Research on Sierra Leone and the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002)

Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002)

Sierra Leone received its independence from the UK in 1961. On March 23, 1991, the Sierra Leone Civil War began when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), intervened in Sierra Leone in an effort to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. In September 1991, after the start of the Sierra Leone Civil War, Momoh ushered in a new constitution, providing for a multi-party state and ending the single party rule Siaka Stevens started in the 1970s. Momoh also played a large part in dissolving tribalism. Efforts to reform came too late to rescue Sierra Leone from chaos and Momoh was overthrown in a military coup staged in April, 1992 and spent the last years of his life as a guest of the military government in neighboring Guinea, where he died in exile in 2003.

Early within his rule, Momoh declared a state of economic emergency; this granted himself more control over Sierra Leone’s economy. At this point he was still not considered a dictator. Momoh’s people considered him far too weak and inattentive to the issues of the country and he too often allowed his corrupt advisors to manipulate matters behind the public eye. The economy of Sierra Leone steadily crumbled underneath Momoh's rule, causing the country's currency value to disintegrate. Sierra Leone’s economy dipped so low that it reached the point where they could no longer afford to import fuel oil and gasoline, the country had to go without electricity for months. Although Sierra Leone benefitted from ample amounts of natural resources including diamonds, gold, bauxite, rutile, iron ore, fish, coffee, and cocoa, by 1991, Sierra Leone was ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world. 

Within the first year of the civil war, the RUF took control of a large amount of territory in eastern and southern Sierra Leone, these areas were rich in alluvial diamonds. The government had and ineffective response to the RUF, which caused a large disruption in the government diamond production. This precipitated a military coup d'état in April 1992 by the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). By the end of 1993, the Sierra Leone Army (SLA) had succeeded in pushing the RUF rebels back to the Liberian border, but the RUF recovered and fighting continued. In March 1995, Executive Outcomes (EO), a South Africa-based private military company, was hired to extinguish the RUF. Sierra Leone installed an elected civilian government in March 1996, and the retreating RUF signed the Abidjan Peace Accord. Under UN pressure, the government terminated its contract with EO before the accord could be implemented, and hostilities recommenced. 

The entire war seemed to be dishonest, indistinguishable and no one was sure whom to trust. The SLA soldiers and government leaders were brutal and pitiless. Tows of people were transported to concentration camps. Civilians turned against the SLA and joined a rebel cause. Some soldiers chose to join a team called the “Sobels”, which stood for “soldiers by day, rebels by night”. By 1993 the forces became indistinguishable which side was which and who was apart of what. 

Finally, the Kamajors came into play and civilians trusted them. Their duties were to protect civilians and their family and homes. The Kamajors were against the government and ended up winning causing the people to join their side. This quickly lead to corruption and murder. With war continuing on top of an economy that had already been digging a hole, the government was unable to pay both its civil servants and SLA. With senior government officials neglectful of the conditions faced by SLA soldiers, front line soldiers became resentful of their poor conditions and began helping themselves to Sierra Leone’s rich natural resources. This included alluvial diamonds as well as looting and ‘sell game’, a tactic in which government forces would withdraw from a town but not before leaving arms and ammunition for the roving rebels in return for cash. 

On 18 January 2002, President Kabbah declared the Sierra Leone Civil War over.

A wave of looting, rape, and murder followed the announcement. Reflecting international dismay at the overturning of the civilian government, ECOMOG forces intervened and retook Freetown on behalf of the government, but they found the outlying regions more difficult to soothe. Several factors led to the end of the civil war. One factor was that the government demanded that the government of Liberia expel all RUF members, end their financial support of the RUF, and halt the illegal diamond trade. The Kamajors felt less threatened and quit fighting the SLA’s. 

The civil war lasted 11 years, shrouded the country, and left over 50,000 dead.

In November 2012, the first national and local elections following the end of the civil war were held without UN oversight. This marked another milestone in Sierra Leone's road to recovery from its devastating civil war. Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture has started to encourage the farmers of Sierra Leone to form collectives and establish business centers surrounding around agribusiness across the country. This would boost the agricultural market of Sierra Leone and loosen the reigns of the economy’s dependency on the diamond industry.