Prince Fornah is a Sierra Leone musician and recording artist based in the United States of America.
He hails from the Tonkolili district, north of Sierra Leone and is a proud member of the powerful Poro secret society of Sierra Leone.
The Poro, or Purrah or Purroh, is a secret society of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
Only males are admitted to its ranks, but two other affiliated and secret associations exist, the Yassi (Liberia) and the Bondo, the first of which is nominally reserved for females, but members of the Poro are admitted to certain ceremonies. All the female members of the Yassi must be also members of the Bondo, which is strictly reserved for women.
Of the three, the Poro is by far the most important. The entire native population is governed by its code of laws. It primarily represents a type of fraternal society to which even infants are temporarily admitted.
Boys join it at puberty, and it is practically the native governing body, making laws, deciding on war and peace, etc. In Liberia, the female equivalent of the Poro is the Sande or Bondo society.
Details about the Poro are scarce, due to an oath of secrecy. It meets usually in the dry season. The rendezvous is in the bush. Most of what is written about the the Poro society, usually by Western scholars, is arrant nonsense and fabrications.
The Poro can place its taboo on anything or anybody; no native would venture to defy its order. It is still the unofficial governing body in many parts of rural Sierra Leone and Liberia despite centuries of Western and Arab cultural imperialism and attacks.
The Poro society played a significant role during the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia, protecting towns and villages under its traditional jurisdiction. Its members quickly organized themselves into civil militias, fighting alongside government forces against the rebels.
Here is Prince Fornah singing what he calls the" Poro Anthem."
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