Sierra Leone 1

Sierra Leone

Republic of Sierra Leone

Flag Coat of Arms

Motto:"Unity, Freedom, Justice"

Anthem:High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free

Location of Sierra Leone(dark blue)in Africa(light blue &dark grey)in the African Union(light blue) [Legend]

Capitaland largest city

Freetown829.067N 1314.067W [1]

Official languages English

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Vernacular languages Temne Mende Krio

Ethnicgroups (2008) 35% Temne 31% Mende 8% Limba 5% Kono 2% Krio (Creole) 2% Mandingo 2% Loko 15% others

Demonym Sierra Leonean, Sierra Leonese

Government Presidential constitutional republic

- President Ernest Bai Koroma (APC)

- Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana(APC)

- Speaker of Parliament S.B.B. Dumbuya (APC)

- Chief Justice Umu Hawa Tejan-Jalloh

Legislature Parliament

Independence

- from the United Kingdom 27 April 1961

- Republic declared 19 April 1971

Area

- Total 71,740km2 (119th)27,699sqmi

- Water(%) 1.1

Population

- 2013estimate 6,190,280[2]

- Density 79.4/km2 (114tha)205.6/sqmi

GDP(PPP) 2012estimate

- Total $8.276billion

- Per capita $1,344

GDP(nominal) 2012estimate

- Total $3.777billion

- Per capita $613

Gini(2011) 35.4medium

HDI (2013) 0.374low 183rd

Currency Leone (SLL)

Time zone GMT (UTC+0)

Drives on the rightb

Calling code +232

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ISO 3166 code SL

Internet TLD .sl

a. Rank based on 2007 figures.

b. Since 1 March 1971.

Sierra Leone ( i/srHelp:IPA for English#Keyloni, -lon/), officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is acountry in West Africa that is bordered by Guinea to the northeast, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Oceanto the southwest. Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicamerallegislature. The country has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests.Sierra Leone has a total area of 71,740km2 (27,699sqmi) and with an estimated population of 6 million (2011United Nations estimate).[3] Freetown is the capital, largest city, and its economic and political centre. Bo is thesecond largest city and second major economic center.Sierra Leone is divided into four administrative regions: the Northern Province, Eastern Province, Southern Provinceand the Western Area; which are subdivided into fourteen districts. Each district has its own directly elected localgovernment known as district council, headed by a council chairman, in whom local executive authority is vested.Since Independence to present, Sierra Leone's politics has been dominated by two major political parties: the SierraLeone People's Party (SLPP) and the All People's Congress (APC).[4][5] Currently all 124 elected seats in the SierraLeone House of Parliament are held by members of either the APC or the SLPP.About sixteen ethnic groups inhabit Sierra Leone, each with its own language and custom. The two largest and mostinfluential are the Temne and the Mende.[6] The Temne are predominantly found in the north of the country, whilethe Mende are predominant in the south-east.Sierra Leone is a predominantly Muslim country,[7][8][9] though with an influential Christian minority. Sierra Leoneis regarded as one of the most religiously tolerant countries in the world. Muslims and Christians collaborate andinteract with each other peacefully in the country. Religious violence is very rare in Sierra Leone.Although English is the language of instruction in schools and the official language in government administration,the Krio language (derived from English and several indigenous African languages) is the primary language ofcommunication among Sierra Leone's different ethnic groups, and is spoken by 90% of the country's population. TheKrio Language serves to unite the different ethnic groups, especially in their trade and daily interaction with eachother.Sierra Leone has relied on mining, especially diamonds, for its economic base. It is also among the largest producersof titanium and bauxite, a major producer of gold, and has one of the world's largest deposits of rutile. Sierra Leoneis home to the third-largest natural harbour in the world. Despite exploitation of this natural wealth, 70% of itspeople live in poverty.In 1462, the Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra visited this area, naming it Serra de Lea, meaning "LionessMountains", for the landscape around Freetown.[10] Posts in Sierra Leone were developed as centres of the Atlanticslave trade, and hundreds of thousands of Africans were transported from the interior to the Americas throughtrading posts in Sierra Leone.Britain planted a colony in the peninsular area of Sierra Leone in 1787 as a place to relocate black poor fromLondon, but it was overcome by native hostility. In 1792 Freetown was founded as a colony for freed slaves who hadfought on the British side during the American Revolutionary War. About 1,200 Black Loyalists were resettled fromNova Scotia on 11 March 1792; they were mostly African Americans from the former colonies, now the UnitedStates. In 1808, Freetown became a British Crown colony. Their descendants are known today as the Sierra LeoneCreole people. In 1896, Britain annexed the interior of the country as a British protectorate, changing its relationswith the paramount chiefs.

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The united country achieved independence in 1961. Government corruption and mismanagement of the country'snatural resources finally lead to the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991 to 2002), which over more than a decadedevastated the country. It left more than 50,000 people dead, much of the country's infrastructure destroyed, and overtwo million people displaced as refugees in neighbouring countries.

HistoryMain article: History of Sierra Leone

Early history

Fragments of prehistoric pottery from KamabaiRock Shelter

An 1835 illustration of liberated Africans arrivingin Sierra Leone.

The colony of Freetown in 1856

Archaeological finds show that Sierra Leone has been inhabitedcontinuously for at least 2,500 years, populated by successive culturesof peoples who migrated from other parts of Africa. The peopleadopted the use of iron by the 9th century, and by 1000 A.D.agriculture was being practiced by coastal tribes. The climate changedconsiderably during that time, and boundaries among differentecological zones changed as well, affecting migration and conquest.Sierra Leone's dense tropical rainforest and swampy environment wasconsidered impenetrable; it was also host to the tsetse fly, whichcarried disease fatal to horses and zebu cattle used by the Mandepeople. This environmental factor protected its peoples from conquestby the Mande and other African empires.[][11] This also reduced theIslamic influence of the Mali Empire. But the Islamic faith, introducedby Susu traders, merchants and migrants from the north and east,became widely adopted in the 18th century.[12]

European trading

European contacts within Sierra Leone were among the first in WestAfrica. In 1462, Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra mapped the hillssurrounding what is now Freetown Harbour, naming the shapedformation Serra da Leoa or "Serra Leoa"(Portuguese for LionessMountains). The Spanish rendering of this geographic formation isSierra Leona, which later was adapted and, misspelled, became thecountry's current name.

Soon after Sintra's expedition, Portuguese traders arrived at theharbour. By 1495 they had built a fortified trading post. The Dutch andFrench also set up trade here, and each nation used Sierra Leone as atrading point for slaves brought by African traders from interior areas.In 1562, the English initiated the Triangle Trade when Sir JohnHawkins transported 300 enslaved Africans acquired "by the swordand partly by other means" to the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo in the Caribbean, where he sold them.

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Early coloniesFollowing the American Revolutionary War, the British had evacuated thousands of freed African-American slavesand resettled them in Canadian and Caribbean colonies and London. Many struggled in their new lives. In 1787 theBritish Crown founded a settlement in Sierra Leone in what was called the "Province of Freedom". It intended toresettle some of the "Black Poor of London," mostly African Americans freed by the British during the war. About400 blacks and 60 whites reached Sierra Leone on 15 May 1787. The group also included some West Indian, Africanand East Asian people from London. After they established Granville Town, most of the first group of colonists died,due to disease and warfare with the indigenous African peoples (Temne and Mende), who resisted theirencroachment. The 64 remaining colonists established a second Granville TownFollowing the Revolution, more than 3,000 Black Loyalists had also been settled in Nova Scotia, where they werefinally granted land. They founded Birchtown, Nova Scotia, but faced harsh winters and racial discrimination in thecolony. Thomas Peters pressed British authorities for relief and more aid; together with British abolitionist JohnClarkson, the Sierra Leone Company was established to relocate Black Loyalists who wanted to take their chances inWest Africa. In 1792 nearly 1200 persons from Nova Scotia crossed the Atlantic to build the second (and onlypermanent) Colony of Sierra Leone and the settlement of Freetown on 11 March 1792. In Sierra Leone they werecalled the Nova Scotian Settlers, the Nova Scotians, or the Settlers.The Settlers built Freetown in the styles they knew from their lives in the American South; they also continuedAmerican fashion and American manners. In addition, many continued to practice Methodism in Freetown. Theinitial process of society-building in Freetown, however, was a harsh struggle. The Crown did not supply enoughbasic supplies and provisions, and the Settlers were continually threatened by illegal slave trading and the risk ofre-enslavement. In the 1790s, the Settlers, including adult women, voted for the first time in elections. The SierraLeone Company, controlled by London investors, refused to allow the settlers to take freehold of the land. In 1799some of the Settlers revolted. The Crown subdued the revolt by bringing in forces of more than 500 JamaicanMaroon people, whom they transported from Trelawny Town via Nova Scotia in 1800.On 1 January 1808, Thomas Ludlam, the Governor of the Sierra Leone Company and a leading abolitionist,surrendered the Company's charter. This ended its 16 years of running the Colony. The British Crown reorganizedthe Sierra Leone Company as the African Institution; it was directed to improve the local economy. Its membersrepresented both British who hoped to inspire local entrepreneurs and those with interest in the Macauley &Babington Company, which held the (British) monopoly on Sierra Leone trade.[13]

Beginning in 1808 (following the abolition of the slave trade in 1807), British crews delivered thousands of formerlyenslaved Africans to Freetown, after liberating them from illegal slaves ships. Most of these Liberated Africans or'Recaptives' chose to remain in Sierra Leone. Cut off from their various homelands and traditions, the LiberatedAfricans assimilated the Western styles of Settlers and Maroons. They built a flourishing trade in flowers and beadson the West African coast. These returned Africans were from many areas of Africa, but principally the west coast.During the 19th century, freed black Americans, some Americo Liberian 'refugees', and particularly West Indians,also immigrated and settled in Freetown. Together these peoples created a new creole ethnicity called the Kriopeople (initially called Creoles) and a trading language, Krio, which became commonly used among many of theethnicities in the country.

