By Saidu Ibrahim Kamara
232news
On the 23 March 1991, armed conflict broke out in Sierra Leone when forces crossed the border from Liberia into the town of Bomaru near the eastern frontier. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) as they called themselves claimed responsibility for the incursion, with the declared objective being to overcome the corrupt and tyrannical government of Joseph Saidu Momoh and the All People’s Congress (A P C) which had ruled Sierra Leone since 1968.
The Bomaru event heralded the beginning of a decade of violence that devastated the country. As the conflict exploded into appalling brutality against civilians, the world recoiled in horror at the tactics used by the RUF, it allies and opponents. Reports emerged of indiscriminate amputations, abductions of women and children, recruitments of children as combatants, rape, sexual slavery, cannibalism, gratuitous killings and wanton destructions of villages and towns. The war was measured not so much in battles and confrontations as in attacks upon civilian populations.
The war finally shrouded to a negotiated conclusion, reached at Lome, the capital of Togo, in July 1999, however, the agreement did not end the fighting entirely.
The actual peace really started in Kumrabai Ferry Junction where a Peace Monument has been erected. The Kumrabia Ferry Peace Monument is a historic monument situated in Kholifa Rowala chiefdom, Tonkolili district. This historic site has been marked as a place where peace was born.
Mohamed kuyateh, (now blind), who was an eye witness to the peace meeting at Kumrabai Ferry Junction at that time narrated the story of how the whole peace started.
Pa Kuyateh said that on a fateful morning; 8 December 2002 – the entire Robis village was surprised to see groups of armed men from different fractions of the country entering their village. He said some groups had used the Magburaka route while the others used the Mile 91 route to enter Kumrabai Ferry Junction without their knowledge and hence they panicked and were afraid for their lives. He stated that among the groups were: Lieutenant Gabriel Daniel Ismael Opande., force commander of United Nation Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), Brigadier Ali Hassan, Commander Sector 4, and General Issa Sesay, Interim Chairman of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). He said they later realized that their gathering was to discuss modalities for deployment of UNAMSIL troops throughout RUF controlled and eastern region. At that point according to him, General Opande said the RUF armed men that had gathered to discuss peace and as such, they should drop their weapons which they did diligently.
Pa kuyateh furthered that prior to the meeting; the rebels had mounted road blocks along the Magburaka and Mile 91 bypass road where neither civilians nor government forces were allowed to ply. But he said that during the assembly, General Opande negotiated with RUF Commander to remove the road blocks and open the road to civilians and other necessary forces and stated thus:
“As if God had agreed for peace on that day, the commander agreed to open the road. At that point in time, the parties involved narrated their interest in the war of which the RUF Commander told the General that they were fighting for their rights which had been denied by the government. The ECOMOG explained that theirs was to restore peace and sanity in the country as they as Nigerians were very grateful to Sierra Leone because this was where they used to acquire tertiary education. The General in turn explained that he had gone through many ordeals from a very long distance to reach Sierra Leone and such pleaded with the partners involved to end the war and embrace peace.”
With that, Pa Kuyateh said, the three commanders entered the Kumrabai Ferry Junction mosque where they had some lengthy discussions. He said at the meeting, UNAMSIL and other RUF leadership committed themselves to a peaceful resolution. “After the meeting, the three heads came outside and asked us if we needed peace. We answered in the affirmative, and there and then, they declared the end of the war,” said Pa Kuyateh with a broad smile.
After the declaration, he said the three commanders on-boarded a single vehicle moved around Mile 91 as a symbol of peace and unity.
The meeting as he stated marked the turning point of the entire peace process in the country which subsequently led to the establishment of the peace monument at the Kumrabai Ferry Junction by the Bangladesh on 8 December 2002.
After the end of the war, Sierra Leoneans decided to have a dialogue and vowed never again to see such atrocities committed by fellow Sierra Leoneans. The need to bring to book those who bear the greatest responsibility was brought up. It was this idea that made for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the creation of a special court.
The creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was provided for in the Lome Peace Agreement of July 1999. Article 1X of the Lome Peace Agreement provided a pardon and amnesty for participants in the conflict.
The Commission was therefore viewed as the principal means of providing a degree of accountability. “To consolidate the peace and promote the cause of national reconciliation, the
Government of Sierra Leone shall ensure that no official or judicial action is taken against any member of the RUF, ex-AFRC, ex-SLA or CDF in respect of anything done by them in pursuit of their objectives as members of those organizations, since March 1991, up to the time of the signing of the present Agreement”
In the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Report, recommendations and findings were catalogued in the report as its starts from the issues about good governance, human rights, democratic institutions, youth, and the constitution among others areas were areas looked into the report and highlighted many imperative actions to be taken by the government.
Have Sierra Leoneans visited this historic site to reflect on their bloody past and think about their future?
This article is produced with support from Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) through the African Transitional Justice Legacy Fund project on “Engaging the media to change narrative on Transitional Justice (TJ) issues in Sierra Leone.”
