Sierra Leone: Language At Two Levels

The fundamental conflict in Sierra Leone was a longstanding one between the Temne and Mande speaking peoples, the international response divided Francophone and Anglophone worlds.

The long war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002?) probably would not have started as it did without the initial and ongoing military support of Charles Taylor, attempting his own rebellion in neighboring Liberia, but linguistic forces were crucial in setting up the conflict in pre-war Sierra Leone and the international response.

Independence in 1961 brought the SLPP to power. Sierra Leone contains two distinct sub-families of the Niger-Kordofanian family , Atlantic-Congo and Mande, and is very evenly divided between the two groups. In the 1950s, the SLPP represented both, but a cabinet reshuffle in 1960, on the verge of independence, only advanced the interests of non-Temne groups. The APC was then formed as an explicitly Temne and Limba party, all APC leadership was Temne or Limba1 and election results reflected this divide. In 1967 the APC won, and democracy was effectively over in Sierra Leone.

It should be noted that economic differences between the Temne and Mande were not distinct. The Northerners may have lacked natural resources, but as a result of their historic links with Arab traders, they dominated the commercial trade of the country.2 Momoh, Sierra Leone's second APC dictator, continued the corruption, misrule and advancement of Temne interests through 1989, when Robert Taylor began his revolution in neighboring Liberia. Sierra Leone became a base for Nigerian jets attacking Taylor and his forces, and Taylor vowed Sierra Leone would "taste war" as a consequence.

In 1991, in a force comprised mostly of Taylor's troops, officially led by Sierra Leonean Foday Sankoh, the RUF invaded Mande portions of Sierra Leone succesfully. Although Sankoh and Taylor come from Temne families, most of their pickup forces in Sierra Leone were the Mande, long out of power. This was "perhaps, a blessing in disguise for the country: it has prevented the [Sierra Leone] Civil War from degenerating into a purely tribal [linguistic] conflict."3 The international community also broke down along linguistic lines, Anglophone versus Francophone. Three of the four other Anglophone states in the region, Nigeria, Ghana and Guinea, and none of the Francophone or Lusophone sent troops "providing security to successive reimges in [Sierra Leonean capital] Freetown agains an RUF onslight"4 .

Francophone west Africa is led by its strongest member, Cote d'Ivoire. Cote d'Ivoire was the strongest supporter of peace with the RUF, also supporting Taylor against anglophone Liberia5 .

In 1997 the second phase of the war began when a military faction took over Freetown and invited the RUF in. The West African states , against with ECOMOG battalions sent principally from Anglophone Africa began a blockade, later authorized by the United Nations, of Freetown.

In early 1999, the year of the focus for this study, the RUF began a sack of Freetown, and Nigerian troops retaliated with horribly bloody consequences. Thousands died in six weeks.

An election in Nigeria brought Obasanjo to power who promised, and soon began, a phased withdrawal of Nigerian troops. To prevent a power vaccuum from potentially making things much worse, the UN created UNAMISIL, a force similar in size to the Nigerian led ECOMOG, and which was composed nearly uniformly of Anglophone troops 6 .

Officially peace was signed in July, 1999, but RUF holdouts in the diamond rich areas continued to fight at least through 20017 Linguistic differences between two sub-families of Niger-Kordofanian set the stage for discontent in Sierra Leone, then Anglophone-Francophone tensions in West Africa, and anglophone interests in the world, determined the international response.

It was ... in their [the French] interest to cut Nigeria to size by dismembering her and reducing her interest in Francophone Africa. -- Obasanjo, later Nigerian President, in 1980, quoted in Adebajo p. 29

It is .. appropriate that the French-speaking countries should harmonize their views and coordinate their efforts, vis-a-vis English speaking Africa and Nigeria in particular -- French President Pompidou, 1972, quoted in Adebajo p. 31

Sierra Leone was considered "strategically insignificant by the powerful members of the UN Security Council, with the notable exception of Britain" 8