Sierra Leone Beyond The Lome Peace Accord

The Lomé Peace Accord, signed in 1999, presented significant implications, challenges, and possibilities for post-conflict Sierra Leone, but the literature on post-conflict Sierra Leone only scantily addresses these issues. This project seeks to address the void in the literature on post-Lomé Sierra Leone.

Achieving security and development in the post-conflict era is a challenge with which stakeholders have to grapple. While stakeholders are quick to claim success when physical hostilities cease between the belligerents, ensuring sustainable peace has been a daunting task. In some countries in Africa, the post-conflict era is characterized by organizing elections to ensure greater political participation. It is believed that elections will begin a process of openness and trust in the governing system. A supplement to electoral democracy has been power sharing arrangements used to resolve post-election violence, and ensure stability within the state. However, what underlie most conflicts in Africa is the marginalization and lack of an enabling environment to achieve individual life objectives. Policies and strategies to achieve security and enhance development post conflict have, at best, been an extremely slow process and sometimes elusive. In Sierra Leone, for instance, though the official declaration of the end of war and the successful general elections held in 2002, 2007, and 2012 have led to some domestic stability, developmental targets in the post-conflict era have proceeded at a snail’s pace. The country continues to rank at the bottom of most UNDP human development indicators since 2002. Human Security and Sierra Leone’s Post-Conflict Development analyzes the extent to which human security issues have been addressed and subsequently implemented in the post-conflict reconstruction process. While Sierra Leone has made tremendous efforts at implementing reforms in the areas of political sensitization, promotion of civil rights and civil liberties, as well as personal security, the lack on the part of the government to effectively address the unemployment problem has negatively affected security and developmental targets. Thus, the post-conflict management strategies in Sierra Leone fail to secure and promote some aspects of human security, leading to fragile peace and slow progress in achieving sustainable security and development. Human security is an all-encompassing phenomenon and must be addressed to achieve overall wellbeing of the people, especially in post-conflict environments.

The road to the future runs through the past -- Drift, decline, and the establishment of a patrimonial state -- Diamonds aren't forever, are they? -- The coming of the terror -- Child soldiers, hunters, and mercenaries : the widening conflagration -- The perils of peacekeeping and peacemaking -- Dealing with the aftermath : the quest for justice -- The global dimensions of an African civil conflict -- Appendix 1. Chronology of select events in the history of Sierra Leone -- Appendix 2. The Abidjan Peace Agreement (1996) -- Appendix 3. The Lomé Peace Agreement (1999) -- Appendix 4. Agreement between the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone on the establishment of a special court for Sierra Leone (2002) -- Appendix 5. The statute of the special court for Sierra Leone (2002) -- Appendix 6. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act (2000).

Traces the experiences of child soldiers in Sierra Leone during and after war and examines the implications of their participation.

This book contains ten chapters and constitutes an attempt to discuss some of the key areas of governance in the country. This text posits three main arguments: First, that promoting democratic good governance in Sierra Leone is an imperative that should be embarked upon (by any government) if it is to ensure socioeconomic and political development on the one hand and peace and security on the other. Second, that the process of promoting democratic good governance will not be an easy task, and this is why any government should strive to be vigilant and extricate the country from dependence; the fact remains that a successful good governance environment in Sierra Leone will depend on economic development. Third, that governance should be not only enhanced through ensuring adequate capacity but also constantly monitored, and it should be a permanent phenomenon. The need to strengthen links between and among the government, civil society, and the private sector cannot be overemphasized; this is necessary to ensure the dynamism that should characterize a good governance environment. This environment should include a new Sierra Leonean psyche: that of the interests of the state first, anchored in attitudinal and behavioral change. In this book, the author also attempts to determine how far Sierra Leone has gone in its practice of democratic good governance and the challenges it is facing in trying to do so. He also makes recommendations on how these challenges could be surmounted.