Compiled by Tanu Jalloh
Sierra Leone 's 350-mi (560-km) Atlantic coastline is made up of a belt (average width 30 mi/50 km) of low-lying mangrove swamps, except for the mountainous Sierra Leone Peninsula (on which Freetown is situated). The coastline is broken by numerous estuaries and has some wide, sandy beaches. Behind the coastal belt is a wooded plateau (average elevation: 1,000 ft/300 m).
The eastern half of the country is mostly mountainous and includes Bintumani Peak , Sierra Leone 's loftiest point (6,390 ft/1,948 m), located near the Guinea border. Several rivers, including the Great Scarcies (which makes up a section of the boundary with Guinea ) and the Mano (which forms part of the border with Liberia ), flow through the country to the Atlantic . The headwaters of the Niger River are situated in the mountains of the northeast. In addition to the capital, other cities include Bo, Kenema, and Makeni.
People
The two main ethnic groups are the Mende, who speak a Mande language and live in the central and southern parts of the country, and the Temne, who speak a W Atlantic language and live in the north. There are also Creoles or Krios, descendants of freed slaves from North America, the West Indies, and other parts of W Africa . The population also contains small numbers of South Asians and Lebanese, who play a major role in the nation's commerce. English is the country's official language and Krio, a mixture of several African languages and English, is the lingua franca. About 60% of the population is Muslim, 30% follows traditional religious beliefs, and 10% is Christian.
Economy
Sierra Leone 's economy is predominantly agricultural, with about half of its workers engaged in subsistence farming. The principal food crops are rice, cassava, corn, millet, and peanuts. The leading cash crops, most of which are exported, are coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, and palm oil. Poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats are raised. The fishing industry is also important.
The country has an important mining industry, which is largely controlled by foreign companies. The main minerals extracted are diamonds (the country's major source of hard currency), iron ore, gold, bauxite, and rutile (titanium ore). However, the mining industry, like other areas of the economy, was severely affected by civil strife. The country's few manufactures include refined petroleum and basic consumer goods. Sierra Leone has limited rail and highway networks, which mostly serve the central and western parts of the country. Freetown has excellent port facilities; smaller ports are located at Bonthe (on Sherbro Island ) and Pepel (near Freetown ).
The cost of Sierra Leone 's imports is considerably higher than its earnings from exports. The principal imports are foodstuffs, machinery, transportation equipment, fuels, and chemicals; the chief exports are diamonds and other minerals, cocoa, coffee, and fish. Diamond smuggling has been a problem since the 1960s, and during the civil war much of the diamond-mining area fell into the hands of rebel groups. Sierra Leone 's leading trade partners are Belgium , Germany , the United States , and Côte d'Ivoire .
Government
Sierra Leone is governed under the constitution of 1991 as amended. The executive branch is headed by the president, who is both head of state and head of government. The president is popularly elected for a five-year term and may serve for two terms. The unicameral Parliament has 124 members; 112 are popularly elected and 12 are paramount chiefs who are chosen in separate elections. All members serve five-year terms. Administratively, Sierra Leone is divided into 3 provinces and one area: northern, southern, and eastern provinces and the Western Area ( Freetown general area).
An Independent Nation
| Sir Milton Margai |
Siaka Probyn Stevens |
Brig. Gen. Saidu Momoh |
Capt. V.E.M Strasser |
Brig. Gen. Maada Bio |
Lt. Col. J.P Koroma |
Pres. A.A.T Kabbah |
Pres. E.B Koroma |
On April 27, 1961, Sierra Leone became independent, with Margai as prime minister. He died in 1964 and was succeeded by his brother, Albert M. Margai. Following the 1967 general elections, Siaka Stevens of the All Peoples Congress party (APC), a Temne-based party, was appointed prime minister by the governor-general (a Sierra Leonean who represented the British monarch). However, a military coup led by Brig. David Lansana in support of Margai ousted Stevens a few minutes after he took the oath of office.
The Lansana government itself was soon toppled and replaced by a National Reformation Council (NRC) headed by Col. Andrew Juxom-Smith. In 1968, an army revolt overthrew the NRC and returned the nation to parliamentary government, with Stevens as prime minister. The following years were marked by considerable unrest, caused by ethnic and army disaffection with the central government. After an attempted coup in 1971, parliament declared Sierra Leone to be a republic, with Stevens as president. Guinean troops requested by Stevens to support his government were in the country from 1971 to 1973. Stevens's APC swept the 1973 parliamentary elections, creating a de facto one-party state; a 1978 referendum made the APC the only legal party. Maj. Gen. Joseph Saidu Momoh succeeded Stevens as president in 1986.
In 1991 a referendum was passed, providing for a new constitution and multiparty democracy. However, in 1992, Momoh was overthrown in a military coup. Capt. Valentine Strasser soon became president, but he was ousted in January, 1996, and replaced by Brig. Gen. Julius Maada Bio. Promises of a return to civilian rule were fulfilled by Bio, who handed power over to Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's party, after the conclusion of elections in early 1996. Kabbah's government reached a cease-fire in the war with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which had launched its first attacks in 1991; rebel terror attacks continued, however, apparently aided by Liberia .
Kabbah was overthrown in May, 1997, by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), a military junta headed by Lt. Col. Johnny Paul Koroma. The junta soon invited the RUF to participate in a new government. The United Nations imposed sanctions against the military government in October, 1997, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sent in forces led by Nigeria . The rebels were subdued in Feb., 1998, and President Kabbah was returned to office in March.
