In the late 18th century, British philanthropists decided that freed slaves should have a homeland in Africa; and they chose a recently acquired territory known as Sierra Leone as the destination. The country later became merged with The Gambia and the Gold Coast to form the British West African Territories until its independence in 1961.
The All Peoples’ Congress (APC) took charge in 1967 and became the sole political party from 1978. General Joseph Momoh was installed as president in 1985, but after initial success, the government was overthrown by a group of junior army officers led by Captain Valentine Strasser. This new leadership had to contend with the escalating civil war in neighbouring Liberia in the mid-1990s, which consumed much of Sierra Leone under the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a home-grown Sierra Leonean movement led by Foday Sankoh.
Sierra Leone called on assistance from its African neighbours as well as South Africa and the UK, but Strasser was deposed by army chief Brigadier-General Julius Maada Bio, who set into motion a return to civilian rule in 1996. Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) leader Ahmed Tejan Kabbah was installed as the president.
The turbulent political situation continued in 1997 as dissident troops led by Major Johnny Koroma toppled Kabbah and seized power. The Nigerians, with backing from the British intervened to restore Kabbah a year later, but the RUF sustained a vicious guerrilla campaign in parts of the countryside. The British government intervened directly, and its troops proved decisive in tipping the balance against the RUF.
A political settlement, brokered by the United Nations, was concluded in July 1999 between the Sierra Leone government and the RUF, but the rebel party refused to disarm and relinquish occupied areas, which contained most of the country's lucrative diamond fields. Not surprisingly, fighting between the two sides broke out once again in May 2000, and UN peacekeeping forces again called in British troops to control the situation. The peacekeeping forces finally brought the conflict to an end in January 2002 and more than 17,000 UN peacekeepers have managed to prevent any further serious outbreaks of violence.
With peace restored, former president Kabbah was re-elected to take control of the national assembly later in 2002. The APC’s Ernest Bai Koroma was elected Sierra Leone's new president on 17 September 2007 with a promise to fight corruption.
Since 2007, Sierra Leone has been stable and has been experiencing an economic boom, which promises to be good news for investment in small businesses. Ernest Bai Koroma was re-elected in 2012, in a non-violent, democratic multi-party vote, and is now serving his second term as president of Sierra Leone.
Animist (40%), Islam (40%) and Christian (20%).
Social conventions:The majority of people in Sierra Leone still live a traditional, agricultural way of life, with ruling chiefs, and religions which preserve social stability, as well as local music, dance, customs and traditions. Handshaking is the normal form of greeting. It is usual to be entertained in a hotel or restaurant, particularly for business visitors. Small tokens of appreciation are always welcome. Casual wear is suitable everywhere. Men are rarely expected to wear suits and ties.
Secret societies are a fundamental part of Sierra Leonean culture. You may come across initiation ceremonies for the two big societies, the ‘Poro’ (men’s secret society) and the ‘Bundu’ (women’s secret society) in which, upon reaching puberty, the two genders are taught the essential skills and knowledge important for their role within society.
You may come across two, or sometimes three, people shouting at each other, quite aggressively, and then stop immediately and hug like they were best friends. This is called ‘palaver’ and is a way of settling disputes immediately to avoid any grudges being held.
The Limba tribe have a very important role in Sierra Leone culture as they are the only people who can ‘tap palm wine (also known as poyo) from the palm tree. It is said that a village will even put up an advert on local notice boards offering incentives for good Palm Wine tappers so that they can provide the village with as much of the naturally fermenting alcoholic drink as possible.
Greetings are very important in Sierra Leonean culture, and are expected to be learnt as a first attempt to learn one or many languages.
The official language is English. Krio is also widely spoken. Local dialects are Mende, Limba and Temne.
Language phrases:A few useful phrases in Mende and Krio:
(Krio) Ow di bodi? = How are you?
(Krio) Di body fine = I’m ok
(Krio) Ow di famboul? = How is your family?
(Krio) Fine, tank god = Good, thank you
(Krio) Wat ena ya nam? = What is your name?
(Krio) Mi nam I ….. = My name is ……
(Mende) Ka hui ye na? = How is the day ?
(Mende) ka in go ma = Thank god
(Mende) Bi e yi? = How did you sleep?
(Mende) Bi e ou vei = How was your day?
(Mende) Bi le I? = What is your name?
(Mende) Nya la a …. = My name is ….
