Politics of Human Network in African Conflicts

Okano Hideyuki

Description

Sierra Leone experienced 11 years� civil war after the incursion of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) from adjacent Liberia. The war of Sierra Leone is one of the most researched in Africa. However, the foci of studies are mostly on the RUF. Other armed groups are not sufficiently studied. This book focuses on the governmental side of the Kamajor and the Civil Defence Force (CDF). Kamajors were community-based vigilantes mobilised by paramount chiefs in various Mende communities. During the course of the war, the government organised Kamajors into a pro-governmental militia, the CDF. This book examines how human networks worked in the course of the formation of Kamajor and of the CDF. Even though the roles of human networks have been discussed in the realm of African politics, they have been left hypothetical. Few studies demonstrate the whole picture on how neopatrimonialism, patron�client relations or informal networks function within an organisation. This book describes the course of Kamajor/CDF along with functions of the human networks. In the networks, the threads of human relations are interwoven by subsuming the local, the international and the global dimensions of the armed conflict. Some connect to governmental figures. Others have transnational networks in adjacent Liberia. In the changing situations of the war, some of the relations are maintained, while some relations are disintegrated. Those who emerge as prominent figures in the Kamajor/CDF use their own human networks to obtain resources for the Kamajor/CDF, which in turn, afford themselves higher positions in the force.

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 10 janvier 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789956550548
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

Politics of Human Network in African Conflicts Politics of Human Network in African Conflicts Kamajor/the CDF in Sierra Leone

Hideyuki Okano

Hideyuki Okano

Politics of Human Network in African Conflicts: Kamajor/the CDF in Sierra Leone Hideyuki Okano L a ng a a R esea rch & P u blishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com ISBN-10: 9956-550-18-3 ISBN-13: 978-9956-550-18-0 ©Hideyuki Okano 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher

Table of Contents List of Figures & Photographs ...................................... vii Acknowledgements in the English Edition................... ix Preface ............................................................................ xiii Explanatory Notes for the Text from the Author .......... xix A Note on the Translation ............................................. xxi List of Abbreviations ...................................................... xxiii Introduction: An Interdisciplinary Examination of the Sierra Leone Civil War................................................ 1 1. Locating the Issues .........................................................................1 2. Outlining the Academic Context I: Examining the Sierra Leone Civil War as an Area Study..................................................................3 3. Outlining the Academic Context II: Examining the Civil War from the Perspectives of Political Science...............................................5 and Cultural and Social Anthropology 4. Thesis Statement .............................................................................9 Chapter 1 An Outline of the Sierra Leone Civil War and the Kamajor/CDF ............................... 11 1. Sierra Leone and the Mende People ............................................11 2. Defining the Kamajors and CDF.................................................23 3. The Course of the Sierra Leone Civil War..................................26 4. The Characteristics of the Kamajors ...........................................38 5. The Characteristics of the CDF....................................................44 Chapter 2 Constructing a Hypothesis and Establishing an Analytical Framework ...................... 53 1. Previous Literature on States and Armed Conflicts in Africa...........................................................53 2. Hypothesis of this Book ................................................................69

iii

3. Three Analytical Perspectives .......................................................72 4. Examining the Case of Sierra Leone ...........................................74 5. Verifying the Hypothesis ...............................................................77 6. Structure of the Book.....................................................................81 Chapter 3 Research Methods.......................................................... 85 1. Outline of the Fieldwork ...............................................................85 2. Interview Methodology..................................................................85 3. The Two Types of Oral Sources and the Descriptive Method Used ..............................................................87 4. Sparrow: A Research Collaborator...............................................90 5. Key Sources .....................................................................................92 Chapter 4 Historical Background................................................... 95 1. The Chiefdoms: Mobilising the Kamajors..................................95 2. The Magical Aspects of the Kamajors ........................................108 3. Conditions in Sierra Leone Directly before its Descent into Civil War ..............................................................114 Chapter 5 The Civil War before the Formation of the Kamajors: From the Momoh Administration to the First Half of the NPRC Administration (1991–1993) .................. 119 1.The Sierra Leone Government’s Response to the Rebellion .............................................................................119 2. The Mobilisation of Liberian Refugees .......................................122 3. The Mobilisation of Local Residents by the Sierra Leonean Army ......................................................................128 Chapter 6 The Emergence of Small Networks: The Middle of the NPRC Administration (1994–1995).................................................................. 137 1.The Background to the Formation of the Hunter-Militias:

