The major elements of the timeline are Amnesty, allowing RUF to become a political party, DDR, and the Truth Commission. Although the accord does not distinguish between start dates and completion dates, which suggest that the dates given are start dates. Amnesty and party reform were passed almost immediately. The DDR program was initiated before the accord. The Truth Commission was initiated within one year. By and large, the deadlines were met.

Amnesty was passed very quickly. Immediately after signing the Lomé Agreement, President Ahmad Kabbah addressed the House of Parliament on the signing of the Lomé peace deal, which included amnesty provisions. He granted a blanket amnesty to rebels, as well as the release of more than 65 political prisoners, including RUF leader Foday Sankoh. “The prisoners were among a group of civilians and military officers held in detention for their role in the ousted military junta which rule the country in 1997… The President told Parliamentarians that such a move in granting amnesty to the political prisoners was a difficult one but that in the interest of peace it was worth making.”¹

On July 23, 1999, Parliament passed the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone (Participation in Political and Democratic Process) Act, 1999 (No. 4 of 1999). The Act facilitated the transformation of the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone into a political movement and the assumption by members of the Front of any public offices assigned to them pursuant to the Lomé Peace Agreement. On the same day, Parliament also passed the Commission for the Management of Strategic Resources, National Reconstruction and development Act, 1999 (No. 5 of 1999), as provided for under Article XXVIII of the Lomé Peace Agreement.² This Act allowed the RUF to participate in the transitional government.

The DDR process started in October 1998 and was run by UNASMIL in coordination with NCDDR. The process was comprised of four different phases: (1) Phase I- September — December 1998; (2) Phase II- October 1999-April 2000; (3) Interim Phase – May 2000-May 17, 2001; (4) Phase III- May 18, 2001-January 2002.³

According to the eighth report of the Secretary General on UNOMSIL (S/1999/1003, September 28, 1999), “the Government of Sierra Leone, working in close cooperation with the World Bank, the United Kingdom and UNOMSIL, developed an operational plan for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration into society of an estimated 45,000 fighters in Sierra Leone.”⁴ “The strength of the RUF is estimated at some 15,000, approximately the same size as the Civil Defence Force. The AFRC comprises some 6,000 men, slightly fewer than the current armed forces of Sierra Leone, which have a nominal roll of 7,000. Some 2,000 fighters are thought to belong to various paramilitary groups. UNICEF estimates that about 12 per cent of all combatants are children.”⁵

No further developments observed.

No further developments observed.

No further developments observed.

No further developments observed.

No additional information was available on donor support in 2005 related to the Lomé Agreement. There was still insufficient funding for reparations to war victims.

“Sierra Leoneans from all walks of society would participate in a two-day donor conference scheduled to take place on September 4 and 5 in Maryland, USA in a bid to rebuild and develop the Marampa Chiefdom in Lunsar, Port Loko district, and other parts of the country destroyed during the decade old conflict. The programme organized by the Marampa Self Help project, a non-profiting making organization that has reconstructed over 12 houses destroyed during the war in that township, would bring together Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora to contribute meaningfully to post-war development exercise in the country.”⁶

No additional information available on donor support.

“A delegation of donors from 12 counties ended a week-long mission to Sierra Leone on Friday declaring that although peace had come, the problems and needs facing the country were ‘enormous,Õ the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) reported. Alan Doss, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Governance and Stabilisation, told reporters that the response from donors was ‘extremely positive,Õ as Sierra Leone moved from emergency relief to the reconstruction phase, UNAMSIL reported. The purpose of the visit, Doss said, was not to make financial pledges but to discuss with the government the prospects and priorities for reintegration and recovery.”⁷

Donors at a World Bank conference, held from June 11-12, 2001, failed to offer specific commitments to replenish the multimillion-dollar Trust Fund set up for war-weary Sierra Leone. “With just US $6 million dollars left in the fund, the Sierra Leonean government expects this to last no later than August, the World Bank Country Director for Sierra Leone told reporters in Paris. The money was being used to pay for post-war reconstruction and socioeconomic development.⁸