Mohamed Mustapha, an 18-year-old bisexual man whose whereabouts are now unknown, saw his life change the moment his private truth was made public. He has since fled to an undisclosed location after being exposed first in Sierra Leone and later in The Gambia.
After the death of his aunt in 2008, he lost his main source of support and survived by assisting neighbors with household chores. Life on the streets was difficult, and for a time he stayed with a friend, Moses, who identified as gay and introduced him to bisexuality. While living in the Kissy community in Freetown, Mohamed endured repeated attacks and insults, particularly while he was practicing football, before eventually fleeing. A friend later told This Day that he had once warned Mohamed that he foresaw something about him, and also recalled witnessing an incident many years ago when his safety was openly threatened.
In Sierra Leone, it was his own girlfriend who revealed that he had also been involved with men. “It spread so fast,” one of his friends, Osman recalled. “One moment he was just living, the next he was being looked at like a criminal.” The revelation cost him friendships, family support, and ultimately, his safety.
Hoping to find refuge, Mohamed crossed into The Gambia. But there, too, his secret was uncovered. This time it was a friend’s girlfriend who caught him in a compromising situation and raised the alarm. The whispers became shouting, then threats. It was like reliving the nightmare all over again.
The fallout turned deadly. Mohamed was caught with his close friend, Alimamy Kamara, during their escape in The Gambia. Alimamy did not survive. “But Mohamed narrowly escaped death,” Osman said quietly, describing how he ran while his friend was left behind. Since then, he has lived without support, often on the streets, struggling daily for food and safety.
Alimamy’s death underscores the ultimate cost of silence and stigma. For LGBTQ+ people in West Africa, the threat is not just imprisonment but also mob violence, abandonment, and death itself.
Both Sierra Leone and The Gambia maintain strict anti-LGBTQ+ laws. In Sierra Leone, colonial-era statutes against “buggery” remain punishable by up to life imprisonment. In The Gambia, the law goes further—“aggravated homosexuality” carries a potential life sentence. While prosecutions vary, human rights advocates warn that exposure itself often unleashes the harshest punishment: public shaming, blackmail, and violence.
The danger is not limited to these two countries. In Nigeria, the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act carries sentences of up to 14 years, while vigilante attacks often go unpunished. In Ghana, proposed anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has sparked international alarm, with activists warning it will intensify harassment. Even in Liberia, where prosecutions are rare, stigma is so widespread that many LGBTQ+ people live in secrecy or exile. Across the region, few safe havens exist.
Advocates also note that bisexual people face a distinct form of persecution. “They are stigmatized for their relationships with men while also being erased or disbelieved when they are with women,” Alpha Kamara, a regional LGBQT activist said “That double burden makes them especially vulnerable.”
Now in hiding, Osman reflects on what Mohamed has lost and what remains. “He didn’t choose to be bisexual,” he said. “He only wanted to live honestly. But in both Sierra Leone and The Gambia, honesty became a death sentence.”
