POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE: 45,000 Ex-Combatants Reluctant To Disarm

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Nov 11 1999 (IPS) - The long-awaited disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of an estimated 45,000 ex- combatants in Sierra Leone got off this week, albeit to a bad start.

A number of DDR centres were established in the eastern, northern and southern provinces, with one closer to the capital Freetown, at Lungi, about 10 kilometres northwest.

And, although the authorities are yet to give figures about the total number of ex-combatants who have so far surrendered, independent sources say no more than 200 have done so.

This situation has created considerable unease in the capital and provincial districts. Ex-combatants have infiltrated government-controlled areas, in the name of familiarisation tours, and civilians and newspapers have been urging the authorities to tighten security, in the event of a rebel surprise attack.

Wednesday’s edition of the Independent “Democrat” newspaper said there was an imminent threat of a rebel invasion of the capital, and urged civilians to resist any unconstitutional attempt to topple the elected government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.

Another tabloid, “The Vision”, said rebel leader Foday Sankoh of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) “has a diabolical plan to overthrow the government by force.” The paper, quoting a former aide to the rebel leader, warned the government “to be careful with Mr. Sankoh”.

As tension mounts across the West African country, two-thirds of which is controlled by the RUF and their former allies, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), the head of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), Francis Okelo expressed “grave concern over the severity of the security in the country”.

The statement, issued in Freetown this week, said “the international community will not tolerate any subversion of the peace process”, and that it will assist President Kabbah’s government to “maintain stability and to forestall any tendencies by the AFRC/RUF to undermine the peace”.

One of the most worrying developments is the intra-rebel fighting in the north of the country. Hundreds of combatants from both rebel sides have reportedly been killed in the past three weeks, and both ECOMOG (the Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force) and UNAMSIL have condemned the fighting.

“This is a gross violation of the July 7 peace agreement and we urge the warring rebel sides to go by the dictates of the accord”, a senior Ecomog official warned this week.

Apart from the intra-rebel fighting, ECOMOG also complains of the rebels denial of aid agencies, officials of the DDR and civilians free access to rebel-held areas. This, coupled with the rebels reluctance to release more than 5,000 abductees, more than half of whom are children, is considered a strong violation of the July 7 peace accord, signed in the Togolese capital of Lome, to end eight years of conflict.

IPS investigations also revealed that former combatants, who are not properly educated on the benefits of the DDR programme, are reluctant to join the DDR because of fears that they may not be paid their benefits in time.

On Tuesday (Nov 9), there was a massive protest at the Lungi DDR camp, outside Freetown, where some 800 ex-combatants, who had surrendered to ECOMOG, before the signing of the peace agreement, went on the rampage.

They looted hospitals, schools and private business before calm was restored by the authorities. The ex-combatants are demanding backlog salaries and better living conditions at their camps.

Analysts fear that the incident may affect the already slow pace of the DDR, as ex-combatants in the jungle express fears of bad times at the camp, ahead of them.

“Until the DDR programme is expedited this country is still sitting on a powder-keg. The authorities must ensure the peace deal is implemented fully”, says local military analyst Sam Jonjo.