Did we correctly hear that a Mandingo woman was preparing soup with human feces? How could anyone do this and how could anyone believe that someone could do this? First, we thought it was just a mere rumor but we realized that some people really believed and spread such baseless rumors that a lady by the name of Kadiatu Kamara cooked soup with human feces and sold it to her customers. As a result, she was physically assaulted. Come to find out it was a made-up story. It was a malicious lie spread about a hardworking lady who wakes up every day to cook and serve rice with varieties of soups. Instead of begging others to survive, she is working tirelessly every day to support herself and her family. Who will go against such a hardworking person? You may not like the taste of her food and decide not to buy from her but to lie about her food and assault her was completely wrong. What is even more disturbing is the tribal hatred that was displayed in the case. This tribal hatred motivated those who assaulted her. Without finding out the fact, these individuals attacked the lady simply because of her ethnicity.
It is one thing to spread such a negative rumor about someone but to believe that someone could do this is very troubling. To think that someone could believe this phony story and attack the lady for it shows how hateful some can be in our society towards others for reasons based on nothing other than tribal hatred. In the case of Kadiatu Kamara, that's what we see. It was stated clearly that a "Mandingo woman was caught for selling 'pupu soup' to people." This is a very serious allegation. No one in his right mind will ever play with human feces, much less to talk about preparing soup with it to sell to unsuspecting customers. It is very sickening that such hateful rumore could only be motivated by tribal sentiment.
If we must move forward as a people and nation, we must rid ourselves of the deeply rooted tribal hatred in our country. This tribal hatred motivated a lot of violence during the war. Neighbors attacked neighbors. Neighbors killed neighbors, The country was set on fire which consumed so many that should have been alive today. Many of these people met their untimely death due to tribal hate motivated violence. More than 20 years since the end of that war, one would think that we are building a new society in which everyone feels belonged and welcomed. Incidents like the attack on Kadiatu Kamara quickly remind us that the dark cloud of the civil war is still hanging over us. Yes, competing political interests might have pushed us to war, but tribal hatred played a major role. While there are efforts being made to move on politically with the vibrant political culture of multi-party democracy, there are those whose appetite for tribal hatred is yet to be satisfied. Such a virulent tribal animosity will not transform the lives of our people. Society moves forward in development and progress when we accept each other and work together as one people. We cannot build this country if we keep holding tribal hatred against one another.
It is our hope that those who attacked Kadiatu Kamara will face the full weight of the law for their unwarranted hateful action. There should be no place for such a tribal attack against anyone. Let tribal hate be a thing of the past while we forge ahead with development and progress.
