By Ibrahim Sesay
KONO DISTRICT, SIERRA LEONE – For four long years, the forests and chiefdoms of Kono have echoed with whispered questions: Where is Ahmed Sillah.? The hunt for Ahmed, the eldest son of Kandeh Sheku Sillah a prominent ring leader of the Poro Society, has become a legend—a cautionary tale weaving together family betrayal, sacred tradition, and a fortune in uncut diamonds. But unlike a folk story, the search is very real. And it continues with relentless intensity.
Ahmed vanished on the eve of his initiation into the Poro society, the ancient all-male secret society that serves as the spiritual and judicial backbone of many communities in Sierra Leone and neighboring Liberia. The ceremony, planned in a remote section of Koidu town, Kono district, was meant to mark his passage into manhood and leadership. Instead, it triggered a family catastrophe.
According to a family elder and also a member of the Poro society who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ahmed fled the night before the rites began. He did not go alone. “He took what does not belong to him,” he said, his voice low. “My brother had kept a parcel of rough diamonds—a small fortune, enough to secure the family’s future. Ahmed unlocked the safe, took the diamonds, and disappeared into a thin air.”
The motive, insiders claim, was not only greed, but also fear. “He saw the Poro as a threat to his modern life,” another relative explained. “He had lived in Freetown, watched foreign films, listened to preachers. He told his mother that he would not be ‘buried in the bush’ or ‘cut by spirits.’ As the firstborn, he had no choice. So he made a choice we cannot forgive: he ran, and he stole.”
The loss of the diamonds is devastating to the family. But for the community, the deeper wound is the rupture of sacred tradition. The Poro society, whose rites are inviolable, has placed a spiritual and communal decree on Ahmed’s head. His abandonment is not merely a family matter—it is an affront to centuries of custom. Members of the Poro from across Kono and beyond have joined the search, operating through quiet networks that extend to Freetown, Kenema, and even across the Guinean border.
“Ahmed has not escaped,” said a an elderly Poro society member, his face unreadable. “He has postponed the inevitable. A man cannot run from what makes him a man. The diamonds are a loss. But dishonor is a wound we must heal.”
The father, Chief Kandeh Sheku Sillah has offered a reward—its exact amount undisclosed—for information leading to Ahmed’s location, though he has stressed that he want his son alive. “I want my son back. I want my diamonds back. And I want him to complete the ceremony and take my place,” his father was quoted as saying during a recent community meeting, though he has since refused further comment.
So far, leads have turned cold. Ahmed was reportedly spotted in Bo in 2022, wearing a preacher’s robe and traveling with a Muslim cleric. Another sighting placed him in a madrassa in Conakry. Some believe he has fled to Europe, using the diamonds to buy a new identity. Others say he never left Sierra Leone, hiding in plain sight among communities that do not honor the Poro.
The cleric who now accompanies Ahmed—or who sheltered him—has also become a target of the hunt. “This man knows the sacred law is not his to interfere with,” the Poro elder said. “He has hidden a fugitive not only from family but from tradition. That carries consequences.”
For the wider community, the case of Ahmed has sparked uncomfortable conversations. In ‘atire’ bases and market places in Koidu City, some whisper sympathy for the young man. “Maybe he didn’t want the scars. Maybe he feared the bush,” said a young trader, quickly lowering his voice. “But he should have refused with honor, not with theft. Now he can never come back.”
Others are less forgiving. “Four years of searching. Four years of shame on our family name,” said a brother who refused to give his name. “If he is with a Muslim cleric, let that cleric know: Ahmed is not a convert seeking peace. He is a thief hiding behind prayer.”
As the dry season ends and the rainy season begins, the search parties will continue their quiet work—knocking on doors, scanning border crossings, paying for whispers. The Poro does not forget. And a father, now aging, still awaits.
“I want to see my son before I die, he is my heir” the father reportedly said to a close confidant. “Even if he has spent the diamonds. Let him come back. I want him to look me in the eye.”
But for Ahmed—wherever he is, under whatever name—the weight of four years must be heavy. On the run from a family, a secret society, and the echo of his own choice.
The hunt continues.
— End of article —
