Sierra Leone

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Sierra Leone Summary

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Sierra Leone

Located on the west coast of Africa and bordered by Guinea to the northeast, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean on the southwest, Sierra Leone is roughly the size of South Carolina. The country's landmass of 71,740 square kilometers (27,700 square miles) encompasses rain forests, swamp land and semi-arid areas. Natural resources (diamond, gold, rutile, bauxite, and iron ore) are in abundance, and the country boasts one of the finest coastlines in West Africa and one of the deepest natural harbors in the world. A rainy season (May to October) and a dry season (November) are the country's two dominant weather patterns.

The country's population of 5 million is divided into sixteen ethnic groups, with the Mendes of the south and the Temnes of the north each accounting for roughly 30 percent of the population. Comprising less than 5 percent of the population, the Krios are concentrated in the western area, especially in Freetown and its mountain (Leicester, Gloucester, Regent, Bathurst, Charlotte) and peninsular districts (Goderich, York, Sussex, Kent, Waterloo). Krio, which also refers to the language of the Krios, is the country's lingua franca, or common language. Fifteen other languages are spoken besides Krio, with English serving as the official language. Thirty percent of Sierra Leoneans are Muslim, 20 percent are Christian, and the remainder adhere to indigenous religious beliefs and practices.

Sierra Leone was given its name by Portuguese explorers who "discovered" the country in 1462. Britain later colonized Sierra Leone, gradually extending imperial authority from the coastal enclave of Freetown to the interior. Independence came in 1961 under the leadership of Sir Milton Margai (1895–1964), the country's first prime minister, and the Sierra Leone's People's Party (SLPP). Operating within a constitutional democratic framework, Sierra Leone was a promising democracy in its first few years of independence, but this brief flirtation with democracy came to an abrupt end in 1967.

Milton Margai died in office in 1964 and was replaced by his half-brother, Albert Margai (1910–1980), as prime minister and leader of the SLPP. Albert Margai's refusal to accept defeat in the 1967 elections prompted the declaration of martial law by the army commander, Brigadier David Lansana. A countercoup a few days later resulted in the arrest of Lansana and his patron, Albert Margai. The leaders of this countercoup established the National Reformation Council (NRC) as the new governing authority, with Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith as chairman and head of state. A subsequent coup by noncommissioned officers of the Sierra Leone Army (SLA) removed Juxon-Smith and the NRC from power in 1968 and returned the country to constitutional rule under Siaka Stevens and the All People's Congress (APC), winners of the 1967 parliamentary elections.

(MAP BY MARYLAND CARTOGRAPHICS/THE GALE GROUP)

With Siaka Stevens at the helm (1968–1985), Sierra Leone became a republic in 1970 and a one-party state in 1978. Stevens retired from the presidency in 1985 but not before hand-picking his successor, Joseph Saidu Momoh, army commander at the time. Momoh was ousted from power in a coup led by junior officers of the armed forces in 1992. From 1992 to 1996 Sierra Leone was governed by the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC), which was headed first by Captain Valentine Strasser (1992–1996) and later Lieutenant Julius Maada Bio (1996). Bio and the NPRC transferred power to a democratically elected government in 1996 but this government, led by Ahmad Tejan Kabba, was overthrown fourteen months later by a combined force of renegade soldiers and rebel insurgents.

Led by Major Johnny Paul Koroma, a new governing body called the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) terrorized society for almost a year before it was violently dislodged from power by a West African intervention force led by Nigeria. This was followed by the reinstatement of President Kabba in March 1998. Kabba and the SLPP won a landslide victory in the 2002 presidential and parliamentary elections, receiving 70 percent and 67 percent, respectively, of the popular vote.

Despite its abundant natural resource base, Sierra Leone consistently ranks among the poorest countries in the world, with four-fifths of the population living in absolute poverty. Only 34 percent of the population has access to safe drinking water and the average life expectancy is thirty-eight years, compared to a sub-Saharan average of forty-five years. Infant mortality rate is 182 in 1,000 and 80 percent of the population is functionally illiterate. Negative economic growth rates in the 1990s were made worse by the rebel insurgency, which brought a halt to formal mining activities and depleted the government's shrinking revenue base. GDP growth rates were negative for much of the 1990s and export revenue, which had stood at $224 million in 1980, plunged to less than $10 million at the height of the rebel insurrection. Declining exports resulted from the informalization (displacement of official economic activities by clandestine networks and transactions) of the economy and the pervasive insecurity created by the rebel war.

As of 2004 Sierra Leone was a constitutional democracy with a directly elected president and parliament. How long this constitutional arrangement will last is unknown, given the country's history. The first experiment (1961–1967) in democratic governance was scuttled by military intervention, whereas the second, beginning in 1996, was temporarily aborted in 1997 and 1998. The failure of authoritarian rule (1968–1996) to foster development and the untrammeled venality of the political class triggered a variety of societal responses in the 1990s, ranging from renewed support for democratic change to armed struggle. Public support for democracy was not diminished by the rebel war and support from the international community, especially the British government, prevented Sierra Leone from falling into the hands of criminal insurgents.

The war may be over in Sierra Leone but the political class, largely responsible for creating the conditions that led to war in the first place, is as corrupt in the early twenty-first century as it has ever been. Tackling the problem of predatory accumulation and mass deprivation may hold the key to democratic consolidation, but it is doubtful whether the present government is capable of leading the fight against these scourges. The bureaucracy remains a cesspool of corruption, with many prominent and not so visible public officials commanding personal resources that are vastly incommensurate with their official salaries.

In summary, political life in the Second Republic of Sierra Leone represents a vast improvement on that of the First Republic. The current political system is far less repressive but no less corrupt than in the past. The press is relatively free, respect for the rule of law is making a gradual comeback, individual rights and liberties are recognized if not always protected, numerous political parties and associational groups opposed to the government are allowed to operate freely, and a fragile peace seems to be holding after a decade of one of the most brutal armed insurgencies in Africa. Because the state collapsed in Sierra Leone, restoring institutional capacity will be critical to democratization. Rehabilitating the image and capacity of the state hinges on the performance of the government, which can either strengthen or weaken public support for democratic institutions.