Fighting continued, however, in many parts of the country, with reports of widespread atrocities. Over 6,000 people were killed in fighting in the Freetown area in January, 1999, alone. In March, Nigeria announced it would withdraw its forces by May. A peace accord was signed in July between President Kabbah and Foday Sankoh of the RUF. The agreement granted the rebels seats in a new government and all forces a general amnesty from prosecution. The government had largely ceased functioning effectively, however, and at least half of its territory remained under rebel control.
In October, the United Nations agreed to send peacekeepers to help restore order and disarm the rebels. The first of the 6,000-member force began arriving in December, and the Security Council voted in Feb., 2000, to increase the UN force to 11,000 (and subsequently to 13,000). In May, when nearly all Nigerian forces had left and UN forces were attempting to disarm the RUF in E Sierra Leone , Sankoh's forces clashed with the UN troops, and some 500 peacekeepers were taken hostage as the peace accord effectively collapsed.
An 800-member British force entered the country to secure W Freetown and evacuate Europeans; some also acted in support of the forces (including Koroma's AFRC group) fighting the RUF. After Sankoh was captured in Freetown , the hostages were gradually released by the RUF, but clashes between the UN forces and the RUF continued, and in July the West Side Boys (part of the AFRC) clashed with the peacekeepers. In the same month the UN Security Council placed a ban on the sale of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone in an attempt to undermine the funding of the RUF. In late August, Issa Sesay became head of the RUF; also, British troops training the Sierra Leone army were taken hostage by the West Side Boys, but were freed by a British raid in September.
General elections scheduled for early 2001 were postponed in Feb., 2001, due to the insecurity caused by the civil war. In May, 2001, sanctions were imposed on Liberia because of its support for the rebels, and UN peacekeepers began to make headway in disarming the various factions. Although disarmament of rebel and progovernment militias proceeded slowly and fighting continued to occur, by January, 2002, most of the estimated 45,000 fighters had surrendered their weapons. In a ceremony that month, government and rebel leaders declared the civil war to have ended; an estimated 50,000 persons died in the conflict.
Elections were finally held in May, 2002. President Kabbah was reelected, and his Sierra Leone People's party won a majority of the parliamentary seats. In June, 2003, the UN ban on the sale of Sierra Leone diamonds expired and was not renewed. The UN disarmament and rehabilitation program for Sierra Leone 's fighters was completed in February, 2004, by which time more 70,000 former combatants had been helped.
UN forces returned primary responsibility for security in the area around the capital to Sierra Leone 's police and armed forces in September, 2004; it was the last part of the country to be turned over. Some UN peacekeepers remained to assist the Sierra Leone government until the end of 2005. Parliamentary elections in August, 2007, gave a majority of the seats to opposition All People's Congress (APC), and after a runoff, Ernest Bai Koroma, of the APC, was elected president.
Bibliography: See R. G. Saylor, The Economic System of Sierra Leone (1967); J. Cartwright, Politics in Sierra Leone, 1947–67 (1970); A. B. Sibthorpe, The History of Sierra Leone (4th ed. 1971); C. P. Foray, Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone (1977); G. O. Roberts, The Anguish of Third World Independence: The Sierra Leone Experience (1982).
Sierra Leone at 47 Are we progressing or retrogressing?
By Ladensen Kamara in Bo
Sierra Leone will be 47 years old on Sunday, April 27 2008. Indeed, there is an old age adage that, “A fool at 40 is a Fool Forever”, that is to say, if you are not sensible at 40, then you won't be sensible again forever. We are now 47, far above 40 having gained Independence from our British Colonial masters on April 27 1961.
On that day, power was handed over to Sierra Leoneans in Freetown by no less a person than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by descending the British Flag, known as the “Union Jack” and hoisting the Sierra Leone's Green, White and Blue flag.
Sir Milton Margai, a Medical Doctor by profession was appointed the first Prime Minister of Sierra Leone. Before packing their luggage to go back home, the British left Sierra Leone with series of developments/facilities including: electricity power supply in Freetown and all District Headquarter towns, pipe borne water supply in Freetown and all district headquarter towns, tarred roads in Freetown and all District headquarter towns and major highways in the country, massive rice production in the country, quality education, free medical services to school children and government employees, railway service, valuable currency et al.
Sir Milton Margai ruled over the then improved nation (as we can refer to it) for three years and died in 1964. Since the death of Sir Milton Margai, it would interest you to know that 10 other Heads of State have come and gone including: Sir Albert Margai, Juxton Smith, Amadu Rogers, C.O.E Cole, Dr. Siaka Stevens, Joseph Saidu Momoh, Valentine Strasser, Julius Maada Bio, Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Johnny Paul Koroma and now Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma who is the 12 th Head of State this country has produced.
Since Independence in 1961, indeed President Koroma being the current Head of State is going to celebrate the country's 47 th Independence Anniversary on April 27 th 2008 and thereafter will also be celebrating our country's golden jubilee Independence celebrations, April 27, 2011. The question that comes to mind is whether President Koroma is lucky or unlucky to rule over a very, very unprogressive country like ours now almost clocking 50 years of age. A country that no more boasts of electricity, pipe borne water supply and tarred roads in our district headquarter towns. A country that no longer boasts of rice corporation, quality education, free medical services, railway services and valuable currency.
In the absence of all these developmental facilities once enjoyed by this country, the million dollar question is: are we progressing or retrogressing? It is really unfortunate that a country once branded as the Athens of West Africa in colonial days is now the most backward and a laughing stock in West Africa in these our days of Independence.
Indeed, President Ernest Bai Koroma has a big task ahead to take the country from grass to grace. However, he has given us 36 months to make changes in this country. So let us wait and see what he has to do for us in terms of development programmes.
Meanwhile, this is a big challenge for President Koroma and if indeed he faces it with the generality it deserves, it will go down in the history of this country as been the most progressive leader this country has ever produced.
