Searching for Answers: Sierra Leone’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission

by Beth K. Dougherty Abstract This article examines the creation and operation of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission and offers an assessment of its work to date. Despite the brutal atrocities committed during the decade-long conflict, the 1999 Lome Peace Agreement granted a full amnesty to all sides. The TRC was established as […]

Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation in Africa: Issues and Cases

by Lyn Graybill and Kimberly Lanegran Abstract This essay identifies a number of problematic issues concerning transitional justice and restorative justice in particular and suggests that they can be fruitfully explored through thoughtful examination of the truth-seeking projects of this issue’s case countries: South Africa, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. One debate is whether political transitions […]

Tradition and Educational Reconstruction in Africa in Postcolonial and Global Times: The Case for Sierra Leone

by Yatta Kanu Abstract Critique of colonial and postcolonial education in Africa as perpetuating cultural and intellectual servitude and devaluation of traditional African cultures has led some African intellectuals to call for a re-appropriation of pre-colonial forms of education to rediscover the roots of African identity. But precisely how can African traditional forms of education […]

Comparative Perspectives on the Rehabilitation of Ex-Slaves and Former Child Soldiers with Special Reference to Sudan

by Randall Fegley Abstract Despite the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, reconstruction of southern Sudan remains a daunting task, which limited resources and unlimited suspicions may derail or delay. Among myriad issues facing agencies and their client communities are the problems of assisting children traumatized by the brutal legacies of Sudan’s first half century of […]

A Question of Intervention: American Policymaking in Sierra Leone and the Power of Institutional Agenda Setting

by Christopher R. Cook Abstract This article is an examination of American foreign policy towards Sierra Leone in 1999 and 2000. Hopefully it will contribute to the literature of Sierra Leone while shedding theoretical light on types of humanitarian intervention. It seeks to answer two questions about American policy: First, why did the Clinton White […]

Sierra Leone’s 2007 Elections: Monumental and More of the Same

by Kevin S. Fridy and Fredline A.O. M’Cormack-Hale Abstract When the National Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone announced that Ernest Bai Koroma and his party, the All People’s Congress, had been elected to replace the incumbent Sierra Leone People’s Party government, Sierra Leone joined a growing number of African nations to have experienced a peaceful turnover […]

Debunking the Myth of the “Good” Coup d’ État in Africa

by Andrew C. Miller Abstract In response to the recent coup in Niger, which ousted the country’s president-turned-strongman Mamadou Tandja, the capital erupted in pro-coup demonstrations. Many commentators and foreign governments also showed tacit support for the junta. What is the likelihood that this coup and the other coup regimes in Africa will lead to […]

African Studies Quarterly

Tag: Sierra Leone