SIERRA LEONE: Chaos In Freetown Concerns And Distracts OAU

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

LONDON, May 30 1997 (IPS) - The chaotic situation in Sierra Leone has forced itself to the top of the agenda at the Organisation of African Unity’s annual summit in Zimbabwe next week.

Ibrahim Daggash, spokesman for the pan-African body, has urged the country’s coup leaders to return to barracks and restore multi- party democracy in the West African country immediately.

“The political situation in Sierra Leone is a very sad development,” he told journalists here after Major Johnny-Paul Koromah announced that he had toppled the country’s elected president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah on Sunday.

This week’s coup by middle-ranking army officers, has already been formally condemned by the OAU. The chaos in the capital Freetown and the presence of Nigerian and Guinean troops in the city already makes direct military intervention a ready option.

The issues raised are expected to overshadow plans by leaders like Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda to get the Jun. 2-4 OAU Summit to focus on tomorrow’s issues instead of today’s crises for a change. The coup came 14 months after the deposed government succeeded a military regime.

At hand will be the OAU secretary-general Salim Ahmed Salim, a passionate advocate of multi-party democracy in Africa. Salim, a Tanzanian diplomat and former prime minister, played a major role in ending Idi Amin’s military dictatorship in Uganda in 1979.

Unknowingly then, Tanzania’s decision to get rid of Amin, coupled with the wind of change in the international political arena, was to change the political face of Africa. “There are now fewer military regimes in Africa compared to ten years ago,” said Daggash.

However it is not clear how the OAU will deal with the coup in Sierra Leone. First of all, the 34-year old pan-African body has yet to find both funds and consensus on creating a standing army to police the volatile continent. Under the founding articles of the OAU, its members cannot interfere in the internal affairs of member nations.

Earlier this week Salim expressed concern over the events in the West African state. “This unconstitutional action is unacceptable in this day and age, especially at a time when our continent is committed to nurturing and promoting democracy and the rule of law within our societies,” he said.

But in a strange twist of events, it seems that the only country that may challenge the coup leaders in Sierra Leone is Nigeria.

On Wednesday Nigerian military leader General Sani Abacha despatched two frigates with troops to reinforce a small contingent in the capital Freetown. The troops, an estimated 700, were redeployed from the Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force in neighbouring Liberia.

Abacha, who himself seized power in a military coup several years ago, Tuesday gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the coup leaders to relinquish power. Playing down Abacha’s ultimatum, Major Koromah told journalists in Freetown on Wednesday that the Nigerian troops were brought to Sierra Leone to evacuate their nationals.

Major Koromah’s statement coincided with the scramble to evacuate frightened foreigners from the city. The former colonial power, Britain, chartered a jumbo jet Thursday to evacuate an estimated 800 nationals from the country.

The first airlift left for Lebanon on Wednesday with over 170 Lebanese nationals, mostly women and children, leaving behind men in Sierra Leone. This followed the murder of two Lebanese nationals by armed looters ransacking homes, shops and aid agencies. The U.N. World Food Programme said Tuesday that looters stole 1,650 tonnes of food and 15 vehicles. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees was also planning to pull out 21 of its 26 staff in the capital.

Other foreigners include some 40 Americans attached to the U.S. embassy in Freetown and there are about 400 other Americans in the country, mostly aid workers and missionaries, according to US officials.

In London, the British Foreign office spokesperson told IPS on Thursday that they had strongly urge the restoration of democratic civilian government in Sierra Leone.

“We have made it clear to the military leaders in Sierra Leone our serious concern over the level of violence against both local and foreign communities,” he said.

Deposed president Kabbah, who has fled to the Guinean capital Conakry, is urging Nigeria to reinstate him. Unconfirmed sources here say Nigeria is waiting for foreign nationals to be evacuated before they challenge the coup plotters.

If Nigeria strikes, it is likely that the battle will be bloody. There are reports that rebel fighters are pouring into the capital to back Koromah. Koromah had blamed Kabbah for the recent collapse of a ceasefire with the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which has waged a five-year war against the government.

Koromah has invited RUF leader Foday Sankoh to join in government. Sankoh, who accepted to join in government Wednesday, has spent the last two months in Nigeria officially as a guest of the Nigerian government.

“Till now we don’t know what Nigeria is up to,” said a Sierra Leonean here who refused to be named. “We hope there will be no bloodshed in Sierra Leone”.

The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) Thursday urged the coup leaders to resort to dialogue. “SLAJ believes that a peaceful negotiated settlement to the present crisis is necessary and possible. We want to make clear that all Sierra Leoneans must continue to work towards that end…

“We call on the military authorities to recognise and respect the people’s will and to conduct peace negotiations with RUF within the framework of the Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) Peace Accords of Nov. 30th 1997,” said a statement by the group.