POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE: EX-Rebel Soldiers Emerge From The Bush

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Jul 19 1999 (IPS) - Barely two weeks after the signing of the Sierra Leonean peace accord in Lome, Togo, former rebel soldiers have been pouring into the capital, Freetown, ahead of the official decommisioning and reintegration of ex-combatants, due to start next month.

The arrival of the ex-combatants has caused extreme nervousness among a population that was at the receiving end of rebel atrocities, barely six months ago.

“We just can’t come to terms with this development because these rebel soldiers are supposed to hand in their weapons before joining society,” says Bai Kamara, a community leader at the eastern town of Calaba.

“We just can’t trust them. They must first be disarmed and encamped before being allowed to come back to town,” he says.

Officials of the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) and the Nigerian-led West African Peace-keeping force ECOMOG have also expressed concern about the “unofficial” arrival in town of the former rebel soldiers.

“We are extremely worried about this development and we’d expect the rebels to wait for the commencement of the demobilisation and disarmament programme on Aug. 18,” ECOMOG spokesperson, Lt-Col Chris Olukolade, told IPS on Monday.

He said ECOMOG High Command has ordered its troops, estimated about 14,000, to be on “red alert” and “not take any chances as this period is most critical.”

ECOMOG says it wants to avoid a repeat of the January incident when rebel forces invaded Freetown, killing more than 4,000 civilians, and slashing off the legs, or arms of a dozen others. More than 2,500 residential homes and public buildings were also raised to the ground.

The conflict in Sierra Leone erupted in 1991 when former army corporal Foday Sankoh, who is the leader of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), launched a bush war to overthrow the government of then President Joseph Momoh.

Since then, more than 50,000 people are believed to have been killed, and almost a quarter of Sierra Leone’s 4.5 million people forced as refugees in neighbouring countries, and close to a 1,000 civilians having either their arms or legs slashed off by rebel forces.

Peace returned to Sierra Leone on Jul 7, after talks brokered by Togolese President Gnassinege Eyadema, was signed in Lome, providing for a power sharing arrangement, between the adversaries.

Under the deal, the RUF has been offered four cabinet posts and its leader Sankoh put in charge of gold and diamonds, which form the economic lifeline of this West African country.

Sankoh’s sentence to death in 1997 for treason has also been nullified and his rebel Movement allowed to be transformed into a political party. In the proposed government of national unity, the RUF would also be put in charge of a number of state parastatals.

President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah says, after the signing of the peace deal, that all combatants of the RUF “would be given blanket amnesty, free from persecution and given equal opportunity to serve the community.”

Kabbah also has announced an amnesty for more than 20 civilian and military collaborators of the defunct Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), which overthrew his government in May 1997 and ruled the country for nine months.

Information minister Julius Spencer told IPS on Monday that: “The government is concerned about the unco-ordinated arrival of rebels in town.”

“We would like them to come to town, but it must be done in the proper way,” he said.

Meanwhile, the rebel soldiers, who are coming to town, say they cannot continue living in the bush, with the rainy season at its peak here, and the reality of hunger and lack of medicines in the bush.

“We are tired of living in the bush and fighting. This time, we are for peace and would like to assure the civilian population that the days of hacking of limbs and killing of people are over,” says a young rebel soldier.

Also hampering the disarmament and demobilisation programme is the slow response of the donor community, towards providing the necessary funds.

According to the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, out of a total of 35 million US Dollars needed, “only half has been pledged by the donor community.”

“Our fear is that the longer it takes, the more dangerous the situation becomes,” says an official of the commission.

UN Reintegration official, Sullay Sesay, says there are no accurate estimates of exactly how many combatants there are on both sides of the conflict. Unconfirmed reports say both the rebels and pro-government militias number up to 40,000.

“We count on the international community to make available the funds, so that we can commence the decommissioning process as soon as possible,” Spencer says. “Otherwise, the fragile peace is under a serious threat.”