Sierra Leone

800 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What are the effects of wars

Joseph Momoh was forced to keep the same corrupt government officials from the last administration. Momoh was liked by the Sierra Leaoneans because of his ties to the Army and he made speeches attacking the corruption in the government. The Cabinet members did not like Momoh for those exact reasons. An attempt to overthrow Momoh was staged in 1987 which ended in more than 60 government officials being arrested tried for their crimes. In 1991 Momoh revised the constitution making a multi-party system again. That was also the year the Civil War started. What will eventually turn into the RUF was originally a “unit” for a different paramilitary force. The civil war in neighboring Liberia had been raging for some time between the government and the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, lead by Charles Taylor. Charles Taylor agreed to train and supply a paramilitary force in Sierra Leone for their own civil war if they would agree to attack UN peacekeeping bases in Sierra Leone. The bases were mostly filled with mostly Nigerian troops who had been fighting with the Liberian Government against Charles Taylor’s NPFL. Foday Sankoh was a former Sierra Leonean Army Corporal with training in Britain and the USA along side some of the best soldiers in the world. Disagreeing with corruption in the government he left the Army. He was the leader of the RUF, put in charge by Charles Taylor. After helping Charles Taylor and training his troops, Sankoh set his eyes on his own Government, which was so corrupt and disorganized it had no way of defending itself. The RUF invaded from Liberia and within a month of entering Sierra Leone Sankoh's paramilitary rebels controlled much of Eastern Sierra Leone, including the diamond mining area in Kono Distr... ... middle of paper ... ...s, this does little to rebuilt a shatter economy and political system, though. The government is still plagued with corruption, but President Kabbah, a good man who was elected by the people, is doing his best to deal with it and restore order. Almost 90% of Sierra Leone’s debt was forgiven, but a ban of diamond mining has yet to be lifting making it difficult to pay off any debt or rebuilt the country. It was obviously a very complex war, and if you break it down by individual involved you can see how their actions were not that terrible within itself. The whole situation escalated into something no one wanted, but at the same time, no one was prepared to compromise for the situation to improve. With so many people being moved from their homes, and such horrible atrocities being done it will be a long time before the mental and physical scars heal in Sierra Leone.

Show More
Related

  • The Bite Of The Mango And The Sierra Leone Civil War

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Sierra Leone Civil War was a savage conflict that would rage for over a decade, claiming the lives of 300,000 and displacing 2.5 million civilians. The Bite of the Mango and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier are firsthand accounts of children affected by the war. Mariatu Kamara had her hands severed and was left for dead. Ishmael Beah was conscripted by the government army to fight the rebel forces. Ishmael and Mariatu were both victims of the bloody Sierra Leone civil war, however their journeys to safety were vastly different.

    Read More

  • Sierra Leone and the Blood Diamonds: Civil War and Children

    524 Words  | 2 Pages

    Being located in the west coast of Africa and between Guinea and Liberia, “Sierra Leone has an abundance of easily extractable diamonds”(BBC News). The diamonds had brought “encouragement” for violence in the country in 1991. Attacks of the Revolutionary “United Front (RUF) ,led by former army corporal Foday Sankoh”(Encyclopedia Britannica), were on government military and civilians. In response to a corrupt government, the RUF performed violent and terrorist acts that scarred many. “The RUF captured civilians and forced them to work”(Analyzing the Causes) in their army to gain control over Sierra Leone. The savages went a...

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast A Long Way Gone and The Bite of the Mango

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    There was a war in Sierra Leone, Africa, from 1991 to 2002 where a rebel army stormed through African villages amputating and raping citizens left and right (“Sierra Leone Profile”). Adebunmi Savage, a former citizen of Sierra Leone, describes the reality of this civil war: In 1996 the war in Sierra Leone was becoming a horrific catastrophe. Children were recruited to be soldiers, families were murdered, death came easily, and staying alive was a privilege. Torture became the favorite pastime of the Revolutionary United Front rebel movement, which was against the citizens who supported Sierra Leone’s president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.

    Read More

  • Similarities and Differences Between the Conflicts in Sierra Leone and Rwanda

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 1900’s two deadly wars were raging on, the civil war in Sierra Leone and the genocide in Rwanda. The civil war in Sierra Leone began in March 1991, while the genocide began in 1994. Combined these two wars killed upward of 1,050,000 people, and affected the lives of all the people that lived there. The conflicts in Sierra Leone and Rwanda occurred for different major reasons, but many little aspects were similar. Politics and Ethnicity were the two main conflicts, but despite the different moments rebellions and the murder of innocent people occurred in both places.

    Read More

  • Independence in The Bite of the Mango and A Long Way Gone

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rice, Susan. "Prospects for Peace in Sierra Leone." Prospects for Peace in Sierra Leone. 23 Mar 1999: n.p. SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 14 Nov 2013.

