Mafory Bangoura

Mafory Bangoura, or Hadja Aissatou Mafory Bangoura (born circa 1910, died 1976 in Bucharest) was an activist for an independent Guinea, and post-independence a politician holding the post of Minister for Social Affairs in the 1970s.

Mafory Bangoura
Minister for Social Affairs
Appointed byAhmed Sékou Touré
Parliamentary groupDemocratic Party of Guinea

Biography

Bangoura was born in around 1910; her family were farmers and fishermen from the ethnic Soussou people.[1] She learnt to read and write as an adult, as she had not received a western education when she was young.[1]

Bangoura moved to Conakry in 1936 to work as a seamstress.[2] She joined the Foyer de la Basse Guinée, which was a mutual aid organisation for people from Lower Guinea.[2] She married Badara Bangoura and they had three children.[3]

Political career

Activism

The General Strike of 1953 was intended to force the French government to abide by the Overseas Labour Code, it was led by Ahmed Sékou Touré and he invited Bangoura to mobilise women workers.[1] At this meeting he made it clear that there was no profit, other than political and spiritual to be gained from supporting the cause.[4] She was friends with President Touré before and after Independence.[5] She led the presence of women at the strike committee meeting that followed, which was also the first time that women were allowed to be present, and spoke on the behalf of many women, saying they were ready to join the front line and fight for their beliefs.[2] The strike lasted 72 days and Bangoura gave speeches as well as organising women's participation.[6]

After the strike, Bangoura was elected to the African Democratic Rally (RDA) as president of the Women's Committee.[1] In 1954, during an RDA rally, Bangoura encouraged women across the country to go on sex strike.[1] The move was designed to encourage men to join the RDA.[7] She also encouraged women to sell jewellery and clothing to financially support members of the RDA.[1] It is said that Bangoura also designed the uniforms of the RDA and chose the white colour, which became their emblem.[8]

During this period, Bangoura also organised a 'popular militia' made up of women, who learned to handle weapons and attack their enemies.[1] The group was led by Bangoura and included other nationalists, such as: Nabya Haidara, Khady Bangoura, Aisata Bangoura, Mahawa Touré, Néné Soumah, and N'Youla Doumbouya.[9] They patrolled the neighbourhood of Sandervalia where Sékou Touré lived.[9] Eventually every major neighbourhood in Conakry had its own female militia.[9]

Bangoura was head of the Conkary Red Cross who provide first aid and home-care for all those who were injured during anti-colonialist demonstrations.[6]

Prison

Bangoura's influence on people in Guinea and the French colonial government tried to smear her reputation.[6] They accused her of sending an ant-French document to activists who were in prison.[6] She was fined 70,000 francs and in July 1955 sent to prison.[3] However, hundreds of women took to the streets demonstrating against this decision and she released after one month on 17 August.[3]

In Government

In post-independence Guinea, Bangoura held several government positions.[3] She became a leader of the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG) and a leading activist on women's rights in Guinea.[10] She was elected as one of the seventeen members of the RDA-PDG's political bureau, where she represented women's issues.[3]

In 1968 she was elected as the first president of the Union Révolutionnaires des Femmes de Guinée.[3] In 1971 she was appointed Minister for Social Affairs.[3] As well as representing people from Guinea on issues such as women's rights, Bangoura also shared representation of the geographical area of Conakry, Dubreka and Forecariah with colleagues - Lansana Beavogui and Saifoulaye Diallo.[11] She was known by many as 'The President of the Women of Guinea'.[5]

Bangoura died in 1976 in Bucharest.[3] Touré wrote a short biography of her, and description of her funeral later that year.[12]

Honours
  • Songs were composed and recorded, celebrating her and were recorded by the Syliphone record label, including pieces by: Emila Tompapa,[13] Syli Orchestre de Guinee,[14] Syli Authentic.[15]
  • In 1983 a high school was named after her: the College Hadja Mafory Bangoura.[3][16]
  • In 1981, Bangoura was featured on the one syli banknote.[17][18][19]
  • In 2018 she was named in a speech given by the prefect of Coyah, Dr Ibrahima Barboza Soumah, giving thanks for 60 years of independence.[20]
  • On 2 March 2019, prayers were said for Bangoura in mosques across country the country as part of Guinea's International Women's Day programme.[21]

References
  1. cirey.balde (2017-02-11). "Mafory Bangoura, mère-courage de la nation guinéenne". Vision Guinee (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  2. "Bangoura, Hadja Mafory | Oxford African American Studies Center". oxfordaasc.com. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.48360. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  3. Dictionary of African biography. Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku., Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2012. p. 376. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5. OCLC 706025122.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Schmidt, Elizabeth (2005). "Top Down or Bottom Up? Nationalist Mobilization Reconsidered, with Special Reference to Guinea (French West Africa)". The American Historical Review. 110 (4): 995. doi:10.1086/ahr.110.4.975. ISSN 0002-8762.
  5. aliou (2018-10-17). "Hadja Mafory Bangoura, Figure Emblématique de la lutte pour l'Indépendance". Madina Men Magazine (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  6. "Mafory Bangoura, militante de l'indépendance". L'Histoire par les femmes (in French). 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  7. Women in African colonial histories. Geiger, Susan., Musisi, Nakanyike., Allman, Jean Marie. Bloomington. April 2002. p. 295. ISBN 0-253-10887-X. OCLC 50174773.CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. Schmidt, Elizabeth (2005). "Top Down or Bottom Up? Nationalist Mobilization Reconsidered, with Special Reference to Guinea (French West Africa)". The American Historical Review. 110 (4): 1007. doi:10.1086/ahr.110.4.975. ISSN 0002-8762.
  9. Women in African colonial histories. Geiger, Susan., Musisi, Nakanyike., Allman, Jean Marie. Bloomington. April 2002. p. 291. ISBN 0-253-10887-X. OCLC 50174773.CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. Sheldon, Kathleen E., 1952- (2005). Historical dictionary of women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 28. ISBN 0-8108-5331-0. OCLC 56967121.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. Translations on Sub-Saharan Africa, Issues 1176-1181. United States. Joint Publications Research Service. 1972. Page 7.
  12. Touré, Ahmed Sékou (1976). Hommage a Mafory Bangoura (in French). Imprimerie nationale "Patrice Lumumba".
  13. "Mafory Bangura - Syliphone record label recordings from Guinea - World and traditional music | British Library - Sounds". sounds.bl.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  14. "Mafory Bangoura - Syliphone record label recordings from Guinea - World and traditional music | British Library - Sounds". sounds.bl.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  15. "Mafory Bangoura - Syliphone record label recordings from Guinea - World and traditional music | British Library - Sounds". sounds.bl.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  16. Kérékou, Mathieu (1987). Dans la voie de l'édification du socialisme: recueil des discours de notre grand camarade de lutte, le président Kérékou (in French). Direction de l'information et de la Propagande, société Yagoubi (SOYA).
  17. "Banknotes from Guinea | BankNoteBank.com Banknote Collectors Community | Page 1". www.banknotebank.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  18. "Women On Banknotes - Coin Community Forum - Page 26". www.coincommunity.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  19. "The Ibrahim Salem Collection of African Banknotes 2". Issuu. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  20. Guineematin (2018-10-02). "02 octobre à Coyah : le préfet appelle " leaders politiques et militants à faire preuve de maturité "". Guinée Matin - Les Nouvelles de la Guinée profonde (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  21. Diallo, Elhadj Aboubacar. "Conakry : les femmes rendent hommage à Hadja Mafory Bangoura. | Radio-kankan" (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-12.
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