the Sande society—to secure his daughter’s release. Instead of achieving a resolution, he was himself arrested by the Zoes. They charged him with violating traditional customary laws, asserting that his public awareness campaigns constituted a taboo against speaking openly about their practices.
Tamba provided a harrowing account of his detention. “I spent three days in detention while there I was intimidated, tortured, and even beaten overnight,” he recounted. “At some point in time they used a hot metal iron and applied it on my right foot that developed into a burn wound with a visible scar.” He confirmed receiving subsequent treatment for the injury at the Redemption Hospital in Monrovia.
Following his release, the traditional leaders imposed a severe mandate upon him. He was ordered to provide two living goats and four chickens to perform ritual ceremonies before the end of 2025. He was explicitly warned that failure to comply would result in “traditional customary measures and consequences,” which he said included restrictions on his freedom and economic opportunities, and the potential for madness or death, all designed to silence his advocacy.
Fearing for his life and citing a lack of protection from local authorities, Tamba fled his home in Nimba County for the relative anonymity of Monrovia. However, the threats pursued him. “While in Monrovia I begin to receive death threats through phone calls,” he said, also describing disturbing bad dreams and strange nocturnal occurrences that left him feeling unwell, which he attributes to the spiritual threats made against him.
The campaign of intimidation took a fatal turn on September 2, 2025, with the death of Tamba’s 35-year-old nephew, Saye Konah. According to Tamba, Konah, who lived with the family in Ganta, Nimba County, was reported missing and was later found dead in the bush. Tamba believes his nephew was killed for also opposing traditional laws. The Zoes reportedly buried Konah without notifying or allowing the presence of any family members.
This tragic event precipitated the family’s final flight. The situation, Tamba explained, “caused fear and panic, physical and psychological trauma for the family and has made us to live in constant state of fear,” compelling them to relocate to TUO, a town in Guinea bordering Liberia. He expressed profound worry for their safety and well-being in a foreign country, noting that his daughter was only released to her grandmother after a week of tense negotiations.
Tamba’s advocacy is rooted in personal experience. He became a renowned and robust anti-FGM campaigner after converting to Christianity, an awakening prompted by his own traumatic initiation into the Poro society at the age of 14 in Foya, Lofa County. In his community campaigns, he often shares that he lost a childhood friend who fell ill and died due to harmful traditional practices and was buried without his parents present.
His current plight coincides with a critical juncture in Liberia’s legislative process. In April 2025, the Ministry of Internal Affairs temporarily prohibited the operation of bush schools until January 2026. Later, President Joseph Boakai, at the U.N. General Assembly, pledged to permanently ban the practice. In fulfillment of that promise, a bill to ban harmful traditional practices, including FGM and child marriage, was submitted to the House of Representatives.
However, the legislative path has been delayed. After a joint committee concluded its review, the plenary of the House voted on Tuesday to send the draft bill to all 73 electoral districts for nationwide citizen engagement, a process that will postpone a final decision for months. The House stated this move was to balance “human rights, cultural considerations, and national development priorities.”
This delay occurs against a stark backdrop. A 2024 survey by the Liberia Demographic and Health Survey (LDHS) found that nearly 40% of Liberian women aged 15–49 have undergone FGM, with rates exceeding 60% in rural areas. While a permanent moratorium was declared by the National Council of Chiefs and Elders in February 2023, the absence of a formal law criminalizing FGM has resulted in weak and inconsistent enforcement.
Now in hiding and separated from his family, Melvin Tamba makes a direct appeal to the international community. “Given these circumstances and with no protection… I decided to escape from Liberia to protect my life from traditional customary persecution and death threat,” he said. “Now, I am seeking refugee and protection.”