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Colonial era

Bai Bureh, Temne leader of the Hut Tax War of1898 against British rule

In the early 19th century, Freetown served as the residence of theBritish colonial governor of the region, who also administered over theGold Coast (now Ghana) and the Gambia settlements. Sierra Leonedeveloped as the educational centre of British West Africa. The Britishestablished Fourah Bay College here in 1827, which rapidly became amagnet for English-speaking Africans on the West Coast. For morethan a century, it was the only European-style university in westernSub-Saharan Africa.

Temne leader Bai Bureh seen here in 1898 afterhis surrender, sitting relaxed in his traditionaldress with a handkerchief in his hands, while aSierra Leonean Royal West African Frontier

soldier stands guard next to him

The British interacted mostly with the Krios in Freetown. They didmost of the trading with the indigenous peoples of the interior. Inaddition, educated Krios held numerous positions in the colonialgovernment, giving them status and good-paying positions.Following the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, the UK decided that itneeded to establish more dominion over the inland areas, in order tosatisfy what was described by the European powers as "effectiveoccupation" of territories. In 1896 it annexed these areas, declaringthem the Sierra Leone Protectorate.[14] With this change, the Britishbegan to expand their administration in the region, recruiting Britishcitizens to posts, and pushing Krios out of positions in government andeven the desirable residential areas in Freetown.

In addition, the British annexation of the Protectorate interfered withthe sovereignty of indigenous chiefs. They designated chiefs as units oflocal government, rather than dealing with them individually as hadbeen previous practice. They did not maintain relationships even withlongtime allies, such as Bai Bureh, chief of Kasseh, a community on the Small Scarcies River. He was later unfairlyportrayed as a prime instigator of the Hut Tax war in 1898.[15]

Colonel Frederic Cardew, military governor of the Protectorate, in 1898 established a new tax on dwellings anddemanded that the chiefs use their peoples to maintain roads. The taxes were often higher than the value of thedwellings, and 24 chiefs signed a petition to Cardew, telling how destructive this was; their people could not affordto take time off from their subsistence agriculture. They resisted payment of taxes. Tensions over the new colonialrequirements, and administration suspicions about the chiefs, led to the Hut Tax war of 1898, also called theTemne-Mende War. The British fired first. The Northern front of majority Temne people was led by Bai Bureh. TheSouthern front, consisting mostly of Mende people, entered conflict somewhat later and for different reasons.

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For several months, Bureh's fighters had the advantage over the vastly more powerful British forces. Both the Britishtroops and Bureh's warriors suffered hundreds of fatalities each.[16] Bai Bureh finally surrendered on 11 November1898 to end the destruction of his people's territory and dwellings. Although the British government recommendedleniency, Cardew insisted on sending the chief and two allies into exile in the Gold Coast; his government hanged 96of the chief's warriors. Bai Bureh was allowed to return in 1905, when he resumed his chieftaincy of Kasseh.

Moa River Bridge, Sierra Leone. Lisk-CarewBrothers, Freetown, Sierra Leone

British West African Campaign troops inFreetown, c. 19141916. Published caption:

"British expeditionary force preparing to embarkat Freetown to attack the German Cameroons, the

main object of the attack being the port ofDuala[17]. Auxiliary native troops were freely

used in African warfare."

Governor of Sierra Leone, Sir Hubert Stevenson

The defeat of the Temne and Mende in the Hut Tax war endedlarge-scale organized resistance to the Protectorate and colonialgovernment. But, resistance continued throughout the colonial periodin the form of intermittent, wide-scale rioting and chaotic labourdisturbances. For instance, riots in 1955 and 1956 involved "many tensof thousands" of natives in the protectorate.[18]

Domestic slavery, which continued to be practiced by local Africanelites, was abolished in 1928. One notable event in 1935 was thegranting of a monopoly on mineral mining to the Sierra LeoneSelection Trust, run by De Beers. The monopoly was scheduled to last98 years. Mining of diamonds in the east and other minerals expanded,drawing laborers there from other parts of the country.

In 1924, the UK government divided Sierra Leone into a Colony and aProtectorate, with separate and different political systemsconstitutionally defined for each. The Colony was Freetown and itscoastal area; the Protectorate was defined as inland areas dominated bytribal chiefs. Antagonism between the two entities escalated to a heateddebate in 1947, when proposals were introduced to provide for a singlepolitical system for both the Colony and the Protectorate. Most of theproposals came from leaders of the Protectorate, whose population faroutnumbered that in the colony. The Creoles (Krios), led by IsaacWallace-Johnson, opposed the proposals, as they would have resultedin reducing the political power of the Krios in the Colony.

In 1951, the educated protectorate leaders from across different ethnicgroups, including Sir Milton Margai, Lamina Sankoh, Siaka Stevens,Mohamed Sanusi Mustapha, John Karefa-Smart, Kande Bureh, SirAlbert Margai, Amadu Wurie and Sir Banja Tejan-Sie joined togetherunited with the powerful paramount chiefs in the protectorate to formthe Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP as the party of theprotectorate. The SLPP leadership, lead by Sir Milton Margai,negotiated with the British and the educated Krio dominated colonybased in Freetown in order to achieve independence [19].

Due to the astute politics of Sir Milton Margai, an ethnic Mende, theeducated Protectorate elite was won over to join forces with theparamount chiefs in the face of Krio intransigence. Later, Sir Milton used the same skills to win over oppositionleaders and moderate Krio elements in order to achieve independence from the UK.

In November 1951, Margai oversaw the drafting of a new constitution, which united the separate Colonial andProtectorate legislatures and most importantly provided a framework for decolonisation.[20] In 1953, SierraLeone was granted local ministerial powers, and Sir Milton Margai, was elected Chief Minister of Sierra Leone. The new constitution ensured Sierra Leone a parliamentary system within the Commonwealth of Nations. In May 1957,

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Sierra Leone held its first parliamentary election. The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), which was then the mostpopular political party in the colony of Sierra Leone, and was supported by the powerful paramount chiefs in theprovinces, won the most seats in Parliament; and Margai was re-elected as Chief Minister by a landslide.

1960 Independence ConferenceOn 20 April 1960, Sir Milton Margai led the twenty four members of the Sierra Leonean delegation at theconstitutional conferences that were held with Queen Elizabeth II and British Colonial Secretary Iain Macleod in thenegotiations for independence held at the Lancaster House in London. All of the twenty four members of the SierraLeonean delegation were prominent and well-respected politicians, including Sir Milton himself, his younger brotherlawyer Sir Albert Margai, outspoken trade unionist Siaka Stevens, SLPP strongman Lamina Sankoh, outspokenCreole activist Isaac Wallace-Johnson, Dr John Karefa-Smart, Paramount chief and first female member ofparliament Ella Koblo Gulama, educationist Mohamed Sanusi Mustapha, Creole dominated UPP party leader CyrilRogers-Wright, professor Kande Bureh, lawyer Sir Banja Tejan-Sie, Creole diplomat Edward Wilmot Blyden III,educationist Amadu Wurie, Paramount Chief Tamba Songu M'briwa, former Mayor of Freetown Eustace HenryTaylor Cummings, second female member of parliament and women's rights activist Constance Cummings-John,Creole dominated UPP party national chairman Columbus Thompson and Creole diplomat Hector ReginaldSylvanus Boltman.On the conclusion of talks in London on 4 May 1960, the United Kingdom agreed to grant Sierra LeoneIndependence on 27 April 1961. Siaka Stevens, a trade unionist, refused to sign Sierra Leone's declaration ofIndependence, saying there had been a secret defence pact between Sierra Leone and Britain; he also contended thatthe Sierra Leonean government had agreed not to hold elections before independence, which would effectively shuthim out of Sierra Leone's political process. The delegates received a hero's welcome on their return to Freetown. Forhis criticisms, Stevens was promptly expelled from the People's National Party (PNP).On 24 September 1960, Stevens formed an alliance with several prominent northern politicians including ChristianAlusine-Kamara Taylor, Sorie Ibrahim Koroma, Mohammed Bash-Taqui, Mucktarru Kallay, Kawusu Konteh andAllieu Badarra Koroma to form their own political party, called the All People's Congress (APC) in opposition of theSLPP government. Stevens took advantage of the dissatisfaction with the ruling SLPP among some prominentpoliticians from the Northern part of Sierra Leone to form the APC; and Stevens used the Northern part of SierraLeone as his political base.

