Military Reform – 2000

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Military Reform – 2000

2000

Intermediate Implementation Intermediate implementation

In 2000, the British helped establish a new Sierra Leonean Ministry of Defense with a mission to “formulate, implement, monitor and evaluate a strategic defence policy for the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces that is effective and fostered within a framework of democratic governance.1The new ministry provides a framework for a closer and more efficient working relationship between civilians and the military. Unlike in the past, civilians now occupy senior positions in the military administration. The Deputy Minister of Defence and the Director General of the MOD, the equivalent of a UK Permanent Secretary, are civilians. The Director General is the government’s principal adviser on defense matters and holds primary responsibility for policy, finance, procurement and administration. The Director General is also the Principal Accounting Officer responsible to the Minister of Defence for the overall organization, management and staffing of the department. The Director is personally responsible to Parliament for the expenditure of all public money allocated for defense 2

“On 28 January 2000, Mr. Koroma submitted his resignation to President Kabbah from the Sierra Leone Army. While he would remain the leader of the AFRC, his faction would be dissolved with the impeding reinstatement of ex-sierra Leone Army elements into the current armed forces.”3

1,148 ex-armed combatants have been encamped and are waiting the screening process in order to be reinstated, if qualified.4

In his latest report to the Security Council (December 2000), the UN Secretary General informed that the newly trained Sierra Leone Army began security responsibilities in several strategic areas of the country. The United Kingdom Military trained approximately 3,000 Sierra Leonean Army personnel, with 1,000 more expected to undergo training in late December.5

Note: Though the screening process was rigorous, government reinstated thousands of ex-AFRC soldiers, who committed terrible atrocities during the war, into the army during the summer of 2000 in order to repulse the RUF’s attack towards Freetown.

  1. “Time for a New Political and Military Strategy,” International Crisis Group, Sierra Leone, ICG Africa Report No.28, Freetown/London/Brussels, 11 April 2001, p.7.
  2. Gbla Osman, “Security sector reform under international tutelage in Sierra Leone,” International Peacekeeping, 2006, 13 (1): 83.
  3. “Report of the Secretary General on the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone,” (S/2000/186), March 7, 2000, page 1-2.
  4. “Report of the Secretary General on the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone,” (S/2000/186), March 7, 2000.
  5. “Report of the Secretary General on the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone,” (S/2000/1199), December 15, 2000.