iv

The RUF’s Guerrilla Strategy and ‘Sobel’..................................137 2. The Formation of Hunter Militias ...............................................143 3. The Origin of Initiation Rites in the Bonthe Area ....................150 Chapter 7 The Unification of Multiple PC Networks: From the Second Half of the NPRC Administration to the First Kabbah Administration (1995 to May 1997) ...................................................... 159 1. Cooperation among Hunter Militias Based in Different Chiefdoms ....................................................159 2. The Spread of Initiations and Proliferation of Initiators...............................................................163 3. The Increase of Kamajors and the Emergence of a Formalised Pattern of Mobilisation....................................173 4 The Establishment of Combat Units Led by Initiators .............177 5. The Kamajors Organising across Chiefdoms.............................181 Chapter 8 The Rise of a Dominant PC Network (The Gendema Kamajors): The AFRC Administration – Period I (May 1997 to November 1997) ..................................... 191 1. The circumstances that led to the May 25 Coup .......................192 2. The Kamajors Gather on the Liberian Border ..........................203 3. ECOMOG and the Monrovian Underground ..........................210 4. Military Activity in Gendema........................................................221 5. Sparrow and the CDF Special Forces..........................................227 Chapter 9 Replacing the Dominant PC Network: The AFRC Administration – Period II (November 1997 to March 1998).................................. 239 1. Samuel Hinga Norman Leaves the Gendema Kamajors .....................................................................240 2. Activities in Base Zero ...................................................................249 3. The Kamajors/ECOMOG Offensive and the Restoration of the Kabbah Administration................260

v

Chapter 10 The Establishment and Dismantling of the CDF PC Network: The Second Kabbah Administration (March 1998 to the end of the Civil War in 2002) ....................................................... 275 1. The Restoration of the Kabbah Administration........................276 2. Organising the CDF .......................................................................278 3. The CDF internal power struggle as seen through Sparrow’s experiences .....................................................297 4. Major Battles during the Second Kabbah Administration .......306 5. The Dismantling of the CDF: The Elimination of the PC Network............................................316 Chapter 11 People Who Lived through the Civil War: The Life Histories of Three Kamajors ....................... 333 1. The Function of PC Networks from the Perspective of the CDF Special Forces .......................................334 2. The Life Histories of Three Individuals......................................335 Chapter 12 Conclusion: Armed Groups as Human Networks......... 345 1. Verifying the Hypothesis ...............................................................345 2. Contribution to African Conflict Studies in Political Science..........................................................................350 3. Contribution to Cultural and Social Anthropology........................................................................352 4. Contribution to Research into the Sierra Leone Civil War....................................................................355 5. Potential Issues with This Book ...................................................360 6. Future Research Goals...................................................................361 7. Ethical Issues Raised by this Book ..............................................362 8. Finally................................................................................................365 Acknowledgements in Original Version ........................ 367 References/Source Materials ......................................... 391 Index............................................................................... 411

