The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces are the armed forces of Sierra Leone, responsible for the territorial security of Sierra Leone's borders and defending the national interests of Sierra Leone, within the framework of the 1991 Sierra Leone Constitution and International laws. The armed forces were formed after independence in 1961, on the basis of elements of the former British Royal West African Frontier Force, then present in the Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate.
Circa 2010, the Sierra Leone Armed Forces consisted of around 13,000 personnel.[3]
History
Before Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961, the military was known as the Royal Sierra Leone Military Force. The armed forces seized control in 1968, bringing the National Reformation Council into power. On 19 April 1971, when Sierra Leone became a republic, the Royal Sierra Leone Military Force was renamed as the Republic of Sierra Leone Military Force (RSLMF).[4] The RSLMF remained a single service organisation until 1979 when the Sierra Leone Navy was established. It then remained largely unchanged for 16 years until in 1995 when Defence Headquarters was established and the Sierra Leone Air Wing formed. The RSLMF was then renamed the Armed Forces of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
The Sierra Leone Armed Forces is headed by the Chief of Defence Staff, who is legally the most senior military officer in the Sierra Leone Army. The President of Sierra Leone has the constitutional authority to dismiss the Chief of Defence Staff of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces at any time. The current Chief of Defence Staff of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces is Major General Brima Sesay. He was appointed by President Ernest Bai Koroma. Major Sesay succeeded Major General John Milton was removed as Chief of Defence Staff of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces on 30 November 2017.
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah announced in January 2002 that the Sierra Leone Army would be unified with the tiny Sierra Leone Air Force and the moribund Sierra Leone Navy to form a reconstituted force known as the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces.[5]
During the state of emergency announced in the country due to the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the Armed Forces aided in protecting quarantine zones for those infected with the virus.[citation needed]
The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the RSLAF. He is responsible for the administration and the operational control of the Sierra Leonean military. It is the highest rank military position in the country. The current chief of the defence staff is Robert Yira Koroma, who was appointed by former President Ernest Bai Koroma in August 2010 to replace Major General Alfred Nelson Williams, who was placed on terminal leave.[6]
Brigadier David Lansana was appointed army commander of Sierra Leone in 1964.[7] Brigadier Lansana took control of the army from British colonial adviser, Brigadier R.D. Blackie when Lansana's close ally Prime Minister Albert Margai came to power. He came from the Mende tribe as did Margai and conflicts existed between northern tribes, the Krios and the Mendes.[7] In 1967 Margai, who promoted a one party (non-democratic) state was beaten in a general election. Lansana staged a brief coup, arresting Siaka Stevens, the democratic winner of the election and the army was purged of Northern and Krio officers.
In 1985, Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh, the army commander, succeeded President Siaka Stevens as president. It is not clear what exactly Momoh's title was but it seems likely that he was the senior Sierra Leonean military officer and held the predecessor to the CDS's post.
Komba Mondeh served as CDS during the NPRC administration of 1992–1996.
The Army is modelled on the British Army and came into existence after independence in 1961. The core of the army was based on the Sierra Leone Battalion of the Royal West African Frontier Force, which became the Royal Sierra Leone Regiment and later the Republic of Sierra Leone Regiment.
In 1991 the RUF began to make war against the government, and the army went on the offensive toward the end of the year along with troops from Guinea. In 1992 the army was expanded to 6,150 under President Joseph Saidu Momoh in a 'poorly designed strategy that eradicated the few remaining elements of cohesion in the military... recruits were mainly drifters, rural and urban unemployed, a fair number of hooligans, drug addicts, and thieves.'[10]
A similar expansion effort after Valentine Strasser took over aimed to build the army to 14,000, using young criminals, school drop-outs, and semi-literate youths. 'In consequence, the army became further fragmented, leading to the complete breakdown of command and control during the war, and again after the AFRC coup of 1997.'[11]
During the long Sierra Leone civil war which the government fought against the Revolutionary United Front from 1991 to 2002, the 1992 Sierra Leonean coup d'état brought the armed forces into power again. In 1997 the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council seized power. Over 15,000 perished during the war. After peace returned, the armed forces were slowly reduced in size, from around 13,500 personnel in 2007[12] to 8,500 in 2010. The British Armed Forces, in the shape of the roughly 100-strong International Military Assistance Training Team (IMATT), is assisting in the formation of the new armed forces.[13] IMATT is slated to downsize to 45–55 personnel by the end of 2010.
Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg (center), commander U.S. Army Africa inspects Sierra Leonean troops during a deployment ceremony on May 20, 2011.