IndependenceOn 27 April 1961, Sir Milton Margai led Sierra Leone to independence from Great Britain and became the country'sfirst Prime Minister. Thousands of Sierra Leoneans took to the streets in celebration. Sierra Leone retained aparliamentary system of government and was a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The leader of the mainopposition APC, Siaka Stevens, along with Isaac Wallace-Johnson, another outspoken critic of the SLPPgovernment, were arrested and placed under house arrest in Freetown, along with sixteen others charged withdisrupting the independence celebration. In May 1962, Sierra Leone held its first general election as an Independentnation. The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) won a plurality of seats in parliament, and Sir Milton Margai wasre-elected as prime minister.Sir Milton was known for his self-effacement. He was neither corrupt nor did he make a lavish display of his poweror status.Wikipedia:Citation needed He based the government on the rule of law and the separation of powers, withmultiparty political institutions and fairly viable representative structures. Margai used his conservative ideology tolead Sierra Leone without much strife. He appointed government officials to represent various ethnic groups. Margaiemployed a brokerage style of politics, by sharing political power among political parties and interest groups; andwith the powerful paramount chiefs in the provinces, most of whom were key allies of his government.Wikipedia:Citation needed

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Albert MargaiUpon Sir Milton's unexpected death in 1964, his half-brother, Sir Albert Margai, was appointed as Prime Minister byparliament. Sir Albert's leadership was briefly challenged by Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister John Karefa-Smart,who questioned Sir Albert's succession to the SLPP leadership position. Karefa-Smart received little support inParliament in his attempt to have Margai stripped of the SLPP leadership. Soon after Margai was sworn in as PrimeMinister, he immediately dismissed several senior government officials who had served under his elder brother SirMilton's government, as he viewed them as a threat to his administration.Sir Albert resorted to increasingly authoritarian actions in response to protests and enacted several laws against theopposition All People's Congress (APC), whilst attempting to establish a single-party state.Wikipedia:Citationneeded Sir Albert was opposed to the colonial legacy of allowing executive powers to the Paramount Chiefs, manyof whom had been key allies of his late brother Sir Milton. Accordingly, they began to consider Sir Albert as a threatto the ruling houses across the country.In 1967, riots broke out in Freetown against Sir Albert's policies; in response Margai declared a state of emergencyacross the country. Sir Albert was accused of corruption and of a policy of affirmative action in favour of his ownMende ethnic group. Although Sir Albert had the full backing of the country's security forces, he called for free andfair elections.

Three military coups, 19671968The APC, with its leader Siaka Stevens, narrowly won a small majority of seats in Parliament over the SLPP in aclosely contested 1967 Sierra Leone general election. Stevens was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 March 1967.Within hours after taking office, Stevens was ousted in a bloodless military coup led by Brigadier General DavidLansana, the commander of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. He was a close ally of Sir Albert Margai, who hadappointed him to the position in 1964. Brigadier Lansana placed Stevens under house arrest in Freetown and insistedthat the determination of the Prime Minister should await the election of the tribal representatives to the House.On 23 March 1967, a group of senior military officers in the Sierra Leone Army led by Brigadier General AndrewJuxon-Smith, overrode this action by a coup d'tat; they seized control of the government, arresting BrigadierLansana, and suspending the constitution. The group set up the National Reformation Council (NRC), with BrigadierAndrew Juxon-Smith as its chairman and Head of State of the country.On 18 April 1968 a group of senior military officers in the Sierra Leone Army who called themself theAnti-Corruption Revolutionary Movement (ACRM), led by Brigadier General John Amadu Bangura, overthrew theNRC junta. The ACRM junta arrested many senior NRC members. They reinstated the constitution and returnedpower to Stevens, who at last assumed the office of Prime Minister.

One-party stateStevens assumed power again in 1968 with a great deal of hope and ambition. Much trust was placed upon him as hechampioned multi-party politics. Stevens had campaigned on a platform of bringing the tribes together undersocialist principles. During his first decade or so in power, Stevens renegotiated some of what he called "uselessprefinanced schemes" contracted by his predecessors, both Albert Margai of the SLPP and Juxon-Smith of the NRC.Some of these policies by the SLPP and the NRC were said to have left the country in an economically deprivedstate. Stevens reorganized the country's refinery, the government-owned Cape Sierra Hotel, and a cement factory. Hecancelled Juxon-Smith's construction of a church and mosque on the grounds of Victoria Park. Stevens began effortsthat would later bridge the distance between the provinces and the city. Roads and hospitals were constructed in theprovinces, and Paramount Chiefs and provincial peoples became a prominent force in Freetown.

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APC political rally in the northern town ofKabala outside the home of supporters of the rival

SLPP in 1968

Under pressure of several coup attempts, real and perceived, Stevens'rule grew more and more authoritarian, and his relationship with someof his ardent supporters deteriorated. He removed the SLPP party fromcompetitive politics in general elections, some believed, through theuse of violence and intimidation. To maintain the support of themilitary, Stevens retained the popular John Amadu Bangura as thehead of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces.

After the return to civilian rule, by-elections were held (beginning inautumn 1968) and an all-APC cabinet was appointed. Calm was notcompletely restored. In November 1968, unrest in the provinces ledStevens to declare a state of emergency across the country. Manysenior officers in the Sierra Leone Army were greatly disappointedwith Stevens' policies; but none could confront Stevens. Brigadier General Bangura, who had reinstated Stevens asPrime Minister, was widely considered the only person who could put the brakes on Stevens. The army was devotedto Bangura, and it was believed, in some quarters, that this made him potentially dangerous to Stevens. In January1970, Bangura was arrested and charged with conspiracy and plotting to commit a coup against the Stevens'government. After a trial that lasted a few months, Bangura was convicted and sentenced to death. On 29 March1970, Brigadier Bangura was executed by hanging in Freetown.

On 23 March 1971, a group of soldiers loyal to the executed Brigadier Bangura held a mutiny in the capital Freetownand in some other parts of the country in opposition of Stevens' government. Several soldiers were arrested for theirinvolvement in the mutiny, including Corporal Foday Sankoh who was convicted and jailed for seven years atFreetown's Pademba Road Prison.In April 1971, a new republican constitution was adopted under which Stevens became President. In the 1972by-elections the opposition SLPP complained of intimidation and procedural obstruction by the APC and militia.These problems became so severe that the SLPP boycotted the 1973 general election; as a result the APC won 84 ofthe 85 elected seats. An alleged plot to overthrow president Stevens failed in 1974 and its leaders were executed. InMarch 1976, Stevens was elected without opposition for a second five-year term as president. On 19 July 1975, 14senior army and government officials including Brigadier David Lansana, former cabinet minister Mohamed SorieForna (father of writer Aminatta Forna), Brigadier General Ibrahim Bash Taqi and Lieutenant Habib LansanaKamara were executed after being convicted for allegedly attempting a coup to topple president Stevens'government.In 1977, a nationwide student demonstration against the government disrupted Sierra Leone politics. However, thedemonstration was quickly put down by the army and Stevens' own personal Special Security Division (SSD) force,a heavily armed paramilitary force he had created to protect him and to maintain his hold on power.[21] The SSDofficers were very loyal to Stevens and were deployed across Sierra Leone to put down any rebellion againstStevens' government. General election was called later that year in which corruption was again endemic; the APCwon 74 seats and the SLPP 15. In 1978, the APC dominant parliament approved a new constitution making thecountry a one-party state. The 1978 constitution made the APC the only legal political party in Sierra Leone.[22] Thismove led to another major demonstration against the government in many parts of the country but again it was putdown by the army and Stevens' SSD forces. Stevens is generally criticized for dictatorial methods and governmentcorruption, but on a positive note, he kept the country stable and from going into civil war. He built severalgovernment instititutions that are used by the government today. Stevens also reduced ethnic polarisation ingovernment by incorporating members of various ethnic groups into his all-dominant APC government.Siaka Stevens retired from politics in November 1985 after being in power for eighteen years. The APC named a new presidential candidate to succeed Stevens at their last delegate conference held in Freetown in November 1985. He was Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh, the commander of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces and

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Stevens' own choice to succeed him. As head of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces, Major General Momoh was veryloyal to Stevens who had appointed him to the position. Like Stevens, Momoh was also a member of the minorityLimba ethnic group.Momoh was elected President as the only contesting candidate and was sworn in as Sierra Leone's second presidenton 28 November 1985 in Freetown. A one party parliamentary election between APC members was held in May1986. President Momoh's strong links with the army and his verbal attacks on corruption earned him much neededinitial support among Sierra Leoneans. With the lack of new faces in the new APC cabinet under president Momohand the return of many of the old faces from Stevens government, criticisms soon arose that Momoh was simplyperpetuating the rule of Stevens. The next couple of years under the Momoh administration were characterized bycorruption, which Momoh defused by sacking several senior cabinet ministers. To formalise his war againstcorruption, President Momoh announced a "Code of Conduct for Political Leaders and Public Servants." After analleged attempt to overthrow President Momoh in March 1987, more than 60 senior government officials werearrested, including Vice-President Francis Minah, who was removed from office, convicted for plotting the coup,and executed by hanging in 1989 along with 5 others.

Multi-party constitution and Revolutionary United Front rebellion (19912001)See also: Sierra Leone Civil War

A school in Koindu destroyed during the CivilWar; in total 1,270 primary schools were

destroyed in the War.

