History

In the late 18th century, British philanthropists decided that freed slaves should have a homeland in Africa and after much discussion amongst themselves (but not with the indigenous people of West Africa), they chose a recently acquired territory which became known as Sierra Leone. In 1821, Sierra Leone was merged with Gambia and the Gold Coast (now Ghana) to create the British West African Territories. Over the next 50 years, the British navy landed 70,000 slaves in Sierra Leone; the population of Freetown, the capital, was further boosted by the migration of indigenous tribes from the interior.

A century later, Sierra Leone made a quiet transition to independence in 1961, under the Sierra Leone People's Party led by the Margais (Sir Milton Margai and his half-brother Sir Albert). A disputed election in 1967, won by the rival All Peoples' Congress (APC) under the leadership of Dr Siaka Stevens. The APC established an effective stranglehold over the political system: a new constitution introduced in 1978 made it the sole legal party. In 1985, General Joseph Momoh took over after an election at which he was the sole candidate. After some initial success in stabilising the country, the Momoh government was increasingly dogged by corruption and mismanagement. In April 1992, the Momoh government was overthrown by a group of junior army officers led by Captain Valentine Strasser.

Unfortunately, the new government's priorities were almost immediately overtaken by the escalating civil war in neighbouring Liberia, which was now starting to consume Sierra Leone itself. The key factor was the alliance formed between one of the main Liberian rebel factions, the NPFL (see Liberia section) and the Revolutionary United front, a home-grown Sierra Leonean opposition movement equally opposed to both Momoh and Strasser. The RUF, led by Foday Sankoh, made considerable headway in the east of the country in the mid-1990s, overrunning a number of key mineral installations vital to the Sierra Leone economy. Sierra Leone called upon troops from its African neighbours as well as military assistance from South Africa and the UK, but the country had begun an inexorable slide into chaos.

At the beginning of 1996, Strasser was deposed by army chief Brigadier-General Julius Maada Bio. Surprisingly, Maada Bio almost immediately set into motion a return to civilian rule. The leader of the reconstituted Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, assumed the presidency while the SLPP became the largest bloc in the new national assembly. Meanwhile, the rebels of RUF joined up with elements in the army opposed to the new Government: in May 1997, dissident troops led by Major Johnny Koroma (and backed by the RUF) toppled Kabbah and seized power.

The Nigerians, with important but discreet diplomatic and logistical backing from the British (leading to what has become known in the UK as the ‘Sandline Affair'), intervened to restore Kabbah, a task eventually completed in March 1998. But the RUF retained sufficient personnel and resources to sustain a vicious guerrilla campaign in parts of the countryside. The British government decided to intervene directly and British forces have since proved decisive in tipping the balance against the RUF. A political settlement, concluded in July 1999 between the Sierra Leone government and the RUF, has more or less held. At present, the British are concentrating on training a new national army. Despite the positive developments, parts of the country are still beyond Government control despite Foday Sankoh's membership of the Government.

Nonetheless, the relative improvement in the security situation may now allow the Government to begin addressing some of Sierra Leone's desperate economic and social problems. By the turn of the millennium, the country's catastrophic decline was such that Sierra Leone was at the bottom of almost every international table measuring levels of development and prosperity. As ever, it is the ordinary civilian population who have suffered the most.

In July 1999, it finally seemed that this debilitating conflict, which has reduced Sierra Leone to virtual penury, could finally be ended when President Kabbah and RUF leader Sankoh signed a UN-brokered accord under which the RUF will gain a minority position in a new coalition Government. A largely African peace-keeping force was organised to supervise the process. Sankoh himself was granted a ministerial post but still refused to disarm the RUF and cede the areas which they occupied – which contained most of the country's lucrative diamond fields – to government control.

Fighting between the two sides broke out once again in May 2000, and the peacekeeping forces in place were unable to control the situation. There then came a crucial intervention from an unexpected quarter – the UK. In the government-controlled areas, the British had enjoyed considerable popularity for some time and the arrival of British forces. Following the emergence of a new RUF leadership, the UN agreed to send a peacekeeping force back to the country to implement the original 1999 deal.