SIERRA LEONE

Freetown

The early years Former UK colony became independent in 1961 A military coup overthrew the government briefly in 1967, but it returned to civilian rule shortly after Siaka Stevens was appointed Prime Minister in 1968 and became increasingly authoritarian In 1971, Sierra Leone became a republic with Stevens as President 1971-1985 Stevens kept power using corruption and intimidation before retiring in 1985 The early years

Major General Momoh replaced Stevens in 1985 and continued one party rule until he was pressured into allowing a multiparty system Many believed that Momoh would not go through with his promise and formed resistance. Momoh Regime

The Revolutionary United Front backed by Liberian rebels headed by Charles Taylor formed the main resistance group. He has since been convicted by ICC (50 years) They wanted to take over the government citing corruption and economic mismanagement. They employed child soldiers and attempted to take over the diamond mines to fund their revolution By 1991 the RUF, under the command of Fodoy Sankoh, had taken control of most of Eastern Sierra Leone RUF emerges

The military was frustrated by the lack of success by Momoh in suppressing the rebels overthrew him in a military coup A military junta under Valentine Strasser (25) ruled from 1992-1996 and had little success at suppressing the rebellion. Military efforts

In 1996, Sierra Leone was returned to civilian rule after an election which was won by Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Kabbah attempted to do what the previous administration could not. Repel the RUF Kabbah emerges

Kabbah was removed in 1997 for 10 months by a military coup led by Lieut. Col. Johnny Paul Koroma and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) Koroma conducted a reign of terror and allied with the RUF ECOWAS monitoring group known as ECOMOG helped the restore Kabbah in 1998 and helped Kabbah fight the RUF and AFRC driving them back from their invasion of Freetown Chaos continues

Kabbah repelled attacks from RUF and AFRC who both attempted to take control of Sierra Leone The UN intervened in 1998 with UNAMSIL in order to restore peace UN Assistance

They helped orchestrate a power sharing agreement known as the Lome peace agreement in 1999. Agreement made Sankoh the VP and legitimized the RUF. The accord was ultimately not honored by RUF Peace?

Sankoh’s RUF clashed with the UN attacking the peacekeepers while maintaining aggressive actions against the government Sankoh and UN

Sankoh was finally captured in 2003 and died in custody while awaiting trial for war crimes Sankoh Dies

The war displaced 1/3 of the population and killed about 50,000 Many high ranking RUF officials have been tried and punished for war crimes The war results

Looking ahead In 2004 Kabbah was reelected Last UN peacekeeper was withdrawn in 2005 In September 2007 elections, the governing party suffered a surprising defeat when opposition leader Ernest Koroma won by a narrow margin Koroma has since won reelection in 2012. Looking ahead

Why did all of this happen? Diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. Why did all of this happen?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/world/africa /cholera-epidemic-envelops-coastal-slums-in-west- africa.html?ref=sierraleone&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/opinion/ish mael-beah-a-cri-du-coeur-for-an-arms-trade- treaty.html?ref=sierraleone http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/24/us- sierraleone-election-opposition- idUSBRE8AN0CQ20121124 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/world/africa /charles-taylor-sentenced-to-50-years-for-war- crimes.html?ref=sierraleone&_r=0 NEWS

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