In October 1990, due to mounting pressure from both within andoutside the country for political and economic reform, presidentMomoh set up a constitutional review commission to assess the 1978one-party constitution. Based on the commission's recommendations aconstitution re-establishing a multi-party system was approved by theexclusive APC Parliament by a 60% majority vote, becoming effectiveon 1 October 1991. There was great suspicion that president Momohwas not serious about his promise of political reform, as APC rulecontinued to be increasingly marked by abuses of power.The brutal civil war that was going on in neighbouring Liberia played asignificant role in the outbreak of fighting in Sierra Leone. CharlesTaylor then leader of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia reportedly helped form the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) under the command of former Sierra Leonean armycorporal Foday Saybana Sankoh, an ethnic Temne from Tonkolili District in Northern Sierra Leone. Sankoh was aBritish trained former army corporal who had also undergone guerrilla training in Libya. Taylor's aim was for theRUF to attack the bases of Nigerian dominated peacekeeping troops in Sierra Leone who were opposed to his rebelmovement in Liberia.

On 29 April 1992, a 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser, an ethnic Creole, led his fellow six junior officers in theSierra Leone army, all in their mid to late twenties: Lieutenant Sahr Sandy, Seargent Solomon Musa, Captain KombaMondeh, Lieutenant Tom Nyuma, Captain Julius Maada Bio and Captain Komba Kambo that launched a militarycoup, which sent president Momoh into exile in Guinea and the young soldiers established the National ProvisionalRuling Council (NPRC) with Strasser as its chairman and Head of State of the country; and Seargent Solomon Musa,a childhood friend of Strasser, became the deputy chairman and deputy leader of the NPRC junta government.Strasser became the world's youngest Head of State when he seized power just three days after his 25th birthday. TheNPRC junta established the National Supreme Council of State as the military highest command and final authorityin all matters, and was exclusively made up of the highest ranking NPRC soldiers, included Strasser himself and theoriginal soldiers who toppled president Momoh.Senior NPRC commander Lieutenant Sahr Sandy, a trusted ally of Strasser, was assassinated, allegedly by Major S.I.M. Turay, a key loyalist of ousted president Momoh. Sandy's funeral in Freetown was attended by many high

Sierra Leone 12

ranking soldiers of the NPRC Junta, included Strasser himself. A heavily armed military manhunt took place acrossthe country to find Lieutenant Sandy's killer, but the main suspect Major S.I.M Turay went into hiding and fled thecountry to Guinea, fearing for his life. However, dozens of soldiers loyal to the ousted president Momoh werearrested.The NPRC Junta immediately suspended the constitution, banned all political parties, limited freedom of speech andfreedom of the press and enacted a rule-by-decree policy, in which soldiers were granted unlimited powers ofadministrative detention without charge or trial, and challenges against such detentions in court were precluded.The NPRC Junta maintained relations with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) andstrengthened support for Sierra Leone-based ECOMOG troops fighting in Liberia. In December 1992, an allegedcoup attempt against the NPRC administration of Strasser, aimed at freeing the detained Colonel Yahya Kanu,Colonel Kahota M.S. Dumbuya and former inspector general of police Bambay Kamara was foiled. SeargentMohamed Lamin Bangura, and some junior army officers were identified as being behind the coup plot. The coupplot led to the execution of seventeen soldiers, including Seargent Mohamed Lamin Bangura, Colonel Yahya Kanuand Lieutenant Colonel Kahota M.S. Dumbuya. Several prominent members of the Momoh government who hadbeen in detention at the Pa Demba Road prison, including former inspector general of police Bambay Kamara werealso executed. On 5 July 1994 the deputy NPRC leader Seargent Solomon Musu, who was very popular with thegeneral population, particularly in Freetown, was arrested and sent into exile after he was accused of planning a coupto topple Strasser. An accusation Seargent Musa denied. Strasser replaced Musa as deputy NPRC chairman withCaptain Julius Maada Bio, who was instantly promoted by Strasser to Brigadier.The NPRC proved to be nearly as ineffectual as the Momoh-led APC government in repelling the RUF. More andmore of the country fell to RUF fighters, and by 1994 they held much of the diamond-rich Eastern Province andwere at the edge of Freetown. In response, the NPRC hired several hundred mercenaries from the private firmExecutive Outcomes. Within a month they had driven RUF fighters back to enclaves along Sierra Leone's borders,and cleared the RUF from the Kono diamond producing areas of Sierra Leone.With Strasser's two most senior NPRC allies and commanders Lieutenant Sahr Sandy and Lieutenant Solomon Musano longer around to defend him, Strasser's leadership within the NPRC Supreme Council of State was not consideredmuch stronger. On 16 January 1996, after about four years in power, Strasser was handcuffed and arrested in apalace coup at the Defence Headquarter in Freetown by his fellow NPRC soldiers, led by his deputy Brigadier JulisMaada Bio and backed by many high-ranking members of the NPRC junta Supreme Council included Lt ColonelTom Nyuma, Lt Colonel Komba Mondeh, Lt Colonel Reginald Glover, Lt Colonel Idriss Kamara, Lt ColonelKarefa-Kargbo and Captain Patrick Koigor-Amara, who was the head of Strasser's military bodyguards. Strasser wasimmediately flown into exile in a military helicopter to Conakry, Guinea.In his first public broadcast to the nation following the 1996 coup, Brigadier Bio stated that his support for returningSierra Leone to a democratically elected civilian government and his commitment to ending the civil war were hismotivations for the coup. Promises of a return to civilian rule were fulfilled by Bio, who handed power over toAhmad Tejan Kabbah, of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), after the conclusion of elections in early 1996.President Kabbah took power with a great promise of ending the civil war. President Kabbah opened dialogue withthe RUF and invited RUF leader Foday Sankoh for peace negotiations.On 25 May 1997, seventeen soldiers in the Sierra Leone army led by Corporal Tamba Gborie, loyal to the detained Major General Johnny Paul Koroma, launched a military coup which sent President Kabbah into exile in Guinea and they established the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). Corporal Gborie quickly went to the SLBS FM 99.9 headquarters in Freetown to announce the coup to a shocked nation and to alert all soldiers across the country to report for guard duty. The soldiers immediately released Koroma from prison and installed him as their chairman and Head of State. Koroma suspended the constitution, banned demonstrations, shut down all private radio stations in the country and invited the RUF to join the new junta government, with its leader Foday Sankoh as the Vice-Chairman of the new AFRC-RUF coalition junta government. Within days, Freetown was overwhelmed by the

Sierra Leone 13

presence of the RUF combatants who came to the city in their thousands. The Kamajors, a group of traditionalfighters mostly from the Mende ethnic group under the command of deputy Defence Minister Samuel HingaNorman, remained loyal to President Kabbah and defended the Southern part of Sierra Leone from the soldiers.

Kabbah's government and the end of civil warAfter 10 months in office, the junta was overthrown by the Nigeria-led ECOMOG forces, and the democraticallyelected government of president Kabbah was reinstated in March 1998. On 12 October 1998 twenty five soldiers inthe Sierra Leone army, including Corporal Tamba Gborie, Brigadier Hassan Karim Conteh, Colonel Abdul KarimSesay and Major Kula Samba were executed after they were convicted at a court martial in Freetown fororchestrating the 1997 coup that overthrew President Kabbah.[23]

In October 1999, the United Nations agreed to send peacekeepers to help restore order and disarm the rebels. Thefirst of the 6,000-member force began arriving in December, and the UN Security Council voted in February 2000 toincrease the force to 11,000, and later to 13,000. But in May, when nearly all Nigerian forces had left and UN forceswere trying to disarm the RUF in eastern Sierra Leone, Sankoh's forces clashed with the UN troops, and some 500peacekeepers were taken hostage as the peace accord effectively collapsed. The hostage crisis resulted in morefighting between the RUF and the government as UN troops launched Operation Khukri to end the siege. TheOperation was successful with Indian and British Special Forces being the main contingents.The situation in the country deteriorated to such an extent that British troops were deployed in Operation Palliser,originally simply to evacuate foreign nationals. However, the British exceeded their original mandate, and took fullmilitary action to finally defeat the rebels and restore order. The British were the catalyst for the ceasefire that endedthe civil war. Elements of the British Army, together with administrators and politicians, remain in Sierra Leone tothis day, helping train the armed forces, improve the infrastructure of the country and administer financial andmaterial aid. Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of Britain at the time of the British intervention, is regarded as a hero bythe people of Sierra Leone, many of whom are keen for more British involvement.Wikipedia:Citation needed SierraLeoneans have been described as "The World's Most Resilient People".Between 1991 and 2001, about 50,000 people were killed in Sierra Leone's civil war. Hundreds of thousands ofpeople were forced from their homes and many became refugees in Guinea and Liberia. In 2001, UN forces movedinto rebel-held areas and began to disarm rebel soldiers. By January 2002, the war was declared over. In May 2002,Kabbah was re-elected president by a landslide. By 2004, the disarmament process was complete. Also in 2004, aUN-backed war crimes court began holding trials of senior leaders from both sides of the war. In December 2005,UN peacekeeping forces pulled out of Sierra Leone.In August 2007, Sierra Leone held presidential and parliamentary elections. However, no presidential candidate wonthe 50% plus one vote majority stipulated in the constitution on the first round of voting. A runoff election was heldin September 2007, and Ernest Bai Koroma, the candidate of the main opposition APC, was elected president.Koroma was re-elected president for a second (and final) term in November 2012.

