KAMAJORS, SOBEL & THE MILITARIAT: CIVIL SOCIETY & THE RETURN OF THE MILITARY IN SIERRA LEONEAN POLITICS

In: Review of African political economy, Band 73, Heft 24, S. 373-398

Abstract

THE COUP OF 25 MAY 1997 CAME AS A SURPRISE TO MOST OBSERVERS OF THE POLITICAL SCENE IN SIERRA LEONE. FOR MANY IT WAS A MAJOR BLOW STRUCK AT THE HEART OF A NASCENT DEMOCRACY, ONE WHICH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD NOT TOLERATE. A LOOK AT RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN RULE POINTS TO CERTAIN DANGEROUS PITFALLS IN THE PATH TO SUSTAINED DEMOCRACY. THIS BRIEFING DRAWS ATTENTION TO SOME OF THESE PITFALLS AND THE UNDERLYING REASON FOR THE RECENT BLOW AT DEMOCRACY.