Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone performs at the mid-range in three (Representation, Rights and Rule of Law) of the four categories of the Global State of Democracy framework. It performs in the high range in Participation. It falls among the world’s top 25 per cent of countries in all measures of Participation (Civil Society, Civic Engagement and Electoral Participation). It is among the bottom 25 per cent of the world with regard to Basic Welfare. It is a low-income country and is hindered by poor levels of human development. Over the last five years, Sierra Leone has experienced notable advances in Access to Justice and the Absence of Corruption while also suffering declines in Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Association and Assembly. The economy is principally dependent on agriculture and the mining and export of diamonds, gold, and iron ore.
Present-day Sierra Leone has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Bulom, Temne, and Limba. Portuguese voyagers in the fifteenth century commenced a trade in ivory and slaves. Islam arrived in the eighteenth century by way of Muslim traders. Starting in 1787, former slaves arrived from the United Kingdom; the country eventually became a British protectorate. After independence in 1961, the West African nation was briefly a democracy before becoming a one-party state. During the subsequent decades, political oppression and poor state governance led to abject poverty and inequality, generating a marginalized youth and widespread dissatisfaction over the government’s mismanagement of the economy, education, and corruption. Fueled by control over the country’s diamond wealth and military assistance from Liberia, the Revolutionary United Front emerged, leading Sierra Leone into a brutal decade-long civil war (1991-2002) that resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of lives. After the war, Sierra Leone saw a substantial increase in safety and security and a return to multiparty democracy.
In part as a result of this history, ethnicity is a key political cleavage. A small minority of Creoles, or Krios, occupy a privileged position in Sierra Leonean society. Ethnic voting is widespread in the country, as the Mende (36 per cent of the population) and the Temne (33 per cent) tend to support two different parties. Sierra Leone is also religiously diverse, with an Islamic majority and a Christian minority that generally coexist peacefully but occasionally produce tensions. While a landmark law on women’s rights was enacted in early 2023, women face widespread gender-based violence and hold few parliamentary seats. LGBTQIA+ people face pernicious discrimination, and consensual same-sex conduct is criminalized.
For the general population, the primary issues driving politics are development, corruption, and security. The country continues to struggle with some of the world’s poorest health outcomes and persistent deficiencies in the education sector. Many Sierra Leoneans face extreme poverty and hunger. In addition, graft is a widespread issue, and a large majority say that corruption has increased. Finally, there has recently been an increase in political violence that is driven by political competition, and many Sierra Leoneans say that the government unfairly targets their ethnic group.
Over the coming years, it will be important to watch Personal Integrity and Security metrics, as a rise in political violence has erased much of the security gains made since the end of the civil war. Sierra Leone is also one of the countries that will be most affected by climate change – particularly in the agricultural sector – and as such, the Basic Welfare indicator should be watched for potential declines brought on by food insecurity.
Monthly Event Reports
January 2024 | Former president charged with treason following alleged coup attempt
On 3 January, four charges were filed against former president Ernest Bai Koroma, including treason, misprision of treason and the crime of “harbouring”. Charges were also filed against eleven others on the same day, including one person who had been a bodyguard to Mr. Koroma. The charges relate to an outbreak of violence in November 2023, in which hundreds of inmates were freed from the central prison in Freetown, and 18 members of the security services were killed. The government described the violence as an attempted coup d’état. The charges, and the allegations of an attempted coup, follow on from the disputed election result in June 2023, in which current President Julius Maada Bio’s Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) was declared the winner of the elections (by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone) over Dr Samura Kamara, the candidate of the All People’s Congress (APC), the party of former president Koroma. The election appeared to fall short of international standards for electoral integrity.
November 2023 | Government declares attacks on barracks and prison a coup attempt
In what Sierra Leone’s Information Minister described as an attempted coup, on 26 November, gunmen in the country’s capital Freetown attacked military barracks and a prison before being overwhelmed by the security forces. On 28 November it was reported that 20 people had been killed in the fighting and that almost 2,000 inmates had escaped. The government blamed the attack on ‘renegade soldiers’ but did not identify the coup leaders. Political tensions in the country have been high since its disputed general election in June and in August a number of soldiers were arrested in connection with an alleged coup plot.
October 2023 | Opposition party ends institutional boycott in deal with government
Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC), has ended its boycott of the country’s governance institutions following an agreement struck with the government on 19 October. The APC began its boycott in the wake of the June general election, which it alleged had been rigged. The agreement was facilitated by the Independent Commission for Peace and Social Cohesion and mediated by the Commonwealth, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States. Under its terms the APC members agreed to take up their seats in parliament and local councils in exchange for an end to the detentions and court cases that it claims are politically motivated. The parties also agreed to set up a cross-party committee to review the June election with development partners. The committee’s recommendations will be actionable and implementable. APC members of parliament were sworn in on 7 November.
August 2023 | Political situation remains unstable as opposition party boycotts institutions
Following the contested result of the general election in June, the political situation in Sierra Leone remains unstable. The main opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC) rejected that election result and began a policy of non-engagement with the government led by President Julius Maada Bio, and stated that its members will not take up the offices to which they have been elected at any level of government, including local councils and the national legislature. Only one member of the party had been sworn in before the official opening of Parliament on 4 August. A second APC MP was sworn in on 8 August, defying the party line.
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