vi

List of Figures & Photographs Figure 0-1 Location of Sierra Leone within Africa .................... xxv Figure 0-2 National map of Sierra Leone .................................... xxv Figure 0-3 Chiefdoms mentioned in this book ........................... xxvi Figure 1-1 Ethnic distribution of Sierra Leone........................... 15 Figure 1-2 Regions where the Mende language is spoken......... 18 Figure 1-3 Placements of cities, towns and villages ................... 22 Figure 1-4 Changes in Kamajor militia membership ................. 48 Figure 1-5 Ethnic origin of Kamajor militias .............................. 49 Figure 1-6 Who mobilised the militias?........................................ 50 Figure 2-1 The patron–client network ......................................... 61 Figure 2-2 Rifts in the patron–client network............................. 63 Figure 2-3 Hypothesis of this study.............................................. 71 Figure 6-1 Number of incidents of human rights violation abuses by the RUF ....................................... 140 Figure 6-2 Number of incidents of human rights violation abuses by the SLA........................................ 143 Figure 8-1 Locations of Gendema and Zimmi ........................... 221 Figure 8-2 Organisational structure of the CDF Special Forces...................................................... 233 Figure 9-1 Freetown and its surrounding areas .......................... 265 Figure 10-1 The CDF Organisation structure as presented in theConflict Mapping in Sierra Leonereport ......................................................... 279 Photograph 1-1 The Bush (Waterloo, 2011. Photograph by author)................. 20 Photograph 1-2 A bush path (Kailahun District, 2009. Photograph by author) .. 21 Photograph 1-3 Kamajors (From theDemocrat................... 44, 27 February 1997) Photograph 2-1 Samuel Hinga Norman (From theStandard Times) .......................................... 79 Photograph 2-2 Allieu Kondewa (Provided by Danny Hoffman)................................. 79

vii

Photograph 2-3 Moinina Fofana (From the SCSL website)........................................... 80 Photograph 6-1 Contemporary newspaper article reporting the Massacre at Telu (FromVision,14–21 July 1994)................................. 149 Photograph 7-1 Mama Munda and a Kamajor (Provided by Danny Hoffman)................................. 171 Photograph 7-2 Photograph taken during mass initiation (From the personal collection of Sheik Kabbah) . 179 Photograph 8-1 Gendema (The road leading to Liberia, 2009. Photograph by author) .. 209 Photograph 8-2 Sparrow (left), author’s research collaborator, and Eddie Massallay (right) (Taken in 2010 by author, published with permission of individuals in photograph).............. 209 Photograph 8-3: The ruins of Hotel Africa. The OAU Villas are located near this position, but photography of the villas was not permitted as they were being used as military facilities. (Photograph by author, 2009) ................................. 216 Photograph 8-4: Ricks Institute. The school was reopened after the Second Liberian Civil War. (Photograph by author, 2009) ................................. 216 Photograph 9-1: Talia (Photograph by author, 2009) ................ 246 Photograph 9-2: The school grounds that were used as a helicopter landing pad (Talia, 2009. Photograph by author)....................... 251 Photograph 10-1: Former Kamajor Abu Bakar Kamara speaking to Sparrow as he points at a book (Photograph by author, 2012) ................. 316

viii

Acknowledgements in the English Edition This book is a translation of a Japanese text published in 2015 as Ahurika no naisen to buso seryoku: Shiera reone naisen ni miru jinmyaku nettowaku no seiseito henyo(Africa War and Armed Group: Formation and Transformation of Human Network in the War of Sierra Leone). The structure of this book might be unfamiliar to English- speaking scholars and students. This unfamiliarity stems from the differences in academic approaches between the English-speaking world and that of the Japanese. Japan has its own path of academic development in African studies. One of the reasons is smallness of the academic society. The Japan Association for African Studies (JAAS) has only 900 members, and in the annual conference in 2018 only 140 papers were presented. Therefore, Africanists have to interact and discuss beyond academic disciplines. Personally, I have a lot of chances to receive advice from anthropologists as well as political scientists. Another reason might be reaction to recent the trend of academics in English. Within a few decades, the divisions among academic disciplines became more rigid. For example, in political science, the main stream is to find a generalised explanatory model which might be applicable to any society. Elaborating academic approaches is meaningful but, on the other hand, some elements are abandoned in the process of the elaboration. This book emphasises that social phenomena arose as the result of accumulation from the past. In order to understand social phenomena deeply, the wholistic understanding of a society is necessary, which includes social norms, faith, history, governance and livelihood. A local society has its way of life which fits in with natural environment. New ideas and institutions have flown into the society from the outer world. Inflow of new people, rules by traditional states, integrations in economic networks, colonisation and independences as nation states all have affected the local society. Therefore, even in analysing a modern political phenomenon, one needs to understand a society holistically, and have to grasp how it

ix