SIERRA LEONE-POLITICS: BOB MARLEY JOINS THE WAR

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

LANSANA FOFANA

FREETOWN, Jun 6 1995 (IPS) - BOB MARLEY WOULD TURN IN HIS GRAVE. THE REGGAE LEGEND, WHO PREACHED BLACK UNITY, HAS BECOME A FACTOR IN SIERRA LEONE’S CIVIL WAR.

IN A CONFLICT WHERE REGULAR UNIFORMS PROVIDE LITTLE IDENTIFICATION, T-SHIRTS EMBLAZONED WITH HIS IMAGE CAN COST SOMEONE THEIR LIFE.

IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS, THEY HAVE BECOME A FAD AMONG RAG-TAG REBELS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT (RUF) WAGING AN INCREASINGLY SUCCESSFUL FOUR-YEAR WAR AGAINST THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT.

“WE SAW THE REBELS, ABOUT 50 OF THEM, ALL WEARING BOB MARLEY T-SHIRTS WHEN THEY ATTACKED OUR VILLAGE IN THE NORTH. THEY CAUSED SERIOUS DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND KILLED A NUMBER OF PERSONS WHILE ABDUCTING YOUNGSTERS,” SAID SAMUEL SESAY, WHO FLED THE 200 KMS FROM HIS TONKOLILI DISTRICT HOME TO THE CAPITAL LAST MONTH.

“I SAW THE LYNCHING OF THREE ALLEGED REBELS LAST MONTH AND ALL OF THEM WERE PUTTING ON BOB MARLEY T-SHIRTS,” HE ADDED.

IN A CONFUSING WAR IN WHICH NO ESTABLISHED FRONT EXISTS, AND RENEGADE SOLDIERS FREQUENTLY POSE AS REBELS, THE POPULAR T- SHIRTS ARE ENOUGH OF AN EXCUSE FOR THE DEMORALISED ARMY TO BRAND ITS WEARER AS RUF.

“I HAD TO BURN MY TWO BOB MARLEY T-SHIRTS WHEN I SAW A YOUNG BOY BEATEN UP AT ‘FO MILE’ AFTER HE WAS ACCUSED OF BEING A REBEL COLLABORATOR AND I THOUGHT IT WASN’T ADVISABLE TO CONTINUE WEARING THEM,” SAYS ONE FREETOWNIAN, BOCKARIE KAMARA.

“THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL DIRECTIVE AND I BELIEVE THERE MAY BE ISOLATED CASES, BUT NO OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO HOUND PEOPLE WEARING BOB MARLEY T-SHIRTS,” A STATE SECURITY OFFICIAL TOLD IPS.

THAT IS SMALL COMFORT TO TRADERS AS SIERRA LEONEANS TURN THEIR BACK ON THE JAMAICAN LEGEND.

“THE BOB MARLEY T-SHIRTS WERE HOT FAVOURITES,” SAYS IMPORTER MARGERET KANU. “NOW, I DON’T MAKE MUCH RETURNS BECAUSE YOUNGSTERS SHY AWAY FROM THE BOB MARLEY T-SHIRTS WHICH THEY CLAIM COULD COST SOMEONE HIS OR HER LIFE.”

IT IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN A WAR IN WHICH IT IS DIFFICULT TO TELL WHO IS WHOM.

THE GOVERNMENT, ANXIOUS OVER RUF THREATS TO SEIZE RATHER THAN STRANGLE THE CAPITAL AND OTHER KEY TOWNS, HAS NOW LAUNCHED A SWOOP ON THOSE NOT CARRYING IDENTITY CARDS.

AN INABILITY TO PRODUCE IT MEANS AN UNCOMFORTABLE TIME AT THE HANDS OF SOLDIERS AND POLICE, OR A NIGHT IN THE CELLS IF A TOKEN BRIBE IS NOT FORTHCOMING.

