Africa: Political Agreements Alone Will not Heal Sierra Leone’s Social Divide

Constitutional and authorized reforms are wanted to deal with divisions rooted within the over-centralisation of energy and sources.

Regardless of a veneer of nationwide cohesion, deep ethnic and political divisions persist in Sierra Leone. These have been evident throughout the 2023 contested elections, which required a nationwide unity settlement to defuse tensions between the federal government and the opposition All Individuals’s Congress (APC).

The APC had rejected the declaration of President Julius Maada Bio because the winner, citing irregularities and procedural infractions. Whereas the subsequent normal election remains to be three years away, it is important to stop a resurgence of tensions that would escalate into violence and instability.

For the reason that finish of its civil battle in 2002, Sierra Leone has been on a democratic trajectory, holding 5 consecutive elections and experiencing peaceable transfers of energy in 2007 and 2018. The nation has constantly ranked excessive on the International Peace Index, though with a slight decline since 2016 – and was ranked eighth most peaceable in Africa in 2024.

Mixed with its post-war stability, spiritual tolerance, and battle prevention consciousness, this progress has fostered a semblance of nationwide cohesion and led to diminished regional and worldwide interventions lately.

However, deep-rooted socio-political cleavages proceed and have been particularly obvious earlier than and after the June 2023 elections. The antagonistic relationship between the ruling Sierra Leone Individuals’s Get together (SLPP) and APC continues to mirror pronounced ethno-regional cleavages. The SLPP attracts its major help from the Mende ethnic group within the south and east, whereas the APC is basically backed by the Temne within the north and northwest.

These divisions have been implicitly acknowledged within the settlement, during which each events collectively condemned ‘all residents at residence and overseas who incite violence, unfold hate speech and disrupt nationwide cohesion.’ They reaffirmed their dedication to inter-party dialogue.

The settlement aimed to resolve the post-election deadlock, resulting in the APC ending the boycott of its participation in elective workplaces – parliamentarians, mayors, council chairs, and councillors. The events agreed to ascertain a cross-party committee to assessment the 2023 electoral course of and tackle points comparable to election-related detentions and politically motivated authorized actions.

Nevertheless, it didn’t tackle the over-centralisation of energy and sources which have traditionally fuelled divisive politics, typically centred extra on entry to state management than real coverage variations. The 1991 Structure (as reinstated in 1996 and amended in 2008) and Mines and Minerals Improvement Act vest full possession and management of Sierra Leone’s huge pure sources – together with gold, diamonds, bauxite, and iron ore – within the state, significantly the chief.

Mining, regulated by the Nationwide Minerals Company, has been a key financial pillar, accounting for over 26% of gross home product in 2014 and contributing considerably to public income and export earnings between 2012 and 2014 earlier than Ebola and COVID-19 disruptions.

Moreover, the non-public sector depends on state-led public works and procurement. The federal government controls licences, permits, and entry to credit score ensures, making proximity to political elites a determinant of financial success.

The general public service, accounting for 39% of formal employment in 2018, stays a serious employer. These elements reinforce state dominance over financial life and render entry to political workplace a gateway to wealth accumulation, whereas exclusion typically interprets into financial marginalisation.

Each main events have accused one another of corruption and discriminatory financial practices. Between 2007 and 2018, SLPP leaders, together with then-opposition determine Bio, accused the APC authorities of tribalism, patronage and nepotism, claiming authorities contracts have been awarded primarily to ruling elite loyalists and associates.

On assuming workplace in 2018, the Bio administration launched a report alleging grand corruption and ethnic favouritism underneath former president Ernest Bai Koroma. No less than 25% of residents within the south and east claimed their ethnic teams have been being handled unfairly.

The APC has equally accused the SLPP of state seize, citing, for instance, the alleged misappropriation of public funds by First Girl Fatima Maada Bio. In its northern stronghold, the place 26% of the Temne inhabitants reported experiencing ethnic discrimination by the state, grievances over rising dwelling prices and restricted entry to fundamental providers triggered lethal anti-government protests in August 2022.

These developments echo the causes of the civil battle, as recognized by the Reality and Reconciliation Fee in its 2004 last report. It discovered that ‘

Regardless of the 2023 settlement, political tensions intensified when Koroma was positioned underneath home arrest and charged with treason between December 2023 and January 2024 relating to an alleged tried coup. This adopted assaults on army installations and prisons, which left 20 lifeless and enabled over 2000 prisoners to flee. The federal government claimed that Koroma’s safety personnel largely orchestrated these assaults.

Furthermore, the chief wields important management over state establishments regardless of constitutional provisions for the separation of powers. Presidential appointments to key authorities positions – together with within the judiciary, safety sector, and public administration – focus energy within the government and switch public establishments into autos for patronage, together with via the allocation of public contracts and jobs.

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Transitions of energy between the SLPP and APC have often resulted in widespread alternative of state personnel. Institute for Safety Research (ISS) interviews with political and civil society actors in June 2024 highlighted considerations over the politicisation of public appointments and deployment of state establishments in opposition to political opponents.

The trial of APC’s 2023 presidential candidate and former international minister Samura Karama for alleged corruption was cited for instance.

Selling sustainable nationwide cohesion and making certain stability throughout elections would require greater than externally brokered political settlements. The deal was brokered by the African Union (AU), the Financial Neighborhood of West African States (ECOWAS), the Commonwealth, and the Impartial Fee for Peace and Nationwide Cohesion.

Structural reforms geared toward decentralising energy and useful resource management have to be prioritised via constitutional and authorized reforms. The AU, ECOWAS, and different worldwide companions should transcend disaster response and work to speed up inclusive growth and broaden financial alternatives for all, regardless of ethnicity or area.

Sampson KwarkyeVenture Supervisor, Littoral West African States, ISS Regional Workplace for West Africa and the Sahel

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