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Liberia and Sierra Leone: The Competition for Patronage in Resource-Rich Economies

WILLIAM RENO

in War, Hunger, and Displacement: Volume 2

As a consequence of the collapse of Cold War-era patron–client politics, Liberia and Sierra Leone are cases of humanitarian emergencies. The humanitarian emergencies in both states are due to the ... More

As a consequence of the collapse of Cold War-era patron–client politics, Liberia and Sierra Leone are cases of humanitarian emergencies. The humanitarian emergencies in both states are due to the collapse of their governments, particularly systems of rule. These countries experienced Cold War ruler's ability to control natural resources, as well as regional markets, in order to enhance their powers. After the Cold War, conditions for aid for abroad were required, as well as the imposition of economic reforms mandated by the World Bank, and these pressures exposed Liberia and Sierra Leone to different vulnerabilities. In this chapter, an analysis of the relationship between politics and the market is given, as well as an explanation of how changes in them affect the countries. Patron–client politics is also focused as well, so as to help the reader understand the breakdown of such and the struggles it undergoes so that its terms may be redefined.Less

Sierra Leone

Andrew Reynolds

in Elections in Africa: A Data Handbook

This chapter on elections and electoral systems in Sierra Leone follows the same format as all the other country chapters in the book. The first section is introductory and contains a historical ... More

This chapter on elections and electoral systems in Sierra Leone follows the same format as all the other country chapters in the book. The first section is introductory and contains a historical overview, discussion of the evolution of electoral provisions, an account of the current electoral provisions, and a comment on the electoral statistics. The second section consists of ten tables. These are: 2.1 Dates of National Elections, Referendums, and Coups d’Etat; 2.2 Electoral Body 1957–1996 (data on population size, registered voters, and votes cast); 2.3 Abbreviations (abbreviations and full names of political parties and alliances used in tables 2.6, 2.7, and 2.9); 2.4 Electoral Participation of Parties and Alliances 1957–1996 (participation of political parties and alliances in chronological order and including the years and number of contested elections); 2.5 Referendums 1978 (details of registered voters and votes cast); 2.6 Elections for Constitutional Assembly (none held); 2.7 Parliamentary Elections 1957–1996 (details of registered voters and votes cast); 2.8 Composition of Parliament 1957–1996; 2.9 Presidential Elections 1985–1996 (details of registered voters and votes cast); and 2.10 List of Power Holders 1957–1998.Less

Material culture and Sierra Leone’s civilising mission in the nineteenth century

Bronwen Everill

in The Cultural Construction of the British World

By the mid-nineteenth century, trading networks between London and Freetown, Sierra Leone, were well-established. White and black businessmen and women were beginning to profit from the shift from ... More

By the mid-nineteenth century, trading networks between London and Freetown, Sierra Leone, were well-established. White and black businessmen and women were beginning to profit from the shift from the slave trade to “legitimate” commerce. Sierra Leone’s emerging, property-owning middle class lived in comfortable two-story stone houses. These homes were decorated with articles of material comfort and markers, in the imperial cultural complex, of accumulating wealth: mahogany chairs, tables, sofas, and four-post bedsteads, pier glasses, and floor cloths. Sierra Leoneans consumed the products of Empire, dressing as British subjects, building houses with British brick, and buying British luxury goods. But how did different groups of Sierra Leoneans adopt and adapt British material culture? Did trading connections foster a sense of British identity, or were these products used in particularly “West African” ways? How did the growth of the project of “legitimate trade” contribute to a sense of the British imperial project amongst Sierra Leoneans? This chapter will explore the ways that material culture and commodities shaped the lives of settlers in this colony and their interactions with both the metropole and the rest of West Africa.Less

Humanitarian Intervention and International Society: Lessons from Africa

James Mayall

in Humanitarian Intervention and International Relations

After the end of the Cold War, many in the West viewed Africa as a testing ground for the solidarist argument that sovereignty was no longer an absolute principle and that the international community ... More

