KEEPING THE PEACE
ADEKEYE ADEBAJO: Active, vocal civil society gives Sierra Leone the edge
Sierra Leone’s civic groups have demonstrated resilience and resourcefulness in holding society together
Over the past two decades it has been the best of times in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown and the worst of times in the Liberian capital of Monrovia. The cities have symbolised contrasting fortunes. While civil wars broke out in the two countries by 1991 — killing about 250,000 people in Liberia and 70,000 in Sierra Leone, before being stemmed by Nigerian-led regional peacekeepers — Sierra Leone’s civil war ended in 2002 and the country is headed for its fourth democratic election in March. Liberia’s civil war was, however, reignited in 2001 under warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor, eventually ending only with Taylor’s exit two years later. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became Africa’s first elected female president in Liberia in 2005 and handed over power in February to former football superstar George Weah, after 12 years in office. On the positive side, the country’s external debt of $5.8bn was forgiven through Sirleaf’s prodigious networking. Over $16bn in direct foreign in...
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