“I HAD JUST STEPPED OUT OF A NIGHT CLUB IN THE EAST END OF THE TOWN WHEN I WAS ACCOSTED BY THREE RIFLE-BEARING SOLDIERS. THEY ASKED ME FOR MY ID CARD WHICH I DIDN’T HAVE AT THE TIME AND THEY WENT INTO ACTION. THEY MOLESTED ME,” SAID 20-YEAR-OLD ADULAI KAMARA.

“THIS GROWING CONCERN OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC IS UNFORTUNATE BUT, CERTAINLY, WE HAVE TO ENSURE THAT THE REBELS DON’T INFILTRATE BIGGER TOWNS AND VILLAGES AND CAUSE DESTRUCTION THERE,” SAYS A SENIOR OFFICER AT ARMY HEADQUARTERS.

THE CRACKDOWN HAS LED TO A DEMAND FOR THE PREVIOUSLY NEGLECTED CARDS BY THE PUBLIC, AT A COST OF TWO DOLLARS EACH, WHICH THE NATIONAL REGISTRATION SECRETARIAT HAS BEEN UNABLE TO MEET.

“WE DO RECEIVE OUR MONTHLY SALARIES BUT DON’T HAVE ANY JOB TO DO,” AN OFFICIAL IN THE SECRETARIAT, WHO ASKED FOR ANONYMITY, SAID. “THE GOVERNMENT HASN’T ORDERED THE FILMS AND OTHER MATERIAL FOR US TO RESUME ISSUING ID CARDS. THEY MERELY SUSPENDED THE EXERCISE AT A TIME WHEN PEOPLE NEEDED THEM.”

THAT EXCUSE DOES NOT IMPRESS THE NERVOUS SECURITY FORCES.

“HOW CAN THEY DO THAT? THEY DON’T ISSUE ID CARDS AND YET KEEP ARRESTING PEOPLE WHO DON’T HAVE THE CARDS,” SAYS HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, MOHAMED SESAY.

“WE CANNOT DISTINGUISH THE REBELS FROM THE ORDINARY CITIZENS — ALL ARE SIERRA LEONEANS,” NOTES THE REGISTRATION SECRETARIAT OFFICIAL. “THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM, IN MY VIEW, IS PURELY TO DO WITH THE SECURITY NETWORK RATHER THAN THE POCESSION OR NOT OF ID CARDS.”

OR, FOR THAT MATTER, A BOB MARLEY T-SHIRT.

SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR, LAUNCHED BY RUF LEADER FODAY SANKOH FROM NEIGBOURING LIBERIA IN 1991, 15,000 PEOPLE HAVE DIED AND A QUARTER OF THE COUNTRY’S 4.5 MILLION POPULATION HAVE FLED THEIR HOMES.

THE STATED GOAL OF THE RUF, ALONG WITH VAGUE LEFTIST PRINCIPLES, IS MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY. BUT IT HAS REJECTED PEACE OVERTURES BY THE THREE-YEAR-OLD GOVERNMENT OF CAPTAIN VALENTINE STRASSER AND HAS REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE IN ELECTIONS PLANNED FOR THE END OF THE YEAR.

INSTEAD, IT HAS INCREASED THE PRESSURE ON FREETOWN AND OTHER TOWNS. THEY MANAGED TO MOUNT AN AMBUSH ONLY 26 KMS FROM THE CAPITAL AT THE END OF LAST MONTH ON THE HIGHWAY EAST, AND KILLED THREE LORRY DRIVERS.

FUEL TANKER DRIVERS, STRIKING IN RESPONSE, DEMANDED THAT MILITARY CHECKPOINTS BE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED. SOME WENT FURTHER AND CALLED FOR THE ARMY TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM THE ROADS AND SECURITY HANDED OVER TO THE MORE TRUSTWORTHY NIGERIAN AND GUINEAN SOLDIERS IN THE COUNTRY TO SUPPORT GOVERNMENT FORCES.