After the end of the Cold War, many in the West viewed Africa as a testing ground for the solidarist argument that sovereignty was no longer an absolute principle and that the international community could intervene to protect individual from human rights violations. This argument seems particularly challenging in the African context, given the continental leadership’s historic commitment to territorial integrity and non-intervention. However, as the author shows, African leaders from 1945 to 1990 were largely upholding the pluralist international norms of the time. In other words, the case for humanitarian intervention – and the problems posed by the practice – are not region-specific. The early 1990s, during which the United Nations intervened in Somalia, seemed to confirm the solidarist position. However, the failure to intervene in Rwanda in 1994, and the more recent experience of interventions in Sierra Leone, present a more mixed picture. Humanitarian intervention remains a controversial practice because of its coercive means, and its tendency to attribute blame or responsibility in what are often very complex civil conflicts.Less

After Lomé in Sierra Leone: The Special Court and National Reconciliation

Jennifer Moore

in Humanitarian Law in Action within Africa

This chapter analyzes the legal and political aspects of international law and post-conflict reconstruction in Sierra Leone, with particular emphasis on the three classic dimensions of transitional ... More

This chapter analyzes the legal and political aspects of international law and post-conflict reconstruction in Sierra Leone, with particular emphasis on the three classic dimensions of transitional justice aimed at preventing a rekindling of armed conflict: criminal justice, historical justice, and social justice. It highlights the importance of the rule of law in ensuring criminal accountability, historical honesty, and social welfare that are sustainable in the long term. The chapter begins with a brief history of Sierra Leone from the colonial period to the inception of the civil war before proceeding with a discussion of the causes and conduct of the civil war. It then turns to transitional justice in Sierra Leone and concludes by focusing on the establishment of a Special Court and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address civil war atrocities in Uganda.Less

Sierra Leone: War and its Functions

David Keen

in War and Underdevelopment

This chapter attempts to explain the conflict in Sierra Leone by analysing the actions and goals of those orchestrating and carrying out acts of violence. This includes not only rebel violence but ... More

This chapter attempts to explain the conflict in Sierra Leone by analysing the actions and goals of those orchestrating and carrying out acts of violence. This includes not only rebel violence but more particularly the largely neglected area of government violence. The discussion emphasizes the importance of local and individual goals during the conflict, and stresses the need to look at the process by which civilians became fighters. It argues that much of what appears to be ‘mindless violence’ is actually, in some sense, rational. The war in Sierra Leone has been a particularly organized kind of chaos. The war meant not simply the collapse of a system, but the creation of a different kind of system.Less

Sierra Leone

Michael Wright, David Clark, and Jennifer Hunt

in Hospice and Palliative Care in Africa: A Review of Developments and Challenges

The Republic of Sierra Leone (population 5.88 million) is a country in Western Africa bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of 71, 740 km 2 and its boundaries border the countries of ... More

The Republic of Sierra Leone (population 5.88 million) is a country in Western Africa bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of 71, 740 km 2 and its boundaries border the countries of Guinea and Liberia. In Sierra Leone, palliative care services are provided by The Shepherd's Hospice (TSH), Freetown. The range of services includes home-based care, inpatient care (24 h symptom control), outpatients' clinics (twice a week), education and training, orphans and vulnerable children's programme, Women's Wellness Project (WWP) and advocacy. As an NGO, TSH relies on fundraising and charitable donations to meet its costs. The national and professional organizations include the Christian Health Association of Sierra Leone (CHASL), and Friends of The Shepherd's Hospice (UK). TSH takes patients from Freetown and parts of the western area of Sierra Leone. The chapter then deals with the history and development of hospice-palliative care in Sierra Leone.Less

Sierra Leone

Alhaji Sarjoh Bah

in Exit Strategies and State Building

This chapter explores the strategies (or lack thereof) employed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the UN for their exits from Sierra Leone. It compares ECOWAS’s lack of an ... More

This chapter explores the strategies (or lack thereof) employed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the UN for their exits from Sierra Leone. It compares ECOWAS’s lack of an exit strategy and its dependence on one troop contributor, Nigeria, with the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, which had an exit strategy that was based on key benchmarks—the most successful exit process by the UN to date. ECOWAS’s exit from Sierra Leone was dictated largely by domestic political developments in Nigeria, which proved problematic. While progress in revamping Sierra Leone’s security and political institutions has been relatively easy to achieve, the same cannot be said for revitalizing Sierra Leone’s postwar economy. This points to a huge deficit in international responses to postconflict reconstruction, despite the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission, which in its initial period has fallen short of expectations.Less

