greeted by Sierra Leonean junta leader Julius Maada Bio (left) at the start of a summit aimed at ending the 5-year civil war
By the time Bio applied to become a
cadet, it was already clear that Momoh would replace Stevens as president. Tis would have provided an attraction of sorts for an ambitious young man, in more ways than one. Bio’s colleague and exact con- temporary, Valentine Strasser, told Ann Bushby of the London Observer news- paper shortly after he became leader of the NPRC that he had joined the army, at about the same time as Bio, primarily to carry out a coup against the “rotten” APC regime. Bio trained at Benguema, and gradu-
ated in October 1987 as a Second Lieuten- ant. He was posted at the Lungi Airport, and then later in the Kambia District as part of the Economic Emergency Unit created by the already faltering Momoh regime to combat the deepening meltdown and criminality of the state. Te following year, 1988, Bio was re-
“ I always wanted to do public service: it was the
way I was brought up. Joining the army offered the most direct opportunity, so I applied immediately.”
Agnes sent Bio off to the Bo School, a
famous boarding school some miles away from Pujehun, where he spent seven years, and became Prefect for Discipline. He left in 1984 with ‘A’ levels and became a teacher at a Methodist secondary school. He taught there for a year.
The army Aged 21, Bio applied in 1985 to enter Fou- rah Bay College which, founded in 1827, is the oldest Western-style university in West Africa, and perhaps the region’s most famous. Shortly after he did so, however, someone mentioned to him that the army was recruiting new cadets. “I was instantly
thrilled. I had always wanted to do pub- lic service: it was the way I was brought up. And the army offered the most direct and unambiguous opportunity for that, so I applied immediately,” Bio recounted. Tis explanation appears correct – but
only correct: the Sierra Leone army did not have a high reputation for public service in 1985. It had been politicised and degrad- ed by the then president, Siaka Stevens, and his All People’s Congress (APC) one- party state. Te army was headed by a pliable Falstaffian character named Joseph Momoh, who Stevens had made a member of parliament, and would soon become his successor as president.
posted at Lungi to be trained by the UN in aviation security. After the training, somewhat curiously, he was sent to Ben- guema as a platoon commander. In 1990, he was brought back to Lungi. War had broken out in Liberia, triggering a massive humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of Liberians were fleeing to Sierra Leone every week, exposing the country’s frag- ile security and adding to the economic hardship. West African leaders, including Sierra
Leone’s, decided to set up a peacekeeping force called ECOMOG to stem the tide of the Liberian carnage. Sierra Leone con- tributed troops to the force: the first batch that left included Strasser. Bio had in the meantime been de-
ployed at Gendema on the Sierra Leonean- Liberian border. “While at Gendema,” Bio reveals, “we had cogent intelligence relating to plans by some of Charles Tay- lor’s forces to invade Sierra Leone. We in- formed the army intelligence officer about these plans, and despatched him straight to Freetown to inform the government. Nothing came out of this.” Shortly after, Bio was despatched to
Liberia as part of the second batch of New African April 2011 | 49
Rebel leader Foday Sankoh is
PHOTO:Ê CHARLESÊ ACHEAMPONG
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92