Sierra Leone 14

Geography and climateMain article: Geography of Sierra Leone

Satellite image of Sierra Leone

Topographical map of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is located on the west coast of Africa, lying mostlybetween latitudes 7 and 10N (a small area is south of 7), andlongitudes 10 and 14W. The country is bordered by Guinea to thenorth and northeast, Liberia to the south and southeast, and the AtlanticOcean to the west.

Sierra Leone has a total area of 71,740km2 (27,699sqmi), dividedinto a land area of 71,620km2 (27,653sqmi) and water of 120km2

(46sqmi). The country has four distinct geographical regions. Ineastern Sierra Leone the plateau is interspersed with high mountains,where Mount Bintumani reaches 1,948m (6,391ft), the highest pointin the country. The upper part of the drainage basin of the Moa River islocated in the south of this region.

The centre of the country is a region of lowland plains, containingforests, bush and farmland, that occupies about 43% of Sierra Leone'sland area. The northern section of this has been categorized by theWorld Wildlife Fund as part of the Guinean forest-savanna mosaicecoregion, while the south is rain-forested plains and farmland. In thewest Sierra Leone has some 400km (249mi) of Atlantic coastline,giving it both bountiful marine resources and attractive touristpotential. The coast has areas of low-lying Guinean mangroves swamp.The national capital Freetown sits on a coastal peninsula, situated nextto the Sierra Leone Harbour, the world's third largest natural harbour.

The climate is tropical, with two seasons determining the agriculturalcycle: the rainy season from May to November, and a dry season fromDecember to May, which includes harmattan, when cool, dry windsblow in off the Sahara Desert and the night-time temperature can be aslow as 16C (60.8F). The average temperature is 26C (78.8F) andvaries from around 26 to 36C (78.8 to 96.8F) during the year.

EnvironmentSee also: Wildlife of Sierra LeoneHuman activities claimed to be responsible or contributing to land degradation in Sierra Leone include unsustainableagricultural land use, poor soil and water management practices, deforestation, removal of natural vegetation,fuelwood consumption and to a lesser extent overgrazing and urbanisation.Deforestation, both for commercial timber and to make room for agriculture, is the major concern and represents anenormous loss of natural economic wealth to the nation. Mining and slash and burn for land conversion such ascattle grazing dramatically diminished forested land in Sierra Leone since the 1980s. It is listed among countries ofconcern for emissions, as having Low Forest Cover with High Rates of Deforestation (LFHD). There are concernsthat heavy logging continues in the Tama-Tonkoli Forest Reserve in the north, they have extended their operations toNimini, Kono District, Eastern Province; Jui, Western Rural District, Western Area; Loma Mountains National Park,Koinadougu, Northern Province; and with plans to start operations in the Kambui Forest reserve in the KenemaDistrict, Eastern Province.

Sierra Leone 15

Habitat degradation for the African Wild Dog, Lycaon pictus, has been decreased, such that this canid is deemed tohave been extirpated in Sierra Leone.[24]

Until 2002, Sierra Leone lacked a forest management system due to the civil war that caused tens of thousands ofdeaths. Deforestation rates have increased 7.3% since the end of the civil war.[25] On paper, 55 protected areascovered 4.5% of Sierra Leone as of 2003. The country has 2,090 known species of higher plants, 147 mammals, 626birds, 67 reptiles, 35 amphibians, and 99 fish species.The Environmental Justice Foundation has documented how the number of illegal fishing vessels in Sierra Leone'swaters has multiplied in recent years. The amount of illegal fishing has significantly depleted fish stocks, deprivinglocal fishing communities of an important resource for survival. The situation is particularly serious as fishingprovides the only source of income for many communities in a country still recovering from over a decade of civilwar.[26]

In June 2005, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Bird Life International agreed to support aconservation-sustainable development project in the Gola Forest in south eastern Sierra Leone,[27] an importantsurviving fragment of rainforest in Sierra Leone.

Government and politicsMain article: Politics of Sierra Leone

Ernest Bai Koroma, current president of SierraLeone

Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly electedpresident and a unicameral legislature. The current system of nationalgovernment in Sierra Leone, established under the 1991 Constitution,is modelled on the following structure of government: the Legislature,the Executive and the Judiciary.[28]

Within the confines of the 1991 Constitution, supreme legislativepowers are vested in Parliament, which is the law making body of thenation. Supreme executive authority rests in the president and membersof his cabinet and judicial power with the judiciary of which the ChiefJustice is head.

The president is the head of state, the head of government and thecommander-in-chief of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces and the SierraLeone Police. The president appoints and heads a cabinet of ministers,which must be approved by the Parliament. The president is elected bypopular vote to a maximum of two five-year terms. The president is thehighest and most influential position within the government of SierraLeone.

To be elected president of Sierra Leone, a candidate must gain at least55% of the vote. If no candidate gets 55%, there is a second-roundrunoff between the top two candidates.

The current president of Sierra Leone is Ernest Bai Koroma, who was sworn in on 17 September 2007. The firstperson of Temne ancestry to be elected president, he won a tense run-off election, defeating incumbentVice-president, Solomon Berewa of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

Koroma was re-elected as President for his second and final term, on 23 November 2012, with 58.7%, in the 2012Sierra Leone Presidential election, defeating his main opponent, Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio of the mainopposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), who got 37.4%

Sierra Leone 16

Koroma was sworn in as President for his second and final term by Chief Justice Umu Hawa Tejan Jalloh at StateHouse in Freetown; the same day he was declared the winner of the election.Next to the president is the Vice-president, who is the second-highest ranking government official in the executivebranch of the Sierra Leone Government. As designated by the Sierra Leone Constitution, the vice-president is tobecome the new president of Sierra Leone upon the death, resignation, or removal of the president by parliament andto assume the Presidency temporarily while the president is otherwise temporarily unable to fulfil his or her duties.The vice-president is elected jointly with the president as his or her running mate. Sierra Leone's currentvice-president is Samuel Sam-Sumana, sworn in on 17 September 2007.

Parliament

The Sierra Leone Supreme Court in the capital Freetown, the highestand most powerful court in the country

The Parliament of Sierra Leone is unicameral, with 124seats. Each of the country's fourteen districts isrepresented in parliament. 112 members are electedconcurrently with the presidential elections; the other12 seats are filled by paramount chiefs from each of thecountry's 12 administrative districts.

The current parliament in the August 2007Parliamentary elections is made up of three politicalparties. The most recent parliamentary elections wereheld on 11 August 2007. The All People's Congress(APC), won 59 of 112 parliamentary seats; the SierraLeone People's Party (SLPP) won 43; and the People'sMovement for Democratic Change (PMDC) won 10.To be qualified as Member of Parliament, the personmust be a citizen of Sierra Leone, must be at least 21 years old, must be able to speak, read and write the Englishlanguage with a degree of proficiency to enable him to actively take part in proceedings in Parliament; and must nothave any criminal conviction.

Since independence in 1961, Sierra Leone's politics has been dominated by two major political parties, the SLPP andthe ruling APC. Other minor political parties have also existed but with no significant support.

JudiciaryThe judicial power of Sierra Leone is vested in the judiciary, headed by the Chief Justice and comprising the SierraLeone Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the country and its ruling therefore cannot be appealed; HighCourt of Justice; the Court of Appeal; the magistrate courts; and traditional courts in rural villages. The presidentappoints and parliament approves Justices for the three courts. The Judiciary have jurisdiction in all civil andcriminal matters throughout the country. The current Chief Justice is Umu Hawa Tejan Jalloh, who was appointed byPresident Ernest Bai Koroma and took office on 25 January 2008 upon her confirmation by parliament. She is thefirst woman in the history of Sierra Leone to hold such position.

Sierra Leone 17

Foreign relationsMain article: Foreign relations of Sierra Leone

Embassy of Sierra Leone in Washington, D.C.

The Sierra Leone Ministry of Foreign Affairs and InternationalCooperation, headed by Joseph Bandabla Dauda, is responsible forforeign policy of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has diplomatic relationsthat include China, Libya, Iran, and Cuba. Sierra Leone has goodrelations with the West, including the United States, and hasmaintained historical ties with the United Kingdom and other formerBritish colonies through membership in the Commonwealth ofNations. The United Kingdom has played a major role in providing aidto the former colony, together with administrative help and militarytraining since intervening to end the Civil War in 2000.

Former President Siaka Stevens' government had sought closerrelations with other West African countries under the EconomicCommunity of West African States (ECOWAS) a policy continued bythe current government. Sierra Leone, along with Liberia and Guinea,form the Mano River Union (MRU). It is primarily designed to implement development projects and promoteregional economic integration between the three countries.

Sierra Leone is also a member of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, the African Union, the AfricanDevelopment Bank (AFDB), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Non-Aligned Movement(NAM). Sierra Leone is a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement ofprotection for the US military (as covered under Article 98).The Office of National Security plays an important security co-ordination role; it helped protect the 2007 elections.

Sierra Leone 18

Administrative divisionsMain articles: Provinces of Sierra Leone, Districts of Sierra Leone and Chiefdoms of Sierra Leone

The 12 districts and 2 areas of Sierra Leone.

The Republic of Sierra Leone iscomposed of four regions: theNorthern Province, Southern Province,the Eastern Province, and the WesternArea. The first three provinces arefurther divided into 12 districts.

