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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Kamajors, 'Sobel' and the Militariat: Civil Society and the Return of the Military in Sierra Leone Politics
Author:Zack-Williams, Alfred B.ISNI
Year:1997
Periodical:Review of African Political Economy
Volume:24
Issue:73
Pages:373-380
Language:English
Geographic term:Sierra Leone
Subjects:political systems
democracy
coups d'état
1997
Military, Defense and Arms
Politics and Government
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056249708704269
Abstract:The coup d'état of 25 May 1997 came as a surprise to most observers of the political scene in Sierra Leone. For many it was a major blow struck at the heart of a nascent democracy. This paper examines certain dangerous pitfalls in the path to sustained democracy in Sierra Leone, and the underlying reason for the recent blow at democracy. President Ahmed Tejan Kabba, who was dismissed by the May 1997 coup, inherited a political and military situation that was daunting and some of his own actions did not help. First, he did not deal with corrupt officials promptly to convince the public that his was a new order regime. Second, he failed to appreciate the danger in using an organ of civil society, namely the Kamajors - Mende traditional hunters who rose from 'ethnic hunters' to a quasi-national army - 'as the protectors of the nation's sovereignty against the incursions of dissidents'. The rebel coalition of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council - as the junta prefers to call itself - and their allies, the rebel fighters of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) are now showing a greater determination to hold on to power. The illegal regime can only be removed by the Nigerian-led Ecomog. A victory of the Kamajors, whose recruitment is based on 'ethnic chauvinism', would raise more problems of governance in Sierra Leone than its victory would solve. Bibliogr.
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