History of Sierra Leone

...From Colonialism & Civil War to Reform & Resilience

WEST AFRICA : Colonialism & Slave Trade

The name “Sierra Leone” comes from metformin 1000 mg dosage the Portuguese, “Serra de Leão,” meaning “Lion Mountains.” Portuguese explorers visited this region of the West African coastline in 1462.

Sierra Leone’s history is very much intertwined with the violent legacy of the West African Slave Trade. The Freetown area is said to have once been a popular slave market, but in 1791, a groundwork for freedom was laid when 1,100 individuals known as the “Nova Scotian Settlers,” former slaves (mostly from Virginia & South Carolina) who escaped to the British during the American Revolution, arrived there by boat.

During the colonial years, Freetown was the center of British West Africa; it was from this city center that a British governor long ruled over the Gold Coast (Ghana), Gambia, and Sierra Leone. Fourah Bay College was founded in 1827, and for more than a century it was the only modern European-style university in British West Africa. Fourah Bay College still exists today, as a part of the University of Sierra Leone.

SIERRA LEONE : As An Independent Nation

Sierra Leone side effects 0f metformin as an independent nation was founded in 1961, created by the union of the British Crown Colony of Freetown with surrounding areas known as the Sierra Leone Protectorate. Sir Milton Margai was the main architect of the 1961 post-colonial Constitution, and was Sierra Leone’s first Prime Minister.

By 1978, a one-party state had been instituted in Sierra Leone. Joseph Momoh, a military leader, became Sierra Leone’s President in 1985. Around this time, a group of students who were expelled from the country traveled first to Ghana and then to Libya; they attended secret service military training that was sponsored by Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. Later, they toured the diamond mines of Sierra Leone’s Kono District, speaking with the labor force about their situation and spreading revolutionary ideology.

CIVIL WAR : Liberian Rebel Leader abets RUF

Civil war broke out in 1991, soon after a new Constitution (still utilized today) was supposed to take effect. That year, the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) began to attack villages in eastern Sierra Leone, on the Liberian border. The following year, the RUF launched a military coup which sent then President Joseph Momoh into exile.

Allegedly backed by Charles Taylor, Liberian rebel leader (and later President of Liberia), the RUF was noted for its vicious physical brutality and its exploitation of “child soldiers.” Poverty in Sierra Leone intensified, as the RUF gained control of the nation’s lucrative diamond trade.

Charles Taylor is currently on trial in The Hague, Netherlands, under the jurisdiction of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, where he has plead not guilty to 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.

IN PICTURES | Sierra Leone Civil War (1991 – 2002)

For a more visually compelling narrative account of the Sierra Leone civil conflict and its devastating (albeit hopeful) repercussions, please view the SlideShare.net slideshow above. Photos & text for the slideshow are public domain, contributed by the talented writers and photographers of the Associated Press (AP) and the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).

A NEW DAY IN SIERRA LEONE!

It is the dawn of a new era in Sierra Leone. A President and a Parliament have been elected, bringing together members of multiple political parties. The current President of Sierra Leone is Ernest Bai Koroma of the APC (All People’s Congress) party. He was inaugurated into office in November 2007 on promises of reform, after defeating former Vice-President Solomon Berewa of the SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) in a run-off election. Koroma has already been selected as his party’s candidate for the 2012 elections; he is only permitted by the Sierra Leone Constitution to serve two consecutive five-year terms.