    Read More

  • Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ori, Konye. “Sierra Leone: UN-backed Court Closed after administering Civil War justice.” AFRIK-NEWS, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers In The Civil War Essay

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    The civil war of Sierra Leone lasted from 1991 to 2002. In this civil war approximately fifteen thousand kids were forced to become soldiers. Either by being kidnapped or by having their lives threatened. The situation was an extremely sad one. They had no choice weather they wanted to be soldiers or not. Like Ishmael said in A Long Way Gone, “It was either kill or be killed.” This situation is one where most people would not even be able to imagine themselves in. Ishmael Beah was a boy who suffered, because of the civil war. His family was killed and he was forced to become a soldier for the military. He eventually was rescued by UNICEF and eventually moved to the United States. For a decade, there has been a war between Mexican drug cartels and the Mexican government. There have been an unacceptable number of kids that have been used as soldiers in this war. Approximately, thirty thousand youngsters have been forced into becoming soldiers. In contrast to Sierra Leone, the soldiers here are only for the drug cartels, but in Sierra Leone even the government made the children become soldiers too. Just like the children of Sierra Leone, the children of Mexico are also kidnapped or threatened into becoming soldiers. Once captured, they are transformed into belligerent

    Read More

  • Uganda: A Country in Need of Economic Growth

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    For decades, Uganda’s economy has suffered through disappointing economic policies and instabilities. These setbacks have been put forth by a chronically unreliable government, leaving it as one of the world’s poorest countries. Uganda’s weak infrastructure and corrupt government are two of the primary constraints against a continuation of economic growth. Uganda has ongoing military involvement in the War on Congo, wrongly taking money from the already deprived country and into the war. Many villages in Uganda also have to waste their precious money and time in pursuit of hiding places. They are faced with a group known as, The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). LRA is infamous for their twenty years of massacre and slaughter in Uganda, causing an estimated 1.5 million internally displayed persons. Several people are questioning why the LRA is still terrorizing the country and criticizing the government’s commitment to putting an end this horrific group. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) ...

    Read More

  • Rwandan Genocide

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many lessons could be learned from these conflicts. First off, one must try to make a positive change in one’s surroundings. One should not just leave its environment knowing that he/she can make a positive change to it. During the Rwandan Genocide, the U.N. decided to break their ethics and do the exact opposite. Many soldiers stated that they are peacekeepers not peacemakers. Secondly, people should learn that the decisions they make will carry out throughout their lives and after their lives. The two tribes that went to war with each other did not realize what effects their actions would have on future generations. From these lessons maybe current generations and future generations could learn about the dark historical moments of past generations and how to keep this type of history from repeating itself.

    Read More

  • Honduras

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    Where is Honduras located? What are some main landforms? What food do Hondurans eat? What language do Hondurans speak? How did Honduras become Honduras? These are all questions you might have, and in this paper all will be answered. You will learn more about the geography, society, people, their lifestyles, and the history of Honduras.

    Read More

  • Liberia

    2719 Words  | 6 Pages

    Liberia owes its establishment to the American Colonization Society; founded in 1816 to resettle freed American slaves in Africa. An attempt at colonization in Sierra Leone had failed in 1815. Six years later native rulers granted a tract of land on Cape Mesurado, at the mouth of the Saint Paul River, to U.S. representatives, and the first Americo-Liberians, led by Jehudi Ashmun, began the settlement. In 1824 an American agent for the society, Ralph Randolph Gurley, named the new colony Liberia and the Cape Mesurado settlement Monrovia. Other separate settlements were established along the coast during the next 20 years. Soon, however, conflicts arose between the settlers and the society in the United States. By the time Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first black governor in 1841, the decision had been made to give the colonists almost full control of the government. A constitution modeled on that of the United States was drawn up, and Liberia became an independent republic in July 1847. Roberts was its first president, serving until 1856. Liberia was recognized by Britain in 1848, by France in 1852 and by the United States in 1862. The Americo-Liberian communities eked out a precarious existence during the 19th century. Claims over i nterior territory were disputed not only by the indigenous Mandinka (also known as Mandingo or Malinke), Kru, and Gola peoples, but also by European states that did not recognize Liberian jurisdiction over the interior. U.S. support led to a series of agreements with Britain and France between 1892 and 1911, which marked the present boundaries. (Liberian control over the interior peoples, however, was not completely assured until the 1940s.) Loans from Britain and the United States partially eased the country's financial difficulties. Liberia declared war on Germany on August 14, 1917, which gave the Allies an additional base in West Africa during World War I (1914-1918). In 1926 the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company opened a rubber plantation on 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land granted by the Liberian government the year before. Rubber production became the mainstay of the nation's economy.

    Read More

  • A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the author’s life in New York and Oberlin College, he understood that people who have not experienced being in a war do not understand what the chaos of a war does to a human being. And once the western media started sensationalizing the violence in Sierra Leone without any human context, people started relating Sierra Leone to civil war, madness and amputations only as that was all that was spoken about. So he wrote this book out o...

    Read More

  • The Sierra Leone Civil War

    2682 Words  | 6 Pages

    25. IRIN, "Sierra Leone: Child Soldier Rehabilitation Programme Runs out of Cash," IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis, last modified July 22, 2003, accessed May 20, 2014, http://www.irinnews.org/report/45097/sierra-leone-child-soldier-rehabilitation-programme-runs-out-of-cash.

    Read More

  • The Development of Liberia

    569 Words  | 2 Pages

    We are now a decade on from the August 2003 Accra Peace agreement which drew a line under 14 years of civil war and the oppressive dictatorship of Charles Taylor. The peace agreement bought a renewed chance of peace and stability after the atrocities that had been committed across the country. A post-war transitional government was established consisting of 76 members: 12 each from the three warring parties; Government of the Republic of Liberia, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). Other members from the remaining 18 political parties; seven from civil society and s...

    Read More

  • Kenya

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kenya is a republic of East Africa. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean on the southeast. The capital of Kenya is Nairobi. It is located in the south central part of the country. It has a population of 1.5 million. The National Musum of Kenya, the National Theater and the University of Nairobi are in the city.

    Read More

More about Sierra Leone

Open Document