SACRED DAY, SLOW GROWTH: WHY FRIDAY OPEN-AIR-MARKET (LUMA) GROUNDS LAG BEHIND IN SIERRA LEONE_ BY SAGEBOY ABDULAI FAHBUNDEH

Pendembu has a long term geographical history, and seeing there still backward has forcefully dragged its natives into asking: “Why is our town still backward”, “are we still in the dark ages”, or “are our leaders and well-to-dos not sensing this reality”? Withal, do you really think the above postulates, in question, are those which are causatives of the town’s developmental inability or disability? No! 

We are no longer in the dark ages, and our leaders are still fighting very hard. But there’s one thing that they need to reconsider: that Friday, among other days, should be exempted from being chosen as a day for the periodic open-air marking in Sierra Leone.

Issues around the slugging development of towns hosting Friday open-air periodic markets—locally known as a luma—often stems from a combination of cyclical calendar constraints, religious observances, and traditional trade patterns that restrict continuous economic productivity. That is that! Notably, Pendembu town in Upper Bambara Chiefdom — which is one of Kailahun District’s main urban centers has suffered this discontinuity in economic productivity and growth for decades as stated above. 

And not only Pendembu, but also several major towns across Sierra Leone including Madina, Tonko Limba Chiefdom; Gerihun, Baoma Chiefdom; Foredugu, Marampa Chiefdom; Kukuna, Bramaia Chiefdom — are all in sharp exemplification.

The Under-Mentioned Are the Various Ways in Which it Aids in Slowing Down Growth and Development:

RELIGIOUS EFFECTS:

1. The Friday Jumu'ah Impact: In Sierra Leone, Friday is a sacred day centered around afternoon congregational prayers (Jumu'ah). Choosing this day as a day for open-air marketing can lead to a reducing focus on prayerfulness and separation of mindsets and feelings of Muslims( men and women); as time for prayers is less regarded, Muslims may not be able to attend congregational prayers due to market concerns/pressures, and more. This can seriously bring about a challenge against God’s authority and instructions.

2. ⁠Interrupted Work Windows: Business operations, trading intensity, and travel logistics pause or slow down significantly for several hours around midday as some community members prioritize religious rites over commercial activities.

3. Shorter Effective Workdays: Unlike mid-week market days where trading can run uninterrupted from dawn until late evening, Friday schedules compress the peak economic window.

ECONOMICAL EFFECTS:

1. Lost Agricultural Labor: Friday falls right in the middle of the standard farming week. Pulling labor and attention away from fields, planting, or harvesting for a major market day reduces overall agrarian output.

2. The "One-Day Spike" Trap: Towns dependent on a single Friday luma experience a boom-and-bust cycle. Commerce surges for a few hours on Friday and flatlines for the remaining six days, failing to build a continuous, daily cash economy or permanent retail infrastructure.

3. Capital Immobility: Traders move cash and goods transiently from larger regional hubs rather than reinvesting profits locally into permanent banks, storage facilities, or processing enterprises. 

TRADITIONAL EFFECTS:

1. Historical Ancestral Calendars: Periodic market cycles were traditionally assigned by elders based on rotational inter-village agreements, spirit-pleasing days, or spacing out regional access so neighboring chiefdoms wouldn't clash. 

2. Inertia of Custom: Once a specific weekday like Friday was historically designated by past generations, communities rarely shifted it, even as surrounding infrastructural needs and transportation models modernized.

SOCIO-CULTURAL EFFECTS:

1. Socializing Over Structuring: For rural residents, the Friday luma functions primarily as a vital weekly social anchor—a place to meet relatives, settle communal disputes, arrange marriages, and enjoy local entertainment—rather than an aggressive corporate or municipal growth engine.

2. Delayed Modernization Focus: Communal energy on market days goes into hosting outsiders and managing temporary crowd control, leaving local leadership with little bandwidth, time, or unified vision to lobby for permanent developmental infrastructure like schools, health clinics, or all-weather roads.

All the above are prime factors which, I, Abdulai Fahbundeh, think are significantly contributing in pushing back the development and growth of every urban community practicing this system, and even the nation as a whole. 

National development comes via stages: from hamlets to villages, villages to towns, towns to cities, then the nation is prone to quick growth and development. Hey all, a nation having the finest capital when its protectorates are underdeveloped and unbearable places to live is a nation moving with neither purpose nor direction. The government needs to rectify this issue in time; otherwise the above religious, traditional, economical, and socio-cultural problems will continue living with us as a people.

© Sageboy Abdulai Fahbundeh

Rokel Village

Western Area Rural District 

Freetown, Sierra Leone.

034671445