Today the army is by far the largest Armed Forces branch and is responsible for protection of the state borders, the security of administered territories and defending the national interests of Sierra Leone within the framework of its international obligations. It had an active force of about 13,300 personnel circa 2007. There were plans to reduced strength to 8,500 by 2011. However, the reduction in strength to 8,500 was achieved by the end of 2009.[3]
The force appears to consist of three brigades, 3 Brigade, in the past headquartered at Kenema, but as of 2011 seemingly at Murray Town Barracks, Freetown, which covers the Eastern Province.[14] 3 Brigade probably includes 9th Battalion RSLAF at Simbakoro outside Koidu).[15]
From 1985 to 1991 1st Battalion was at Wilberforce Barracks, Freetown. Elsewhere are 4 Brigade, at Teko Barracks, Makeni, which covers the Northern Province (including 2nd Battalion RSLAF at Teko Barracks, Makeni, as of 2003),[16] and 5 Brigade, which covers the Southern Province from headquarters at Gondama Barracks, Bo.[17] As of 2002, about six IMATT advisors were deployed with each RSLAF brigade to assist with training, planning, personnel, and operations.[18]
As stability and peace deepened in Sierra Leone, the RSLAF aimed to create a capability to contribute to international peace support operations. Official websites said that '..To this end the RSLAF has targeted 2007 as the base year to initiate a Company for Peace Support Operations for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and the UN. This would be gradually increased to a battalion strength by 2010. As a demonstration of this desire, a Peace Support Operations Course was introduced into the curriculum of the Horton Military Academy in Freetown. The course was intended to enhance capacity building, and to train and prepare officers of the RSLAF for their future role and participation in international peace support operations, and especially for the proposed ECOWAS Standby Force.'[4]
The hoped-for initial operational capability date for peacekeeping slipped until late 2009, when a Sierra Leonean reconnaissance company was deployed to Darfur as part of UNAMID.() International donors and the Government of Sierra Leone provided the $6.5 million required to equip the unit and build the base camp in-theatre, some 2,300 kilometers inland from Port Sudan.[3] The contingent is under the command of Lieutenant Colonel S.E.T. Marah.
Sierra Leone and US Soldiers
Despite the enormous resources invested by the UK into security sector reform in Sierra Leone, there are continuing financial pressures. Pay for soldiers is only GBP 45 plus some rice for a private per month, rising to GBP 350 for the Chief of Defence Staff. There are continued serious financial pressures on monthly running costs, with fuel, rations, stationery, and maintenance 'for both equipment and the estate' rarely funded.[3] Housing is generally of low quality. 'Operation Pebu' planned to build new barracks for the force, was badly planned and thus extremely over-ambitious. As a result, it was cut down to only two sites (Albrecht and Jackson 2009). In 2010 Robertshawe said that 'living accommodation for soldiers and their families is generally appalling with no running water or ablutions and often is a self-built shack or mud hut.'[3]
Without holidaying, commanders at all levels are steadfast to project on the force outfits and outputs. This line of thought strictly conforms to the dynamics of the strategically, operational and tactical construction of our thinking. Thus, the establishment of Artillery, tailoring and the Armed forces Agricultural Units sit between these initiatives. The translation of these efforts is the Establishment review of 2010. Painstakingly as a force we are striving to catch up with information technology. The Africa Endeavour programme pioneered by the United States of Africa Command (AFRICOM) has however served an eye opener to our communications need both within and out. Our data over HF communication platform continue to play a central role in facilitating communication force wide.
Equipment
Sierra Leone has very limited modern weaponry. The country has a wide variety of used second-hand foreign imported arms. The IISS Military Balance 2020 lists 31 mortars, Carl Gustav recoilless rifles, and three air defence guns in service.[20] Other army equipment may include the Heckler & Koch G3,[21]FN FAL,[22]AK-47,[23]RPD light machine gun,[24] and the RPG-7.[25] Special forces use the L85 bullpup rifle.[26]
Two T-72 tanks were ordered from Ukraine in 1994 and were delivered to Sierra Leone via Poland in 1995. Although briefly serviced and maintained by South African firm Executive Outcomes, their operational status is somewhat doubtful. Freetown's mechanized forces are backed by at least ten ex-SlovakOT-64[27] and three Casspir[28] wheeled armoured personnel carriers.
Naval component
The RSLN was an arm of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces that is responsible sea patrol of Sierra Leone's territorial waters. In 2002 it was merged with the other service branches. Today the naval force has about 500 personnel and operates several small patrol craft and barges. Their primary responsibility is to protect and safeguard the territorial integrity of Sierra Leone's sea. Sierra Leone naval officers are trained by British forces. They received financial support from Britain and China.