Sierra Leone: The Intersection of Law, Policy, and Practice

Alison Smith

in Internationalized Criminal Courts: Sierra Leone, East Timor, Kosovo, and Cambodia

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established in March 2002 to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed during the conflict in the country back in the 1990s. Other ... More

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established in March 2002 to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed during the conflict in the country back in the 1990s. Other broader aims include ending impunity, deterring would-be perpetrators, providing a measure of justice for the victims, helping to strengthen the rule of law in Sierra Leone, and contributing to capacity-building in the country, especially for the legal profession. Thus the Special Court has both backward- and forward-looking objectives: to provide redress for what happened in Sierra Leone and to contribute to lasting peace; a strengthened rule of law; and the future protection of people involved in a conflict, both in Sierra Leone and elsewhere. Indeed, the Special Court has an important role to play with respect to the identification of customary international humanitarian law and the advancement of the international rule of law. This chapter looks at the Special Court's two serious flaws: the debatable temporal and subject matter jurisdiction, and the precarious financial mechanism for its funding.Less

Internationalized Courts and their Relationship with Alternative Accountability Mechanisms: The Case of Sierra Leone

William A Schabas

in Internationalized Criminal Courts: Sierra Leone, East Timor, Kosovo, and Cambodia

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in Sierra Leone in order to: create an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian ... More

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established in Sierra Leone in order to: create an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law related to the armed conflict in the country; address impunity; respond to the needs of the victims; promote healing and reconciliation; and prevent violations and abuses in the future. Both the TRC and the Special Court began operations in mid-2002. Although they operated in parallel for more than 18 months, the work of the TRC was essentially completed by the time actual trials of the Special Court commenced in June 2004. Both the TRC and the Special Court fit within the palette of transitional justice options being used to address impunity in post-conflict situations. This chapter compares the two organizations in terms of legal status and functions, mandates, and jurisdictions. Some of the issues that may arise in the relationship between them are examined.Less

Sierra Leone Rebels: The Revolutionary United Front

Jennifer M. Hazen

in What Rebels Want: Resources and Supply Networks in Wartime

This chapter assesses the resources, options, and preferences of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during the 1991–2002 civil war in Sierra Leone. The RUF never attempted to build a network of ... More

This chapter assesses the resources, options, and preferences of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during the 1991–2002 civil war in Sierra Leone. The RUF never attempted to build a network of support prior to initiating the conflict because the group anticipated an easy victory and did not anticipate needing additional resources. When the RUF failed to quickly overthrow the government, the group had to find pathways to the military and economic resources needed to sustain the rebellion or face defeat. At no time during the war did the RUF negotiate sincerely. They rejected cease-fires when they were strong and used negotiations as opportunities to rebuild when they were weak. The war ended only when the military pressure on the RUF on three fronts eliminated all access to resupply. Facing no other options but defeat, the RUF leadership finally agreed to implement the Lomé agreement two years after its signing.Less

Surveying Sierra Leone

David Lambert

in Mastering the Niger: James MacQueen's African Geography and the Struggle over Atlantic Slavery

Chapter 6 focuses on some of the consequences of James MacQueen’s geographical claims in Africa itself, particularly in relation to the colony of Sierra Leone, which was imagined and promoted by its ... More

Chapter 6 focuses on some of the consequences of James MacQueen’s geographical claims in Africa itself, particularly in relation to the colony of Sierra Leone, which was imagined and promoted by its humanitarian supporters as an antithesis to Caribbean slavery, demonstrating the potential of free African labour and thus a sign of what could be achieved if colonial slavery was ended. MacQueen was one of Sierra Leone’s most trenchant critics in the 1820s and the chapter examines how he used geographical arguments to portray the colony as both an unhealthy ‘white man’s grave’ and financially costly, and to call for the abandonment of Sierra Leone and the colonisation of the island of Fernando Po in the Gulf of Guinea. Unsurprisingly, MacQueen’s attacks attracted strident responses from antislavery campaigners. In particular, Kenneth Macaulay, cousin of the prominent abolitionist, Zachary Macaulay, questioned MacQueen’s claims, the credibility of his methods, and tried to paint him as a ‘well-paid mercenary’ for pro-slavery West Indian interests. The chapter also investigates the impact of the issues that MacQueen raised about West African geography, including its medical topography, in terms of plans for and understandings of Sierra Leone and Fernando Po.Less

