By Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara (JFK)
Freetown, April 2026- Morkor (or Morko) is a Themne word referring to a form of oath taking that involves eating raw meat as a pledge of irrevocable allegiance to an electoral candidate. It is a belief system in which the taker is said to suffer harm or death if they break their oath when voting.
Historically, Morkor was practiced mainly in chieftaincy elections. However, in recent times, it has become widely used in almost all types of elections for public office.
Fresh raw meat, seen as pure and undiluted, symbolizes a self curse. By consuming it, the oath taker essentially declares: “May I suffer a violent or unnatural death (like a butchered animal), be struck by disease, or meet an untimely end if I am lying.” This practice appears in various traditional and tribal cultures, where oaths are regarded as spiritually binding contracts with tangible, gruesome consequences.
Why would candidates resort to such a gruesome practice? The primary reason is the need to secure absolute loyalty from voters. Political practitioners who rely on Morkor often lack a compelling message or a record of good works to earn voter support on merit.
In Sierra Leone, as elsewhere, the monetization of elections is common. Heavy investment in vote buying, it is believed, can only yield returns if Morkor serves as a collateral guarantee.
How effective is Morkor in practice?Traditionally, the fear of supernatural consequences ensured compliance. Many chiefs, members of parliament, and perhaps even presidents may have benefited from Morkor at some point. However, in today’s generation, I strongly doubt its power or influence. As we say in Krio: “Dog eye dae run blood”, meaning these are desperate times, and people will engage in unusual behavior to make a living, without caring much about superstition.
Moreover, there is no verifiable truth in the Morkor phenomenon. Illness does not correlate with honesty. An honest person may fall sick, while a liar may remain healthy, rendering the supposed curse arbitrary and ineffective. There is no proven mechanism linking the eating of raw meat to divine or cosmic punishment for lying. A liar who does not believe in supernatural consequences faces no real barrier, while a truthful but superstitious person endangers themselves needlessly. Any subsequent misfortune is merely coincidental, not causal.
From a health perspective, eating raw meat, especially from unknown sources, carries serious risks. It can contain bacteria such as Salmonella or E. coli, as well as parasites. Ingesting it risks food poisoning, infections, or long-term illness, thereby undermining the oath’s solemnity with avoidable harm.
While Morkor may have historical or tribal logic as a dramatic self curse, it is ethically problematic, medically hazardous, and logically unsound as a method of verifying truth or compelling allegiance.
As modern politicians, let us focus on issues and offer a clear message to our people. The health of our people is the true wealth of the nation. Let us abandon harmful rituals and instead build a democracy based on accountability, ideas, and trust.