The districts are divided into 149chiefdoms, which have traditionallybeen led by hereditary paramountchiefs, recognized by the Britishadministration in 1896 at the time oforganizing the Protectorate of SierraLeone.[29] Each chiefdom has rulingfamilies that were recognized at thattime; the Tribal Authority, made up oflocal notables, elects the paramountchief from the ruling families.Typically, chiefs have the power to"raise taxes, control the judicialsystem, and allocate land, the mostimportant resource in rural areas."[30]

The Sierra Leone legislature passed the Local Government Act 2004, which designated units of government calledlocalities. To broaden representative government, each has a directly elected local district council to exerciseauthority and carry out functions at a local level. There are 13 district councils, one for each of the 12 districts andone for the Western Area Rural. Six municipalities also have elected local councils: Freetown, Bo, Bonthe, Kenema,Koidu, and Makeni.

District Capital !Area km2 Province Population(2004 census)

Population(2010 estimates)

Bombali District Makeni 7,985 NorthernProvince

408,390 434,319

Koinadugu District Kabala 12,121 265,758 251,091

Port Loko District Port Loko 5,719 455,746 500,992

Tonkolili District Magburaka 7,003 347,197 385,322

Kambia District Kambia 3,108 270,462 313,765

Kenema District Kenema 6,053 EasternProvince

497,948 545,327

Kono District Koidu Town 5,641 335,401 352,328

Kailahun District Kailahun 3,859 358,190 409,520

Bo District Bo 5,473.6 SouthernProvince

463,668 561,524

Bonthe District Mattru Jong 3,468 129,947 140,845

Pujehun District Pujehun 4,105 228,392 252,390

Moyamba District Moyamba 6,902 260,910 252,390

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Western Area Urban District Freetown 3,568 WesternArea

1,272,873 1,473,873

Western Area Rural District Waterloo 4,175 174,249 205,400

MilitaryMain article: Military of Sierra LeoneThe Military of Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), are the unified armedforces of Sierra Leone responsible for the territorial security of Sierra Leone's border and defending the nationalinterests of Sierra Leone within the framework of its international obligations. The armed forces were formed afterindependence in 1961, on the basis of elements of the former British Royal West African Frontier Force present inthe country. The Sierra Leone Armed Forces consists of around 15,500 personnel, comprising the largest SierraLeone Army,[31] the Sierra Leone Navy and the Sierra Leone Air Wing.The president of Sierra Leone is the Commander in Chief of the military, with the Minister of Defence responsiblefor defence policy and the formulation of the armed forces. The current Sierra Leone Defence Minister is retiredMajor Alfred Paolo Conteh. The Military of Sierra Leone also has a Chief of the Defence Staff who is a uniformedmilitary official responsible for the administration and the operational control of the Sierra Leone military. BrigadierGeneral Alfred Nelson-Williams who was appointed by president Koroma succeeded the retired Major GeneralEdward Sam Mboma on 12 September 2008 as the Chief of Defence Staff of the Military.[32]

Before Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961, the military was known as the Royal Sierra Leone Military Force.The military seized control in 1968, bringing the National Reformation Council into power. On 19 April 1971, whenSierra Leone became a republic, the Royal Sierra Leone Military Forces were renamed the Republic of Sierra LeoneMilitary Force (RSLMF). The RSLMF remained a single-service organisation until 1979, when the Sierra LeoneNavy was established. In 1995 Defence Headquarters was established, and the Sierra Leone Air Wing formed. TheRSLMF was renamed as the Armed Forces of the Republic of Sierra Leone (AFRSL).

EconomyMain article: Economy of Sierra Leone

Diamond miners in Kono District.

Sierra Leone is slowly emerging from a protracted civil war and isshowing signs of a successful transition. Investor and consumerconfidence have continued to rise, adding impetus to the country'seconomic recovery. There is greater freedom of movement and thesuccessful re-habitation and resettlement of residential areas.

Rich in minerals, Sierra Leone has relied on mining, especiallydiamonds, for its economic base. The country is among the top tendiamond producing nations. Mineral exports remain the main currencyearner. Sierra Leone is a major producer of gem-quality diamonds.Though rich in diamonds, it has historically struggled to manage theirexploitation and export.

Annual production of Sierra Leone's diamond estimates range betweenUS$250 million$300million. Some of that is smuggled, where it is possibly used for money laundering orfinancing illicit activities. Formal exports have dramatically improved since the civil war, with efforts to improve themanagement of them having some success. In

Sierra Leone 20

Export treemap

October 2000, a UN-approved certification system for exportingdiamonds from the country was put in place and led to a dramaticincrease in legal exports. In 2001, the government created a miningcommunity development fund (DACDF), which returns a portion ofdiamond export taxes to diamond mining communities. The fund wascreated to raise local communities' stake in the legal diamond trade.

Sierra Leone is also known for its blood diamonds that were mined andsold to diamond conglomerates during the civil war, to buy theweapons that fuelled its atrocities. In the 1970s and early 1980s,economic growth rate slowed because of a decline in the mining sectorand increasing corruption among government officials.

Percentage of GDP by sector (2007)

Rank Sector Percentageof GDP

1 Agriculture 58.5

2 Other services 10.4

3 Trade and tourism 9.5

4 Wholesale and retail trade 9.0

5 Mining and quarrying 4.5

6 Government Services 4.0

7 Manufacturing and handicrafts 2.0

8 Construction 1.7

9 Electricity and water 0.4

By the 1990s economic activity was declining and economic infrastructure had become seriously degraded. Over thenext decade much of the formal economy was destroyed in the country's civil war. Since the end of hostilities inJanuary 2002, massive infusions of outside assistance have helped Sierra Leone begin to recover. Much of therecovery will depend on the success of the government's efforts to limit corruption by officials, which many feel wasthe chief cause for the civil war. A key indicator of success will be the effectiveness of government management ofits diamond sector.Sierra Leone has one of the world's largest deposits of rutile, a titanium ore used as paint pigment and welding rodcoatings. Sierra Rutile Limited, owned by a consortium of United States and European investors, began commercialmining operations near the city of Bonthe, in the Southern Province, in early 1979. It was then the largestnon-petroleum US investment in West Africa. The export of 88,000 tons created $75million in export earnings in1990. In 1990, the company and the government made a new agreement on the terms of the company's concession inSierra Leone. Rutile and bauxite mining operations were suspended when rebels invaded the mining sites in 1995,but exports resumed in 2005. The Tonkolili region hosts the biggest iron ore deposit in Africa and the third largest inthe world, exploited by African Minerals, in the hills around Bumbuna, Mabonto and Bendugu. The new Mines andMinerals Act was passed by Parliament in November 2009, which aimed to improve concessions management in theMinistry of Mineral Resources. Sierra Leone is an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) candidatecountry. In January 2012, the government launched the GoSL Online Repository, which makes public all mininglicenses and related payments recorded.

Sierra Leone 21

About two-thirds of the population engages in subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 52.5% of national income.The government is trying to increase food and cash crop production and upgrade small farmer skills. Thegovernment works with several foreign donors to operate integrated rural development and agricultural projects.Despite its successes and development, the Sierra Leone economy still faces significant challenges. There is highunemployment, particularly among the youth and ex-combatants. Authorities have been slow to implement reformsin the civil service, and the pace of the privatisation programme is also slacking and donors have urged itsadvancement.The currency is the leone. The central bank of the country is the Bank of Sierra Leone which is in the capital,Freetown. The country operates a floating exchange rate system, and foreign currencies can be exchanged at any ofthe commercial banks, recognized foreign exchange bureaux and most hotels. Credit card use is limited in SierraLeone, though they may be used at some hotels and restaurants. There are a few internationally linked automatedteller machines that accept Visa cards in Freetown operated by ProCredit Bank.

DemographicsMain article: Demographics of Sierra Leone

A Mende woman in the village of Njama inKailahun District

In 2013 Sierra Leone has an officially projected population of6,190,280 and a growth rate of 2.216% a year. The country'spopulation is mostly young, with an estimated 41.7% under 15, andrural, with an estimated 62% of people living outside the cities. As aresult of migration to cities, the population is becoming more urbanwith an estimated rate of urbanisation growth of 2.9% a year.Population density varies greatly within the country. The Western AreaUrban District, including Freetown, the capital and largest city, has apopulation density of 1,224 persons per square km. The largest districtgeographically, Koinadugu, has a much lower density of 21.4 personsper square km.

English is the official language, spoken at schools, governmentadministration and the media, but Krio (derived from English and several indigenous African languages, and thelanguage of the Sierra Leone Krio people), is the most widely spoken language in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone.As the Krio language is spoken by 90% of the country's population, it unites all the different ethnic groups,especially in their trade and interaction with each other.

According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, SierraLeone had a population of 8,700 refugees and asylum seekers at the end of 2007. Nearly 20,000 Liberian refugeesvoluntarily returned to Liberia over the course of 2007. Of the refugees remaining in Sierra Leone, nearly all wereLiberian.The populations quoted above for the five largest cities are from the 2004 census. Other figures are estimates fromthe source cited. Different sources give different estimates. Some claim that Magburaka should be included in theabove list, but there is considerable difference among sources. One source estimates the population at 14,915, whilstanother puts it as high as 85,313. "Pandebu-Tokpombu" is presumably the extended town of Torgbonbu, which had apopulation of 10,716 in the 2004 census. "Gbendembu" had a larger population of 12,139 in that census. In the 2004census, Waterloo had a population of 34,079.