African Churches and an African Nation: Paul Cuffe, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the American Colonization Society

James Sidbury

in Becoming African in America: Race and Nation in the Early Black Atlantic, 1760-1830

This chapter presents the story of the first expedition sent to Africa by the American Colonization Society (ACS) and the efforts of two of Paul Cuffe's close friends and supporters — John Kizell, a ... More

This chapter presents the story of the first expedition sent to Africa by the American Colonization Society (ACS) and the efforts of two of Paul Cuffe's close friends and supporters — John Kizell, a Nova Scotian leader of the Friendly Society that Cuffe had helped to found in Freetown, and Daniel Coker, one of the founders of the AME and Cuffe's point man in Baltimore — to take control of the fledgling colony away from the white officials sent out by the Colonization Society. Kizell, who served as the local host of the venture, and Coker, who was the leader of the settlers, sought to found a black “African” colony on Sherbro Island (off the coast of southern Sierra Leone) that might develop into a commercial center of the sort that Cuffe envisioned. The settlement at Sherbro disintegrated in a welter of recriminations, as Coker and Kizell sought to blame each other for its failures and to retain favor with leaders of the Colonization Society in the United States. Coker largely won the battle of reputations, but both moved back to Sierra Leone, and neither played any further role in the ACS's efforts in Africa. As they withdrew, the vision of an African nation that had grown out of early black authors' assertions of African identities and that had flowered in Paul Cuffe's nationalist project began to lose its grip on black activists within the United States and on black emigrants moving to the American colony that was soon founded in Liberia.Less

The Second Generation UN-Based Tribunals: A Diversity of Mixed Jurisdictions

Daphna Shraga

in Internationalized Criminal Courts: Sierra Leone, East Timor, Kosovo, and Cambodia

The establishment of the ad hoc international tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in 1993 and 1994 triggered a proliferation of international criminal jurisdictions. A precursor to the ... More

The establishment of the ad hoc international tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in 1993 and 1994 triggered a proliferation of international criminal jurisdictions. A precursor to the International Criminal Court — an international, truly universal criminal jurisdiction — they have become the model upon which the second generation, country-specific ‘mixed tribunals’ were conceived. In the decade after their establishment, a number of countries emerging from civil wars of extreme brutality in which genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes were committed on a massive scale, called upon the United Nations (UN) to establish similar jurisdictions in their own territories. This chapter examines the diversity of mixed jurisdictions from the vantage point of the UN, focusing on the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Extraordinary Chambers for Cambodia. It concludes with a comparative analysis of the mixed composition panels of judges in the UN-administered territories of Kosovo and East Timor, and in the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Less

Antislavery on a Slave Coast

Padraic X. Scanlan

in Freedom's Debtors: British Antislavery in Sierra Leone in the Age of Revolution

Before the abolition of the slave trade in the British empire in 1807, colonial Sierra Leone was an experiment in free trade and free labour, founded by the Sierra Leone Company, a joint-stock ... More

Before the abolition of the slave trade in the British empire in 1807, colonial Sierra Leone was an experiment in free trade and free labour, founded by the Sierra Leone Company, a joint-stock company led by antislavery activists, and settled by African American Loyalists from Nova Scotia. This chapter explores the early history of the colony, and shows how antislavery was undermined by the routines of the transatlantic slave trade. Meanwhile, African American settlers were marginalised, and the arrival of 500 Jamaican Maroons in 1800 helped to cement the relationship between the leaders of the antislavery movement and the British armed forces.Less

The History of Sex, Order, and Conflict in Sierra Leone

Megan H. Mackenzie

in Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone: Sex, Security, and Post-Conflict Development

This chapter provides an overview of the history of Sierra Leone with a focus on gender ordering and sexual regulation. A look at secret societies can provide some insights into historical and ... More

