A New Perspective on Governance, Leadership, Conflict and Nation Building in Sierra Leone


Book Description

Sierra Leone is in her final phase of a Post-civil War rebuilding after twelve years of what has been dubbed one of the most devastating civil conflicts in Modern African History. Since the advent and end of the conflict a lot has been written in the forms of documentaries, reportages, commentaries, satires and academic textbooks by journalists, academics, politicians, former heads of state and political analysts. However, this book- `A New Perspective On Governance, Leadership, Conflict and Nation Building in Sierra Leone.', is different. It presents a new outlook in the sense that it is incisive, analytical, honest, educative and thought-provoking at the same time. The key message that runs through the veins of the theme is state renewal informed by new thinking spectacles that efficiently configure the manner in which the management of state leadership and governance is articulated for the benefits of the common good. The author, Solomon E. Berewa was one of the key actors- Chief Government Negotiator and stakeholder of the peace deals in his capacity as Minister of Justice and Attorney General and Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. He has written this masterpiece authoritatively by throwing fresh lights on the serious political issues and questions which have blurred the significance of the past and the present. Like any sincere agent of nation building, after a traumatic experience such as the one Sierra Leone went through, the rationale of the author is to build bridges across the board, political spectrums. In his estimation, it is only by looking into the past with open mind and sincerity, learn tangible lessons and act on them meticulously, that nations can be in position to surmount current challenges for the good and durability of a better tomorrow. Post-war Sierra Leone needs to have faith in this philosophy and crown it as the cornerstone in this crucial period of political and socio-economic renewal.




Free Slaves, Freetown, and the Sierra Leonean Civil War


Book Description

This book is a historical narrative covering various periods in Sierra Leone’s history from the fifteenth century to the end of its civil war in 2002. It entails the history of Sierra Leone from its days as a slave harbor through to its founding as a home for free slaves, and toward its political independence and civil war. In 1462, the country was discovered by a Portuguese explorer, Pedro de Sintra, who named it Serra Lyoa (Lion Mountains). Sierra Leone later became a lucrative hub for the Transatlantic Slave Trade. At the end of slavery in England, Freetown was selected as a home for the Black Poor, free slaves in England after the Somerset ruling. The Black Poor were joined by the Nova Scotians, American slaves who supported or fought with the British during the American Revolution. The Maroons, rebellious slaves from Jamaica, arrived in 1800. The Recaptives, freed in enforcement of British antislavery laws, were also taken to Freetown. Freetown became a British colony in 1808 and Sierra Leone obtained political independence from Britain in 1961. The development of the country was derailed by the death of its first Prime Minister, Sir Milton Margai, and thirty years after independence the country collapsed into a brutal civil war.




Religion and Contemporary Politics [2 volumes]


Book Description

With respect to the countries of the world, this work addresses two basic questions: "How does religion affect politics in this country?" and "How does politics affect religion in this country?" Although there are many books on the topics of religion and politics, reference works that consider the two together are few, with those that do exist primarily addressing theory rather than trends. The present work does the latter, contextualizing them within regional and national boundaries. In so doing, it recognizes the power of political and religious ideas and movements on individuals, communities, and nations, making the work a valuable resource for several disciplines, among them political science, international relations, religion, and sociology. The work focuses on the interplay of religion and politics in countries around the world with an emphasis on the post-2000s. It is organized by global geographic regions including Africa, Central and South America, and the Middle East and presents countries alphabetically within those sections. Each region has a brief overview of the political-religious dynamics of the area so readers can compare and contrast the dynamics between and among countries in a region. The work also includes an introduction, sidebars, and a bibliography.




The Legal Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone


Book Description

This important book considers whether the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), which was established jointly through an unprecedented bilateral treaty between the United Nations (UN) and Sierra Leone in 2002, has made jurisprudential contributions to the development of the nascent and still unsettled field of international criminal law. A leading authority on the application of international criminal justice in Africa, Charles Jalloh argues that the SCSL, as an innovative hybrid international penal tribunal, made useful jurisprudential additions on key legal questions concerning greatest responsibility jurisdiction, the war crime of child recruitment, forced marriage as a crime against humanity, amnesty, immunity and the relationship between truth commissions and criminal courts. He demonstrates that some of the SCSL case law broke new ground, and in so doing, bequeathed a 'legal legacy' that remains vital to the ongoing global fight against impunity for atrocity crimes and to the continued development of modern international criminal law.




Responding to Conflict in Africa


Book Description

Using nine case studies and an overview of recent changes at the institutional level, the purpose of this book is to examine the issues and experiences associated with the increased level of activity between the United Nations and regional organizations in their efforts to address conflict in Africa.




Routledge Handbook of Conflict Response and Leadership in Africa


Book Description

This handbook explores the challenges and opportunities for leadership and conflict response in the context of Africa at several levels. Leadership plays a vital role in affecting conflict response but is frequently only examined at the macro level of state, government, and international organizations. This handbook addresses the need to explore challenges and opportunities for leadership at several levels: macro (global, regional, national), meso (NGOs, religious groups, academics), and micro (civil society organizations, youth groups, women’s organizations). Analysis from multiple levels provides a broader explanation of conflict dynamics and helps to fit localized conflict transformation approaches into wider national or regional structures. The multidisciplinary essays presented in this volume encompass the psychological, political, and structural dimensions of conflict response and demonstrate how its success is fundamentally linked to the style of effectiveness of leadership, among other factors. The volume is divided into four thematic sections: Part I: The theory and dynamics of conflict response and leadership Part II: Macro-level leadership experiences in conflict response Part III: Meso-/micro-level leadership experiences in conflict response Part IV: Recommendations for improved leadership in conflict response This book will be of much interest to students of conflict resolution, peace studies, African politics, security studies, and international relations, in general.