On 25 September 2007, eight Guinean Naval officers were arrested by the Sierra Leone Navy for an act of piracy against locally licensed fishermen inside Sierra Leonean waters.[29] British-trained Sierra Leone naval officers interrupted the high-seas hold-up by armed men in two launches on Sunday, 18 nautical miles (33km) off the capital Freetown inside the country's 200-mile (320-km) economic exclusion zone. One of the attacking speedboats escaped north towards Guinea, while the other was seized. The eight men arrested were found with AK-47 automatic rifles and bags of fish, including high-value snapper, taken off the Sierra Leone-licensed vessels.
Equipment
7 Type-62 FAC, delivered between 1973 and 2006[30]
3 Pompoli class LSU (delivered from Japan in 1980)[30]
Air arm
In 1973 the air force was established with Swedish help in the form of two Saab-MFI 15 two seat trainers.[31] Saab also supplied two model 300 (269C) light helicopters for additional training with Ghanaian help, plus another was acquired as a presidential transport but was replaced in 1976 by a MBB Bo 105.[citation needed] In 1978 both the helicopters and light trainers were sold and the air arm disappeared; the Bo 105 was transferred to the civil register in 1985. In 1984 two Aérospatiale SA 355F Ecureuil 2 helicopters entered service with the ministry of defence.[citation needed] Five mercenary operated Mil Mi-24V and two Mil Mi-8 helicopters entered service from 1995.[citation needed]
The Republic of Sierra Leone Air Force was merged with the other services to form the RSL Armed Forces from 2002.[32] Sierra Leone has a very small air component with a limited offensive capability. The status of its equipment is unknown, but the aircraft are not operable.[33]
The Guinean Armed Forces are the armed forces of Guinea. They are responsible for the territorial security of Guinea's border and the defence of the country against external attack and aggression.
The Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) are the military forces of Nigeria. The forces consist of three service branches: the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and Nigerian Air Force. The President of Nigeria functions as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, exercising his constitutional authority through the Ministry of Defence, which is responsible for the management of the military and its personnel. The operational head of the AFN is the Chief of Defence Staff, who is subordinate to the Nigerian Defence Minister. With a force of more than 230,000 active personnel, the Nigerian military is one of the largest uniformed combat services in Africa. According to Global Firepower, the Nigerian Armed Forces are the fourth-most powerful military in Africa, and ranked 35th on its list, internationally.
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Its land area is 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi). It has a tropical climate and environments ranging from savannas to rainforests. As of the 2023 census, Sierra Leone has a population of 8,908,040. Freetown is both its capital and its largest city. The country is divided into five administrative regions, which are further subdivided into 16 districts.
Sierra Leone first became inhabited by indigenous African peoples at least 2,500 years ago. The Limba were the first tribe known to inhabit Sierra Leone. The dense tropical rainforest partially isolated the region from other West African cultures, and it became a refuge for peoples escaping violence and jihads. Sierra Leone was named by Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra, who mapped the region in 1462. The Freetown estuary provided a good natural harbour for ships to shelter and replenish drinking water, and gained more international attention as coastal and trans-Atlantic trade supplanted trans-Saharan trade.
Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was a Sierra Leonean politician who served twice as the 3rd President of Sierra Leone, from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by profession, Kabbah spent many years working for the United Nations Development Programme. He retired from the United Nations and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992.
Major Johnny Paul Koroma was a Sierra Leonean military officer who was the head of state of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998.
Siaka Probyn Stevens was the leader of Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1985, serving as Prime Minister from 1967 to 1971 and as President from 1971 to 1985. Stevens' leadership was often characterized by patrimonial rule and self-indulgence, consolidating power by means of corruption and exploitation.
Julius Maada Wonie Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician who has served as president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military head of state of Sierra Leone from 16 January 1996 to 29 March 1996, in a military junta government known as the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). Bio is the first democratically elected president of Sierra Leone born after Sierra Leone's independence from British colonial rule.
The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the capital by an international military intervention of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG). It was no longer a coherent and effective organization by the elections of 2002.
The Sierra Leonean Civil War (1991–2002) was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. The resulting civil war lasted almost 11 years, and had over 50,000, up to 70,000, casualties in total; an estimated 2.5 million people were displaced during the conflict, and widespread atrocities occurred.
Brigadier David Lansana was the first prominent Sierra Leonean in the Sierra Leone Military during the colonial era. After Sierra Leone gained independence, he served as Military Attaché to the United States.
The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces. He is responsible for the administration and the operational control of the Sierra Leonean military. It is the highest rank military position in the country.