Sierra Leone 22

ReligionMain article: Religion in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone religious sects

Religion Percent

Islam 71%

Christianity 27%

Traditional African religion 2%

Mosque and church in Sierra Leone

Islam is the predominant religion in Sierra Leone. The Pew ResearchCenter reports the 2004 Sierra Leone census figure for the Muslimpopulation at 71.3% (4,059,000); Christianity at 27%; and TraditionalAfrican religion at 2% The US State Department estimated that 60% ofSierra Leone's population was Muslim in 2007. Christianity is thesecond largest religion in Sierra Leone, and its followers form asignificant minority of Sierra Leone's population. Between 20 to 30%of the population are christians, and 2 to 5% of the population practiceindigenous animist beliefs. Muslims and Christians collaborate andinteract with each other peacefully [33] Religious violence is very rarein the country.

The 2007 UNHCR's "Report on International Religious Freedom inSierra Leone" estimated 60% Muslim, 20 to 30% Christian, and 5 to 10% other beliefs. In addition, many citizenspractise a syncretic mixture of Islam and traditional indigenous religious beliefs, or Christianity and traditionalindigenous beliefs. Muslims predominate in all of the country's three provinces and the Western Area. In earlierdecades, they were concentrated in the north with the south being mainly Christian. The majority of Sierra Leone'sethnic groups are predominantly Muslim.

The majority of Sierra Leonean Muslims are adherent to Sunni Islam. Significant portions of Sierra Leoneanmuslims are Ahmadis, Shia, and Non-denominational Muslims. [34][35]. Ahmadiyya Islam has one of the largestIslamic institutions across Sierra Leone. Most mosques in Sierra Leone are non-denominational. The largest mosquein Sierra Leone is the Freetown Central Mosque, located in the capital Freetown. Sitting Sierra Leonean Heads ofState, regardless of their religions, have traditionally made occasional visits to the Freetown Central Mosque,especially during Friday jummah prayer.[36][37] The chief imam of the Freetown Central Mosque is Sheikh AhmadTejan Sillah, a Shia Muslim, who is also the spiritual leader of the Sierra Leone United Council of Imams.[38] This isan Islamic organisation made up of imams from across Sierra Leone The head of the Ahmadiyya branch of Islam inSierra Leone is sheikh Mauvi Sadeeur Rahman.The vast majority of Sierra Leonean Christians are Protestants, of which the largest group are Methodists andEvangelicals. Other Christian Protestants denominations in the country include Presbyterian, Baptist, Seventh-dayAdventist Anglicans, Lutheran. and Pentecostals. The Council of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL) is the Christianreligious body that is made up of Protestant churches across Sierra Leone [39][40][41]. The current president of theCouncil of Churches in Sierra Leone is reverend Gbokowai D.M. Speck[41].Non-denominational Christians form a significant minority of Sierra Leone's Christian population. Catholics are thelargest group of non-Protestant Christians in Sierra Leone, and they form about 5% of the country's population. TheRoman Catholic Church in Sierra Leone is headed by the Diocese of Freetown, who is currently Archbishop EdwardTamba Charles. The Jehovahs Witnesses, and Mormons form a small minority of the Christian population in SierraLeone. A small community of Orthodox Christians reside in the capital Freetown [42]. The Greek Orthodox Churchin Sierra Leone is headed by Father Fr. Themi [43][44][45].

Sierra Leone 23

The constitution of Sierra Leone provides for freedom of religion and the government generally protects this rightand does not tolerate its abuse. The country is home to the Sierra Leone Inter-Religious Council, which is made upof both Christian and Muslim religious leaders to promote peace and tolerance throughout the country.

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups of Sierra Leone

Temne

Mende

Limba

Loko

Fula

Mandingo

Creole

Sherbro

Kuranko

Kono

Susu

Kissi

Yalunka

Vai

Kru

Sierra Leone is home to about sixteen ethnic groups, each with its own language. The largest and most influential arethe Temne at about 35%, and the Mende at about 31%. The Temne predominate in the Northern Sierra Leone andthe areas around the capital of Sierra Leone. The Mende predominate in South-Eastern Sierra Leone (with theexception of Kono District).The vast majority of Temne are Muslims; and with a small Christian minority. The Mende are also Muslim majority,though with a large Christian minority. Sierra Leone's national politics centres on the competition between thenorth-west, dominated by the Temne, and the south-east dominated by the Mende. The vast majority of the Mendesupport the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP); while the majority of the Temne support the All People's Congress(APC). The Mende, who are believed to be descendants of the Mane, originally occupied the Liberian hinterland.They began moving into Sierra Leone slowly and peacefully in the eighteenth century. The Temne are thought tohave come from Futa Jallon, which is in present-day Guinea. Sierra Leone's current president Ernest Bai Koroma isthe first ethnic Temne to be elected to the office.The third-largest ethnic group are the Limba at about 8% of the population. The Limba are native people of SierraLeone. They have no tradition of origin, and it is believed that they have lived in Sierra Leone since before theEuropean encounter. The Limba are primarily found in Northern Sierra Leone, particularly in Bombali, Kambia andKoinadugu District. The Limba are about equally divided between Muslims and Christians. The Limba are closepolitical allies of the neighbouring Temne. Since Independence, the Limba have traditionally been very influential inSierra Leone's politics, along with the Mende. The vast majority of Limba support the All People's Congress (APC)political party. Sierra Leone's first and second presidents, Siaka Stevens and Joseph Saidu Momoh, respectively,were both ethnic Limba. Sierra Leone's current Defense Minister Alfred Paolo Conteh is an ethnic Limba.

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The fourth largest ethnic group are the Fula at around 7% of the population. Descendants of seventeenth- andeighteenth-century Fulani migrant settlers from the Fouta Djalon region of Guinea, they live primarily in thenortheast and the western area of Sierra Leone. The Fula are virtually all Muslims. The Fula are primarily traders,and many live in middle-class homes. Because of their trading, the Fulas are found in nearly all parts of the country.The other ethnic groups are the Mandingo (also known as Mandinka). They are descendants of traders from Guineawho migrated to Sierra Leone during the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. The Mandika are predominantlyfound in the east and the northern part of the country. They predominate in the large towns, most notably Karina, inBombali District in the north; Kabala and Falaba in Koinadugu District in the north; and Yengema, Kono District inthe east of the country. Like the Fula, the Mandinka are virtually all Muslims. Sierra Leone's third president AhmadTejan Kabbah, and Sierra Leone's first Vice President Sorie Ibrahim Koroma were both ethnic Mandingo.Next in proportion are the Kono, who live primarily in Kono District in Eastern Sierra Leone. The Kono aredescendants of migrants from Guinea; today their workers are known primarily as diamond miners. The majority ofthe Kono ethnic group are Christians, though with an influential Muslim minority. Sierra Leone's currentVice-President Alhaji Samuel Sam-Sumana is an ethnic Kono.The small but significant Krio people (descendants of freed African American, West Indian and Liberated Africanslaves who settled in Freetown between 1787 and about 1885) make up about 3% of the population. They primarilyoccupy the capital city of Freetown and its surrounding Western Area. Krio culture reflects the Western culture andideals within which many of their ancestors originated; they also had close ties with British officials and colonialadministration during years of development. The Krio have traditionally dominated Sierra Leone's judiciacy andFreetown's elected city council. One of the first ethnic groups to become educated according to Western traditions,they have traditionally been appointed to positions in the civil service, beginning during the colonial years. Theycontinue to be influential in the civil service. The vast majority of Krios are Christians, though with a significantMuslim minority.Other minority ethnic groups are the Kuranko, who are related to the Mandingo, and are largely Muslims. TheKuranko are believed to have begun arriving in Sierra Leone from Guinea in about 1600 and settled in the north,particularly in Koinadugu District. The Kuranko are primarily farmers; leaders among them have traditionally heldseveral senior positions in the Military. Sierra Leone current Finance Minister Kaifala Marah is an ethnic Kuranko.The Loko in the north are native people of Sierra Leone, believed to have lived in Sierra Leone since the time ofEuropean encounter. Like the neighbouring Temne, the Loko are Muslim majority. The Susu and their relatedYalunka are traders; both groups are primarily found in the far north in Kambia and Koinadugu District close to theborder with Guinea. The Susu and Yalunka are both descendants of migrants from Guinea; and they are virtually allMuslims.The Kissi live further inland in South-Eastern Sierra Leone. They predominate in the large town of Koindu and itssurrounding areas in Kailahun District. The vast majority of Kissi are Christians. The much smaller Vai and Krupeoples are primarily found in Kailahun and Pujehun Districts near the border with Liberia. The Kru predominate inthe Kroubay neighbourhood in the capital Freetown. The Vai are largey Muslim, while the Kru are largely Christian.On the coast in Bonthe District in the south are the Sherbro. Native to Sierra Leone, they have occupied SherbroIsland since it was founded. The Sherbro are primarily fisherman and farmers, and they are predominantly found inBonthe District. The Sherbro are virtually all Christians, and their paramount chiefs had a history of intermarriagewith British colonists and traders.A small number of Sierra Leoneans are of partial or full Lebanese ancestry, descendants of traders who first came tothe nation in the 19th century. They are locally known as Sierra Leonean-Lebanese. The Sierra Leonean-Lebanesecommunity are primarily traders and they mostly live in middle-class households in the urban areas, primarily inFreetown, Bo, Kenema, Koidu Town and Makeni.

