POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE/LIBERIA: Border Re-opens, As Relations Improve

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Oct 15 1999 (IPS) - After ten months of its closure, the common border between Liberia and Sierra Leone, which had served as a major conduit for instability in the sub-region, has been re- opened.

The ceremony took place earlier this week, following representations made by government officials, diplomats and United Nations officials, in the aftermath of the signing of a peace deal on July 7, between the Sierra Leonean government and rebel forces.

Before the re-opening of the strategic border, which has facilitated commerce and the free movement of people in and out of both countries, there had been trading of accusations by the two governments about each others support for dissident and rebel groups.

Last week, the government of Charles Taylor, a rebel-turned- President, accused Sierra Leone of allowing its territory to be used by Liberian dissidents to overthrow the administration there.

Sierra Leone’s deputy minister of defence Sam Hinga Norman Tuesday denied the claims and expressed hopes that the re-opening of the border may foster co-operation and ease tension between the two war-ravaged West African states.

“I am not aware of dissident training in this country to destabilise Liberia. All I can say is that we would be vigilant in protecting our borders so that we don’t witness a replay of the savagery and destruction that tore this country apart,” he said.

Norman acknowledged that there are well over 100,000 Sierra Leonean refugees in Liberia waiting to return home, but have been prevented from doing so, because of bad roads and bureaucratic red- tape.

“We are trying to see how best these refugees could be repatriated in the shortest possible time,” he said.

Most of these refugees have expressed willingness to return home, because of their recent experiences in the renewed civil conflict in Liberia, which saw many of their relatives murdered by rebels or abducted and forcefully conscripted into the fighting forces.

The call for the re-opening of the border was made by returning rebel leaders, Foday Sankoh of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Major Paul Koroma of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), when they met President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah last week.

Both rebel leaders argued that the re-opening of the border was necessary in the spirit of peace and economic regeneration.

“The war is over and we must remove all fears from our society. The state of emergency must be lifted and all borders opened to allow the free movement of goods and people everywhere,” demanded Sankoh.

But it appears that ordinary Sierra Leoneans, who have borne the brunt of the eight-year long civil war, are not at all comfortable with the decision to re-open the border. This is because the rebels ferried arms and mercenary into Sierra Leone through that region to fuel the conflict in the country.

There had been enough evidence to show Liberia’s complicity in the conflict, something which prompted the UN and the West African peacekeeping force ECOMOG, to heap pressure on the Monrovia government to stop its backing of rebels in Sierra Leone.

Marie Kanu, a 40-year-old housewife in the capital Freetown, wonders: “When this government will learn from its mistakes?”

“We know that Liberia is not at all our ally as that country is greatly responsible for our predicament, I am totally opposed to the move”, she says.

Civil servant, Joseph Kamara, agreed. “Perhaps the government should wait till the disarmament and demobilisation of ex- combatants is completed. Otherwise, we are heading for disaster,” he says.

But businesspersons have welcomed the move, saying the way is now open for commerce to flourish.

“The ten-month closure of the common border cost the two impoverished states million of dollars, in revenue that might otherwise have entered their coffers,” says Bockarie Jabbie, a businessman in Freetown.

Diplomats in Freetown have expressed hopes that the re-opening of the border might help improve relations between the two hostile neighbours.