By Ahmed Sahid Nasralla (De Monk)
As celebrations of International Women’s Day continue after March 8th, Sierra Leonean women and girls can draw a lot of inspiration from their history.
Historically, the country’s women contributed hugely to the political, socio-economic, educational, and civil rights development of the nation.From Madam Lehbu, who became Queen of Upper Gaura in 1891 following the establishment of the Province of Freedom in 1787 (what is now known as Freetown); the Sherbro Queen Yamacouba, who was a signatory to the treaty of 1787 which ceded the land to the British; Madam Yoko, the powerful Queen of Kpaa Mende Seneghum; the contribution of Hannah Benka-Coker to education; Lati Hyde-Forster, the first woman to graduate from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, with a doctor of civil laws degree; the role of Betsy Carew to commerce in the 1830s; Adelaide Casely-Hayford, one of the pioneers of women’s rights in Freetown and who founded the ‘Girls Industrial and Technical Training School’ with the aim to make women economically self-reliant; to Constance Cummings-John, the first elected woman Mayor in Africa and Frances Wright, the first female lawyer in Sierra Leone, who later became magistrate, legal adviser to the British High Commission in Freetown and a champion of women’s rights, to name but a few.PresentIn succeeding decades Sierra Leone women have built strong pillars on this foundation with many now excelling in governance and politics, the civil service, the private sector, academia, arts and entertainment, and more.