SIERRA LEONE-POLITICS: Tension Follows Military Coup

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, May 26 1997 (IPS) - Sporadic shooting and looting continued Monday in the Sierra Leonean capital following a military coup that toppled the 14-month old civilian government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.

The coup was staged Sunday by junior army officers who declared that the civilian government had been replaced by an Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).

Self-proclaimed head of state Major Johnny Paul Koroma said Sunday night on state radio that “in view of the prevailing political situation, we have decided today to overthrow the government for fear of having the country disintegrate into factional conflict.”

The AFRC head charged that the government had been ousted because of its failure “to consolidate the gains made by peace brokers,” its promotion of ethnic politics and neglect of the welfare of junior military officials and the failure of commanders to communicate soldiers’ grievances to the authorities.

Prominent among the soldiers’ complaints was the alleged pampering by the government of civil defence units and a militia made up of traditional hunters, known as the Kamajors. Like the bulk of the government, most of the Kamajors were from the Mende ethnic group from the south, while AFRC leader is from the rival Temne group, whose heartland is in the north of the country.

Since January, clashes between the Kamajors and the military had reportedly killed hundreds of combatants from both sides. Although they had been allies during the war against the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), relations between the two groups had always been tense.

One of the first things the putschists did on Sunday was to announce that the Kamajors had been disbanded. “We are the national army, we have the constitutional right to defend this country. No more Kamajors …,” an AFRC spokesman who identified himself as Corporal Gborie said Sunday.

The coup has been condemned by the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). “This is a major reversal of the clock in Sierra Leone,” a Western diplomat told IPS on Monday. “After just over a year of civilian rule, the soldiers are back. I think this is going to pose serious propblems for the people of Sierra Leone.”

The coup began early Sunday morning when, as in April 1992 when Capt. Valentine Strasser ousted the government of then President Joseph Momoh, Freetown residents were awakened by the sound of bombs and gunfire from heavy-calibre weapons.

The soldiers broke into the Freetown maximum security prison and allegedly set free over 500 prisoners, around 40 of them army officers jailed for various offences, including plotting against the government. The AFRC also seized the state-owned Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) and ordered all private radios to close down.

Young soldiers and thousands of jobless youths went on a looting spree and, by Sunday evening, dozens of homes, stores and other businesses had been completely ransacked, along with warehouses belonging to relief agencies, whose vehicles, along with those of some individuals were commandered by the soldiers.

“The volume of looting was incredible,” said Isha Thomas, a Freetown resident. “I saw men women and children braving the shots to grab whatever they could from warehouses,” she told IPS.

There have been reports that around four people died in the coup, although civil servant John Gbassie told IPS: “I saw a few injured civilians and at least 10 corpses.”

A number of buildings in the capital, including the national treasury, were set ablaze. There were unconfirmed reports that the Bank of Sierra Leone was burnt on Monday.

The coup followed the collapse at the start of the year of a November 1996 peace agreement signed by Tejan Kabbah and RUF leader Foday Sankoh, a former army corporal. The AFRC has now called on Sankoh, who has been in Nigeria since March, to return home, help form a government and choose any post he wants.

It has also said that it would like to do business with the Capt. Solomon Musa, the former vice chairman of the National Patriotic Ruling Council (NPRC) that governed the country from April 1992 to March 1996, when Tejan Kabbah assumed power following after winning presidential elections. Musa had fled Sierra Leone after falling out with Strasser.

Observers here were somewhat baffled by the first moves made by the new junta. “Is this a ploy to bring back the NPRC or is it a coup with RUF blessing,” wondered Tom Sesay, a military analyst here.

In the meantime, Sierra Leoneans waited Monday to see who would be appointed in the new government. While the AFRC mentioned opposition leader John Karefa-Smart — who like Sankoh is a northerner — as someone it respected and could deal with, Karefa- Smart later condemned the coup.

Said Mike Sesay, a political analyst: “I don’t see how the people can accept this sudden aberration of democracy. After all, the people of Sierra Leone voted in their government and if they didn’t want it anymore they could have changed it in 2001 through the ballot box.”

For now, that option is no longer open to them.