Focus On Sierra Leone has, admittedly, been one of the strongest critics of the policies of President Tejan Kabbah and his government in the face of the mounting casualties in Sierra Leone’s civil war. In the course of that period we too have taken as much of the stick from others as we ourselves have meted out to them. That always happens in politics. But we never doubted that common sense and simple truth would prevail in the end…and surely it has. Nothing ventured nothing gained, so goes the saying! Both sides have taken the risk and have come up with a deal. That is the essence of dialogue …in this case, between enemies.

We welcome the peace agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Revolutionary United Front and their allies. Without qualification or hesitation we loudly salute the courage and the steadfastness of President Kabbah and his team of negotiators led ably by Mr Solomon Berewa for this latest peace deal reached with the RUF and (though not explicitly!) their allies, the AFRC. We thank them for giving our country this golden chance to breathe again. We know we have not achieved durable peace - because that is yet to be attained - but we surely should be on the way to attaining that end in the future, with truth and God on our side. For now, we believe we must all join the President and his government, the RUF and the AFRC  to make this agreement work. And, with the support of the International Community, to lay the foundations for lasting peace in our country.

We also congratulate the rebel RUF/AFRC, their leader Corporal Foday Sankoh and their supporters for putting the country’s interest ahead of their own ideological and other reasons in order to bring the violence to an end. By virtue of the peace agreement, the RUF in particular has wrenched more than its fare share of advantages from the legally elected government of Sierra Leone, far more than many Sierra Leoneans would wish them or were prepared to concede. But in the interest of peace and reconciliation among all Sierra Leoneans, our people have taken the risk to trust them yet again so that peace will rein all throughout the land of our birth, Sierra Leone. They must not deceive the nation…again.

No one can doubt or underplay the evil consequences of the war on Sierra Leone. But we believe there is ground for hope and optimism, as we shall explain at another time, though we cannot afford to be complacent. In the immortal words of William Blake (1804-1808), the English poet, painter and prose writer, in a stirring poem about England, let us proclaim thus:

                            …..And did those feet in ancient time
                              Walk upon [Sierra Leone's] mountains green?
                              And was the holy Lamb of God
                              On [Sierra Leone's] pleasant pastures seen?

                              And did the Countenance Divine
                              Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
                              And was Jerusalem builded here
                              Among these dark Satanic mills?

To the wounded, the maimed and the bereaved and the underprivileged and impoverished, to whom Focus on Sierra Leone is dedicated, and to whom this editor's personal life and wellbeing are totally committed, we say wipe your tears and remain hopeful for the future. Though how we can expect you to look to the future when someone has senselessly invaded your persons and deprived you of your God-given limbs and other members of your sacred bodies, without which you cannot fend for yourselves, is beyond comprehension. It is simply behaviour that derives from one of those dark recesses of the human being's nature that we can not, and never will, understand or fathom out. We grieve with you and we share in your deprivation. But we are determined that your sacrifices and suffering will not go unrecognised or unrequited. You shall be powerful icons in reminding us of our hideous past. By your prominence in our midst, you will become the firebrands of hope leading us to the future that we will carve for ourselves, awakening our consciences whenever we are prone to falter back into our old violent ways.

As for the dead, sadly, we can never bring them back. Many have died and, no doubt, will continue to die needlessly and horribly. Only their cherished memories will remain with us. But it is a legacy that is both rich and inspiring. The emerging new nation state of Sierra Leone must treasure it as it moves gingerly through the maze of uncharted and labyrinthine political landscapes in the coming months of implementation. The death of these victims must not be allowed to have been in vain. The peace agreement is theirs as well as ours. In their name we trust and must not let it fail.

As we will explain on another page on this site, the agreement is only a start, not perfect and needs a lot of improvement for it to succeed. Already many people including, worryingly, some usually thoughtful and fair-minded commentators have opposed and ruled it out as a good solution. To them we simply pose the question, what is the alternative? 

Naturally, we too have our reservations about aspects of the agreement not so much in its content but its implementation, as we believe there was undue haste in getting it signed by the parties without putting in place the necessary preparatory work on the ground such as confidence building and consolidation of the ceasefire monitoring process. But these are elements that can be corrected and worked on, given the necessary goodwill and commitment by all concerned.

For the moment we are prepared to allow ordinary Sierra Leoneans who have borne the brunt edge of the fighting to enjoy their respite from the violence of eight years. We call upon everyone involved – including all our citizens and the many friends of Sierra Leone - to put all hands on deck to make the deal work by giving our goodwill and support to the Government of Sierra Leone, the RUF/AFRC coalition and the paramilitary militias so everyone can feel safe and secure in abiding by its terms.

Last but by no means least, we implore the International Community to put its money where its mouth is. Enough of the condemnations and recriminations but more of the resources that will help prevent a recurrence of the nightmare for Sierra Leoneans.  We thank them for their concern and their sustained effort to secure this agreement. Our especial thanks to the Government of the the Republic of Togo, and to Presidents Eyadema and Obassajo. Now make good your promises to help rebuild the country, and to demomobilise, disarm and rehabilitate the armies of the opposing sides in this conflict.

So once again, congratulations to everyone who worked so hard for this agreement. May the respite from the violence of the last eight years, reportedly already being enjoyed by the long-suffering people of Sierra Leone, endure for the rest of their lives. May our country learn the abject lessons from its violent past. May it be prepared to translate its miserable existence during those years into one of prosperity and justice for all in the future. 

Long live Sierra Leone! Peace to all our citizens wherever they are!

Click 3/7/99 for the previous Saturday Commentary