*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

*Momoh Regime

* 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.

*RUF emerges

*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

*Military efforts

*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.

*Kabbah emerges

* 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

*Chaos continues

* 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

*UN Assistance

*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

*Peace?

*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

*Sankoh and UN

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

*Sankoh Dies

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

*The war results

*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

*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.

*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.

*NEWS

*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/opini

on/ishmael-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

*VIDEO

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn42yLAdz7M*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdKTK

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