SIERRA LEONE: Donors Hesitate to Fund Delayed Peace Process

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Mar 5 1997 (IPS) - Donors nations have been slow to release funds meant for the peace process in Sierra Leone because of the apparent unwillingness of rebels to respect an accord they signed with the government in November.

According to Jacob Saffa of the Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, donor countries had pledged last September in Geneva to provide 211 million U.S. dollars for a programme to disarm former fighters and reintegrate them into civil society.

But “only Britain has provided any money so far,” according to Saffa, who is the programme’s planning manager.

U.N. sources here say the main reason why the money has been coming in trickles has been the delay in the implementation of November’s peace accord between the government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabba and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, who took up arms in 1991.

“The peace accord’s deadline for the encampment, disarmament and demobilisation of RUF combattants expired last week but the rebels are still foot-dragging,” a UN envoy told IPS Wednesday. “I think this may pose serious problems for the process.”

Even Britain has hesitated to commit the entire 35 million U.S. dollars it budgeted for the demobilisation programme. Tony Todd, a consultant here of the British Overseas Development Association (ODA), said that so far, the U.K. had released 1.5 million dollars for the demobilisation centres set up in various parts of the country to host the estimated 10,000 rebels.

“… so far, only 30 rebels have shown up at the designated centres,” he explained. “This is disappointing.”

Sierra Leoneans, too, are disheartened by the rebels’ attitude especially since they had thought that the Nov. 30 peace accord had really meant the end of the war.

“This is the second major blow dealt to the peace process by the RUF in just two months,” commented University of Sierra Leone political analyst Joseph Kanu. “First they refused to send representatives to the Joint Monitoring Committee and now they seem to be saying ‘No’ to demobilisation and encampment.”

Nominees from both the state and the RUF are supposed to be on the Joint Monitoring Committee, whose task is to watchdog compliance with the November peace accord.

Like many here, Freetown teacher Mariama Bayoh has doubts about the rebels’ commitment to peace. “I think these barriers created by the RUF are deliberate and aimed at resuming hostilities,” she said. “We now see that they have started attacking vehicles on the highways.”

However, RUF leader Foday Sankoh told IPS over the weekend in an exclusive telephone interview from Abidjan, where he is based, that he was upset at what he saw as “the Freetown government’s disrespect” for him.

“I believe President Tejan Kabbah and his government are not sincere about the process,” he said. “They have been sending the Kamajors to attack our positions and they insist that I cannot leave Abidjan for Kailahun (an eastern town which the rebels claim as their headquarters) for whatever reason.”

Since the peace accord, there have been many clashes between the RUF and the Kamajors, a militia force of traditional hunters that fought on the government army’s side against the rebels.

“I am tired of living in exile,” complained Sankoh. “I want to go home finally as soon as the Freetown government gives the go- ahead.”

But many observers here feel that if the peace accord eventually collapses, which some fear will happen, the RUF will be to blame. In the past five weeks, there have been more than ten attacks, purportedly by rebels, on villages and vehicles along the main highway between Freetown and the interior.

More than 20 people have been killed in such attacks since November and property estimated at tens of thousands of dollars looted or burnt, allegedly by rebels.

“Given the spate of attacks in the north and southeast of the country, I believe the cease-fire itself may be heading for collapse,” said a Western envoy here.

The disarmament and demobilisation process may have stood a better chance of success had the rebels agreed to a UN proposal to deploy about 700 troops to monitor the peace accord. The RUF rejected the plan, stating that they would accept no more than 100 monitors.

The stagnation of the demobilisation has also affected the return of the some 500,000 Sierra Leonean refugees in neighbouring countries. A repatriation drive begun last month by the government and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has ground to a halt because of the insecurity.

Sierra Leone’s civil war started in March 1991 when the RUF invaded the country from bases in neighbouring Liberia to topple the then civilian government of Joseph Momoh. Up to 15,000 people are believed to have died in the fighting.