Clan Chief suspended for Poro activities

Nimba County administration has with immediate effect, suspended Bain-Garr Chiefdom Clan Chief, Erick Dunkar, for three months without pay.

Speaking to The NewDawn correspondent in the county, Inspector Reginald Mehn said, Chief Dunkar’s suspension is predicated upon alleged acts incompatible with administrative norms, including authorization for the establishment of Poro Society activities in Garr Dingamon Town.

Poro Society is a traditional bush school where boys and young men are taught cultural values and manhood in preparation for marriage. Its female counterpart is the Sande Society.  

Inspector Mehn said, the establishment of the Poro Society in the town led school-age children to drop from school, especially during the outbreak of the deadly Ebola epidemic.

Meanwhile, Chief Dunkar has been ordered to turn over office along with all government properties in his possession to the headquarters for zone chief, Evelyn Johnson, who will act in the post, pending the end of the suspension.

The NewDawn correspondent says despite the Government of Liberia suspending all Poro and Sande activities across the country due to the Ebola crisis, the regulation is yet to be heeded in Nimba as school-going kids are being forcibly enrolled in the traditional school against formal education.

By Franklin Doloquee, Nimba