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23.03.2012 Feature Article

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 23rd March 1991

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 23rd March 1991
23.03.2012 LISTEN

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 23rd March 1991 - The civil war in Sierra Leone is documented as starting on this date when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) attempted to overthrow the All People's Congress (APC) government of President Joseph Momoh.

The RUF, supported by Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) which was waging its own national civil conflict, entered Sierra Leone from neighbouring Liberia. Momoh responded by deploying troops from the Sierra Leone Army (SLA) to the border region to crush the incursion, but this intervention was ineffective and by the end of 1991 the RUF controlled up to two thirds of the country.

Low morale in the SLA and dissatisfaction with the government resulted in a successful military coup led by Captain Valentine Strasser on 29th April 1992. Strasser established the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) promising to bring peace and prosperity to Sierra Leone. Instead the civil war escalated, becoming more brutal and barbaric, with many atrocities being committed against the people.

Disagreement over the process for ending the civil war and establishing civilian governance grew within the NPRC and on 16th January 1996 Strasser was ousted from power in a coup led by his deputy, Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio. Bio stated that his motivation for staging the coup was his commitment to ending the civil war and returning Sierra Leone to democratic civilian rule.

Elections were held in Sierra Leone on 26-27th February and 16th March 1996 resulting in victory for the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) and election of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah as President.

The top priority of the newly elected SLPP government was bringing an end to the war which had wrecked terror and destruction throughout most of Sierra Leone. After months of negotiations a peace agreement was signed on 30th November 1996 by President Kabbah and the leader of the RUF, Foday Sankoh in Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire. However, the RUF reneged on the agreement resuming hostilities and subjecting the people of Sierra Leone to more horror and terror.

On 25th May 1997, a further coup forced President Kabbah into exile in neighbouring Guinea and installed Johnny Paul Koroma as head of state (Koroma had made a failed bid to overthrown Kabbah in August 1996), and established the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). Koroma forged an unholy alliance between the AFRC and RUF.

What followed was a period of intense and complex warfare between the AFRC/RUF and external forces including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), and several attempts at achieving a negotiated peace.

Throughout this period ordinary people were subjected to invasions and looting of their homes, villages and towns; rape and other forms of sexual violence with many women and girls being used as sex slaves; abduction and forced subscription into rebel ranks, particular of children; physical violence, most notably mutilation of limbs and murder.

With over 2,000,000 people displaced, at least 50,000 dead and many more physically and psychologically mutilated and maimed, the Sierra Leone civil war, which has been described as one of the most brutal internal conflicts in the world, was officially declared as over on 18th January 2002.

This video on the civil war by Sorious Samura is not easy watching:

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