This chapter provides an overview of the history of Sierra Leone with a focus on gender ordering and sexual regulation. A look at secret societies can provide some insights into historical and contemporary gender roles in Sierra Leone. These secret societies are all-male or all-female cultural organizations that have existed in West Africa for centuries. Also, they are organized according to sex rather than ethnicity; the female-only groups are often referred to as Bundu or Sande societies, and the male-only groups are called Poro. The chapter also provides an overview of how Sierra Leone came to be colonized, focusing on prostitution, family law, and marriage.Less

 Old World Precedents and New World Directions: Trans-Atlantic Pillar

Lamin Sanneh

in Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity

Synopsis: This chapter continues the preceding discussion about Europe's rising star in its maritime expansion, describing repression of Indians in the transplant New Spain and Brazil. Strains soon ... More

Synopsis: This chapter continues the preceding discussion about Europe's rising star in its maritime expansion, describing repression of Indians in the transplant New Spain and Brazil. Strains soon showed, as exemplified in the criticisms of Las Casas and his defense of Indian rights. Capuchin and Jesuit missions became entangled with the slave trade, resulting in a setback to evangelization efforts in the Kongo and elsewhere. The chapter connects the American Revolution with Protestant missionary awakening, and with the evangelization of New World Africans. The antislavery movement teamed with trans‐Atlantic missions to establish a free colony of Nova Scotians in Sierra Leone. Following abolition, African recaptives began arriving in the colony, and thus commenced the real modernization of Africa, thanks to the new middle class raised in mission schools. The chapter concludes with the legacy of antislavery in Sierra Leone and of the post‐colonial debacle and ensuing civil war.Less

A New Beginning

in Black Poor and White Philanthropists: London's Blacks and the Foundation of the Sierra Leone Settlement 1786–1791

After the failure of the Province of Freedom, Granville Sharp immediately hatched a plan to organise a relief expedition to help the survivors and keep them together. He asked for help from the ... More

After the failure of the Province of Freedom, Granville Sharp immediately hatched a plan to organise a relief expedition to help the survivors and keep them together. He asked for help from the British government, but when he received a lukewarm response, he turned to the St. George's Bay Company, hoping that it would buy a larger vessel to transport a significant quantity of stores. Sharp was also pinning his hopes on the Company to negotiate an agreement for the reoccupation of the land. This chapter examines the issues that surrounded the St. George's Bay Company as well as the constitutional position of the Sierra Leone settlement, looking in particular at the debate in Parliament about a settlement bill which would give the Company its formal incorporation.Less

Becoming African in the English Atlantic: Politics, Religion, and Emigration at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century

James Sidbury

in Becoming African in America: Race and Nation in the Early Black Atlantic, 1760-1830

This chapter focuses on the emergence of the African church movement in various cities along the eastern seaboard — especially Baltimore and Philadelphia — and the efforts of the sea captain, Paul ... More

This chapter focuses on the emergence of the African church movement in various cities along the eastern seaboard — especially Baltimore and Philadelphia — and the efforts of the sea captain, Paul Cuffe, to initiate a black-controlled emigration movement that he hoped would build long-lasting ties between Sierra Leone and blacks in North America, helping to create an “African” people and a diasporic “African” nation.Less

An Overview of the Case Studies

Valpy FitzGerald, Frances Stewart, and Michael Wang

in War and Underdevelopment: Volume 1: The Economic and Social Consequences of Conflict

To understand exactly how various economic and political processes condition the costs of war, and how economies actually operate under conflict, in-depth studies at the country level are essential. ... More

To understand exactly how various economic and political processes condition the costs of war, and how economies actually operate under conflict, in-depth studies at the country level are essential. This chapter provides an overview of these studies and draws some tentative conclusions. They include four countries in Africa – Mozambique, Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Uganda; two in Asia – Afghanistan and Sri Lanka; and one in Latin America – Nicaragua. The nature of the war pursued, including its duration and magnitude, coupled with the economic conditions prevailing at the start of conflict, substantially affected the human costs generated by warfare. The chapter begins by summarising the individual experiences of war for each of the country studies; presents some comparative data on country performance at macro-, meso-, and micro-levels; and discusses the factors explaining the considerable variation in the costs of war in this sample of countries.Less