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Education

A secondary school class in Pendembu, KailahunDistrict.

Sierra Leonean educational structure

Second grade class in Koidu Town.

Main article: Education in Sierra LeoneEducation in Sierra Leone is legally required for all children for sixyears at primary level (Class P1-P6) and three years in juniorsecondary education, but a shortage of schools and teachers has madeimplementation impossible.[] Two thirds of the adult population of thecountry are illiterate. The Sierra Leone Civil War resulted in thedestruction of 1,270 primary schools, and in 2001, 67% of allschool-age children were out of school. The situation has improvedconsiderably since then with primary school enrolment doublingbetween 2001 and 2005 and the reconstruction of many schools sincethe end of the war. Students at primary schools are usually 6 to 12years old, and in secondary schools 13 to 18. Primary education is freeand compulsory in government-sponsored public schools.

The Kailahun Government Hospital at itsreopening in 2004.

The country has three universities: Fourah Bay College, founded in1827 (the oldest university in West Africa), University of Makeni(established initially in September 2005 as The Fatima Institute, thecollege was granted university status in August 2009, and assumed thename University of Makeni, or UNIMAK), and Njala University,primarily located in Bo District. Njala University was established asthe Njala Agricultural Experimental Station in 1910 and became auniversity in 2005. Teacher training colleges and religious seminariesare found in many parts of the country.

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MediaMain article: Media of Sierra Leone

Radio listener in Kailahun

Media in Sierra Leone began with the introduction of the first printingpress in Africa at the start of the 19th century. A strong freejournalistic tradition developed with the creation of a number ofnewspapers. In the 1860s, the country became a journalist hub forAfrica, with professionals travelling to the country from across thecontinent. At the end of the 19th century, the industry went intodecline, and when radio was introduced in the 1930s, it became theprimary communication media in the country. The Sierra LeoneBroadcasting Service (SLBS) was created by the colonial governmentin 1934 making it the earliest English language radio broadcasterservice in West Africa. The service began broadcasting television in 1963, with coverage extended to all the districtsin the country in 1978. In April 2010, the SLBS merged with the United Nations peacekeeping radio station in SierraLeone to form the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, the government-owned current national broadcaster inSierra Leone.

The Sierra Leone constitution guarantees freedom of speech, and freedom of the press; however, the governmentmaintains strong control of media, and at times restricts these rights in practice. Some subjects are seen as taboo bysociety and members of the political elite; imprisonment and violence have been used by the political establishmentagainst journalists. Under legislation enacted in 1980, all newspapers must register with the Ministry of Informationand pay sizeable registration fees. The Criminal Libel Law, including Seditious Libel Law of 1965, is used to controlwhat is published in the media. In 2006, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah committed to reforming the laws governingthe press and media to create a freer system for journalists to work in. As of 2013 Sierra Leone is ranked 61st (uptwo slots from 63rd in 2012) out of 179 countries on Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index.Print media is not widely read in Sierra Leone, especially outside Freetown and other major cities, partially due tothe low levels of literacy in the country. In 2007 there were 15 daily newspapers in the country, as well as thosepublished weekly. Among newspaper readership, young people are likely to read newspapers weekly and olderpeople daily. The majority of newspapers are privately run and are often critical of the government. The standard ofprint journalism tends to be low due to lack of training, and people trust the information published in newspapersless than that found on the radio.

Isata Mahoi shown editing radio programmes inTalking Drum studio Freetown; she is also an

actress in Sierra Leone radio soap opera AtundaAyenda

Radio is the most-popular and most-trusted media in Sierra Leone,with 85% of people having access to a radio and 72% of people in thecountry listening to the radio daily. These levels do vary between areasof the country, with the Western Area having the highest levels andKailahun the lowest. Stations mainly consist of local commercialstations with a limited broadcast range, combined with a few stationswith national coverage Capital Radio Sierra Leone being the largestof the commercial stations. The United Nations Mission in SierraLeone (UNIOSIL) ran one of the most popular stations in the country,broadcasting programs in a range of languages. The UN mission wererestructured in 2008 and it was decided that the UN Radio would bemerged with SLBS to form the new Sierra Leone BroadcastingCorporation (SLBC). This merger eventually happened in 2011 after

the necessary legislation was enacted. SLBC transmits radio on FM and has two television services, one of which is

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uplinked by satellite for international consumption. FM relays of BBC World Service, Radio France Internationaleand Voice of America are also broadcast.Outside the capital Freetown and other major cities, television is not watched by a great many people, although Bo,Kenema and Makeni are served by their own relays of the main SLBC service. There are two national, free terrestrialtelevision stations in Sierra Leone, one run by the government SLBC and the other a private station, AIT (AfricaIndependent Television) which is linked with the Nigerian station of the same name. In 2007, a pay-per-view servicewas also introduced by GTV as part of a pan-African television service in addition to the nine-year-old sub-SaharanDigital satellite television service (DStv) originating from Multichoice Africa in South Africa. GTV subsequentlywent out of business, leaving DStv as the only provider of pay-per-view television in the country.Internet access in Sierra Leone has been sparse but is on the increase, especially since the introduction of 3G cellularphone services across the country. There are three main internet service providers (ISPs) operating in the country.Freetown has internet cafes and other businesses offering internet access. Problems experienced with access to theInternet include an intermittent electricity supply and a slow connection speed in the country outside Freetown.

HealthMain article: Health in Sierra Leone

A situation map of the Ebola outbreak as of 8 August 2014.

The CIA estimated average lifeexpectancy in Sierra Leone was 57.39years.The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in thepopulation is 1.6%, higher than the worldaverage of 1% but lower than the averageof 6.1% across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Few people in Sierra Leone have regularaccess to adequate medical care. Forsome people from rural areas, the nextdoctor or hospital is out of reach althoughfree health care might be provided there.In other cases, people are charged by themedical staff who are themselves poorlypaid. Many people do not know that theyhave a right for free medical care.

Endemic and Infectious Diseases

Sierra Leone suffers from epidemicoutbreaks of diseases, including yellowfever, cholera, lassa fever and meningitis.Yellow fever and malaria are endemic toSierra Leone.

Ebola

Further information: Ebola virus epidemic in Sierra LeoneIn 2014 there was an outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa. As of 4 August 2014, there had been 691 cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone, and 286 deaths, including that of the leading physician trying to control the outbreak, Sheik

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Umar Khan.[46] In early August 2014 Guinea closed its borders to Sierra Leone to help contain the spreading of thevirus, which originated in Guinea, as more new cases of the disease were being reported in Sierra Leone than inGuinea. Aside from the human cost, the outbreak was severely eroding the economy. By September 2014, with theclosure of borders, the cancellation of airline flights, the evacuation of foreign workers and a collapse of cross-bordertrade, the national deficit of Sierra Leone and other affected countries was widening to the point where the IMF wasconsidering expanding its financial support.

Mental healthMental healthcare in Sierra Leone is almost non-existent. Many sufferers try to cure themselves with the help oftraditional healers. During the Civil War (19912002), many soldiers took part in atrocities and many children wereforced to fight. This left them traumatized, with an estimated 400,000 people (by 2009) being mentally ill.Thousands of former child soldiers have fallen into substance abuse as they try to blunt their memories.

Maternal and child healthAccording to 2010 estimates, Sierra Leone has the 5th highest maternal mortality rate in the world.[47] According toa 2013 UNICEF report,[48] 88% of women in Sierra Leone have undergone female genital mutilation. As of 2014,Sierra Leone was estimated as having the 11th highest infant mortality rate in the world.[49]

Drinking water supplyMain article: Water supply in Sierra LeoneWater supply in Sierra Leone is characterized by limited access to safe drinking water. Despite efforts by thegovernment and numerous non-governmental organisations, access has not much improved since the end of theSierra Leone Civil War in 2002, stagnating at about 50% and even declining in rural areas.[50] It is hoped that a newdam in Orugu, for which China committed financing in 2009, will alleviate water scarcity.According to a national survey carried out in 2006, 84% of the urban population and 32% of the rural population hadaccess to an improved water source. Those with access in rural areas were served almost exclusively by protectedwells. The 68% of the rural population without access to an improved water source relied on surface water (50%),unprotected wells (9%) and unprotected springs (9%). Only 20% of the urban population and 1% of the ruralpopulation had access to piped drinking water in their home. Compared to the 2000 survey access has increased inurban areas, but has declined in rural areas, possibly because facilities have broken down because of a lack ofmaintenance.With a new decentralisation policy, embodied in the Local Government Act of 2004, responsibility for water supplyin areas outside the capital was passed from the central government to local councils. In Freetown the Guma ValleyWater Company remains in charge of water supply.

Law enforcementLaw enforcement in Sierra Leone is primarily the responsibility of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP). Sierra LeonePolice was established by the British colony in 1894; it is one of the oldest police forces in West Africa. It works toprevent crime, protect life and property, detect and prosecute offenders, maintain public order, ensure safety andsecurity, and enhance access to justice. The Sierra Leone Police is headed by the Inspector General of Police, theprofessional head of the Sierra Leone Police force, who is appointed by the President of Sierra Leone.Each one of Sierra Leone's 14 districts is headed by a district police commissioner who is the professional head oftheir respective district. These Police Commissioners report directly to the Inspector General of Police at the SierraLeone Police headqu