Komba Sylvester Mansa-Musa Mondeh was a top-ranking officer in the Sierra Leonean army. Mondeh was one of six young soldiers in the Sierra Leonean Army that ousted president Joseph Saidu Momoh led All People's Congress (APC) government on 29 April 1992. He served as the deputy head of state of Sierra Leone in 1996, under Brigadier Julius Maada Bio of the NPRC.
Major General Alfred Claude Nelson-Williams, GCOR is a retired Major General in the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF). Nelson-Williams previously served as Chief of Defense Staff for Sierra Leone from 2008 to 2010.
The Dominion of Sierra Leone was an independent sovereign state with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state between independence on 27 April 1961 and becoming the Republic of Sierra Leone on 19 April 1971.
Sierra Leone Ministry of Defence and National Security is a Sierra Leonean government department in charge of implementing and supervising the Sierra Leone Armed Forces and the territorial security of Sierra Leone's international border and defending the national interests of Sierra Leone.
The United Kingdom began a military intervention in Sierra Leone on 7 May 2000 under the codename Operation Palliser. Although small numbers of British personnel had been deployed previously, Palliser was the first large-scale intervention by British forces in the Sierra Leone Civil War. In early May 2000, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)—one of the main parties to the civil war—advanced on the country's capital, Freetown, prompting the British government to dispatch an "Operational Reconnaissance and Liaison Team" (ORLT) to prepare to evacuate foreign citizens. On 6 May, the RUF blocked the road connecting Freetown to the country's main airport, Lungi. The next day, British soldiers began to secure the airport and other areas essential to an evacuation. The majority of those who wished to leave were evacuated within the first two days of the operation, but many chose to stay following the arrival of British forces.
Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe was a Nigerian army brigadier general who was the commander of the ECOMOG Peacekeeping Force in Sierra Leone from 1997 to 1998, and the Chief of the Defence Staff of Sierra Leone from 1998 to 2000.
Israel–Sierra Leone relations are the official and diplomatic relations between the State of Israel and the west African Republic of Sierra Leone. Both nations have friendly ties, established in 1961 when Sierra Leone gained independence. Israel has no embassy in Freetown, and is represented through its embassy in Senegal. Likewise, Sierra Leone does not maintain a diplomatic representation in Israel, and is instead represented by its consul of honor, Israeli media personality David Ben Basat. In August 2023, Sierra Leone announced its intention to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
↑ Lansana Gberie, African Development, 1997, p. 155, quoted in Comfort Ero, 'Sierra Leone: Legacies of Authoritarianism and Political Violence' in Governing Insecurity, CAwthra and Luckham, Zed Books, 2003, p. 238
↑ Ero, Comfort (2003). Sierra Leone: Legacies of Authoritarianism and Political Violence, Chapter 10 (in) Cawthra and Luckham, Governing Insecurity. London and New York: Zed Books. pp.238–9. ISBN1-84277-149-3.
↑ ARB-PSC Vol 45, No. 12, 1–31 Dec 2008, p. 17803, reported plans to close 3 Bde HQ at Kenema. With 3 Bde's move to Murray Town Barracks, the former Freetown sector HQ is no longer listed by the IISS Military Balance.
↑ Mark Malan, 'Chapter 5: Security and Military Reform,’ in 'Sierra Leone: Building the Road to Recovery,’ ISS Monograph No. 80, March 2003, p. 97
↑ Brigadier S.O. Williams, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, A new dawn in the RSLAFArchived 4 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine , reproduced from 'Defender Magazine Volume 1 published by the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces in their maiden’s first quarterly edition', webpublished 26 March 2012.
Twenty-third Report of the SRSG on UNAMSIL, and Crisis Group Africa Report No. 87, 8 DEcember 2004.
Peter Albrecht and Paul Jackson, Security System Transformation in Sierra Leone, 1997–2007, Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform, accessible at GFN-SSR Publications ArchivesArchived 20 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
Mimmi Soderberg Kovacs, Bringing the Good, the Bad and the Ugly into the Peace Fold: The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces after the Lomé Peace Agreement, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, paper prepared for presentation at the SGIR 7th Pan-European International Relations Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, 9–11 September 2010
Alex Neads, 'Improvise, adapt and fail to overcome? Capacity building, culture and exogenous change in Sierra Leone,' Journal of Strategic Studies, Volume 42, Issue 3–4, 2019.
Andrew Stewart, 'An Enduring Commitment: The British Military's Role in Sierra Leone,' Defence Studies (Journal of the Joint Services Command and Staff College), Volume 8, No. 3, September 2008
E D A Turay & A Abraham, The Sierra Leone Army: A Century of History, Macmillan Publishers, London & Basingstoke, 1978, accessible via the School of Oriental and African Studies, London
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