Arcs of Global Justice


Book Description

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said 'the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.' Testing the optimism of that claim were the many fits and starts in the struggle for human rights that King helped to catalyze. The same is true of other events in the last half-century, from resistance to apartheid and genocide to equal and fair treatment in domestic criminal justice systems, to the formation of entities to prevent atrocities and to bring their perpetrators to justice. Within this display of myriad arcs may be found the many persons who helped shape this half-century of global justice-and prominent among them is William A. Schabas. His panoramic scholarship includes dozens of books and hundreds of articles, and he also has served as an influential policymaker, advocate, and mentor. This work honours William A. Schabas and his career with essays by luminary scholars and jurists from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The essays examine contemporary, historical, cultural, and theoretical aspects of the many arcs of global justice with which Professor Schabas has engaged, in fields including public international law, human rights, transitional justice, international criminal law, and capital punishment.




International Criminal Tribunals and Domestic Accountability


Book Description

In the 1990s, the promise of justice for atrocity crimes was associated with the revival of international criminal tribunals (ICTs). More recently, however, there has been a renewed emphasis on domestic accountability for international crimes across the globe. In identifying a 'complementarity turn', a paradigm shift toward domestic accountability in the field of international criminal justice, this book investigates how the shadow of international criminal tribunals influences the treatment of serious crimes at the national level. Drawing on research and interviews in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone, this book develops a tripartite framework to analyse how states and tribunals work with, despite, or against one another in the fight against impunity. While international prosecutors and judges use the principle of complementarity to foster cooperation and decrease tension with government actors, Patryk I. Labuda argues that too much deference by ICTs toward states reduces the likelihood of accountability and may enable national elites to consolidate authoritarian power. By interrogating how international accountability stakeholders relate to their domestic counterparts, International Criminal Tribunals and Domestic Accountability advocates improvements to ICTs' institutional design and more dynamic interactions with states to strengthen the enforcement of international criminal law.




Two Steps Forward, One Step Back


Book Description

This anthology offers case studies on the deterrent effect of international criminal tribunals in ten situations, six of which are International Criminal Court situations. The case studies cover four different international tribunals. This gives a new comparative perspective on the impact of international criminal law since the early 1990s. The book seeks to contribute to an important discourse on deterrence: on how international criminal tribunals can assist in a global, co-operative effort to prevent core international crimes. Thirteen authors draw on both quantitative and qualitative factors to assess the rise and fall of criminality and perceptions of deterrence amongst a wide variety of respondents. The studies are based on first-hand information where feasible. They are multi-disciplinary and holistic. Apart from the two editors, the book has contributions by Evelyne Owiye Asaala, Olivia Bueno, Dafi na Bucaj, Seydou Doumbia, Mackline Ingabire, Kasande Sarah Kihika, Sladjana Lazic, Sharanjeet Parmar, Kounkin Augustin Som and Eleanor D. Thompson. It presents concrete findings and recommendations to inform future work of international criminal tribunals including the International Criminal Court.




The Prophecies of a Father


Book Description

The Prophecies of A Father is a remarkable piece of literary work. The writer, His Excellency Ambassador Eddie M. Turay is very sincere and passionate in the presentation of his facts. The facts relate to the culture, traditions, customs and party politics of his country. The writers sincerity and passion revolves around the traditional beliefs and faith of his benevolent father in his ancestral spirits, late Paramount Chief Kande Turay of Sanda Chiefdom. He reveals that the late man was an animist who despite neither believed nor practiced Christianity and Islam, yet he gave him the freedom and support to become a practicing Christian. His father was not only liberal towards the two mainstream religions (Christianity and Islam) but he was a great admirer of the Whitemans education. That was why he gave him his blessings and support to pursue education for which he will ever remain grateful. Paramount Chieftaincy is one of the oldest and respectable political institutions in this part of the African Continent. The writer has thrown enlightening lights on the way it works in the Sanda Chiefdom, Northern Sierra Leone. One more amazing revelation of the book is the prophecies of the writers father. As the title of the book, it is befitting because all that his father prophesied have come to pass. His father did prophesise that the writer will dine and drink with Royalties, Prime Ministers and Presidents at home and abroad, which has come to pass. In terms of his countrys national politics, he paints the picture of the political culture that existed at the time. It bordered on dysfunctional tendencies, which was disturbing to him as an espouser of democracy and social justice. Thus, educated and trained in the ethics of social justice and fairness, the Ambassador was determined to challenge these vices. Ironically, it was his zealousness to challenge them that made him steal the heart of late President Siaka P. Stevens. The President was impressed, so he convinced him to drop his legal practice and become a politician where he would have the opportunity to fully inculcate and defend the values of fair play and social justice as espoused by democratic ethos, particularly at the grassroots levels of the nations politics. The writer skilfully draws the contrasts between the Old and New APC, and above all, the successful leadership of President Ernest Bai Koroma (Leader of the APC). He registers his unwavering support for the New APC Party of which he is a profound member and her admirable leadership. This book is an eye-catching read as well as educative for its sincerity, passion, fun, simple and quality language and buttressed by ideal concepts. HE Ambassador Eddie M. Turays colleagues in the Diplomatic Service, Foreign Office as well as politicians and educational institutions at home and abroad will find this book a handy resource material on Sierra Leone politics.