Sierra Leone Civil War

Sierra Leone Civil War

After doing some research, it appears that the main cause of this civil war was greed and corruption, and not from civilians but from the government and high power officials.  Sierra Leone gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1961, and since then has seen government officials allow more corruption and  greed than is permissible and the entire government has dissolved. Sir Milton Margai, his brother and successor Albert Margai, Siaka Stevens, and finally Joseph Momoh all had a hand in the destruction of Sierra Leone. From the undermining of parliament and bribery of judges, to electoral violence and the collapse of the education system, Sierra Leone went from bad to worse. The other main cause of the civil war was the diamond mining and financial corruption. Sierra Leone is rich with diamonds, and should have been able to use those resources to provide financial stability for the country. “The presence of diamonds in Sierra Leone invited and led to the civil war in several ways. First, the highly unequal benefits resulting from diamond mining made ordinary Sierra Leoneans frustrated. Under the Stevens government, revenues from the National Diamond Mining Corporation (known as DIMINCO) – a joint government/DeBeers venture – were used for the personal enrichment of Stevens and of members of the government and business elite who were close to him. When DeBeers pulled out of the venture in 1984, the government lost direct control of the diamond mining areas. By the late 1980s, almost all of Sierra Leone's diamonds were being smuggled and traded illicitly, with revenues going directly into the hands of private investors. Momoh made some efforts to reduce smuggling and corruption in the diamond mining sector, but he lacked the political clout to enforce the law. Even after the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) took power in 1992, ostensibly with the goal of reducing corruption and returning revenues to the state, high-ranking members of the government sold diamonds for their personal gain and lived extravagantly off the proceeds.” (Wikipedia) 

The citizens of Sierra Leone didn’t have a government to rely on, so the rebel cause RUF (Revolutionary United Front Rebels) was an appealing option for many people. “The RUF took advantage of the refugees, who were abandoned, starving, and in dire need of medical attention, by promising food, shelter, medical care, and looting and mining profits in return for their support. When this method of recruitment failed, as it often did for the RUF, youths were often coerced at the barrel of a gun to join the ranks of the RUF. After being forced to join, many child soldiers learned that the complete lack of law – as a result of the civil war – provided a unique opportunity for self-empowerment through violence and thus continued to support the rebel cause.” 

It makes sense why these refugees and citizens joined the RUF; they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, they had a government that was destroying the country. There wasn’t enough food rations or resources to survive on and the education system had collapsed. On the other hand, the RUF was offering medical attention, food, and shelter; but at a price. These citizens didn’t want to use violence to get what they needed. But they had to choose between violence or starving. No option is easy but it makes sense why a lot of them chose to join the RUF. 

To me it just seems crazy that the civil war lasted as long as it did. The UN knew what was going on, the UK knew what was going on, the world powers knew what was going on, but still this civil war lasted over 10 years and left over 50,000 people dead.