Government-Chieftaincy Power Nexus in Sierra Leone
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The Government - Chieftaincy Power Nexus in Sierra Leone - Implications for Conflict Creation Rasmus Christian Bering Master’s Thesis in Peace and Conflict Studies Department of Political Science University of Oslo May 2010 1 Acknowledgements There are a number of people who needs to be thanked for their contributions in the elaboration of the thesis. First of all, thank you to my supervisor, Prof. Jean-Pascal Daloz, for inspiration and valuable guidance throughout the research process. Thank you to the researchers, Mats Utas and Cyril Obei, for important discussions at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala. Thank you to Dr. Kwesi Anning at the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra for helpful comments in the early phases of the preparation of the thesis. Thank you to my fellow students, Aaron Villarruel Mora and Kaja Heidar, for giving challenging feedback throughout the research process. Thank you to all the informants who have participated in the field work carried out in Sierra Leone. Special Thanks to my research assistance, James Salinga Dauda. Without his assistance it would not have been possible to undertake the field-work of this thesis. Rasmus Christian Bering Copenhagen, 18/05/2010 2 Table of Content Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................... 5 1.1 The Government-Chieftaincy Nexus in Sierra Leone .............................................. 6 1.2 Theoretical Perspectives ......................................................................................... 8 1.3 Problem Statements ............................................................................................... 9 1.4 Contextual Changes and Research Focus ............................................................. 10 1.4 Outline of the Thesis ............................................................................................. 12 Chapter 2: Theory and Concepts ....................................................................... 15 2.1 Dominant Discourses on the Governments-Chieftaincy Nexus ........................... 15 2.2 Operationalization of Power ................................................................................. 20 2.3 Framework of Alternative Power Perspectives .................................................... 26 2.4 Mills and Gramsci on Power-Elites and Social Control ......................................... 28 Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................... 32 3.1 Abductive Strategy of Analysis ............................................................................. 33 3.2 Role and Importance of Case Studies ................................................................... 36 3.4 Reliability and Validity .......................................................................................... 44 Chapter 4: Chieftaincy during Colonialism and Early Independence .................. 47 4.1 Secret Society – Pre-Colonial Power Structures ................................................... 48 4.2 Colonialism ............................................................................................................ 50 4.3 SLPP Power-Base ................................................................................................... 54 4.4 SLPP Government-Chieftaincy Nexus: Consensus and Reciprocity ...................... 56 4.5 Power-Conflict Perspective ................................................................................... 65 Chapter 5: APC Government, Elections and Civil War ........................................ 67 5.1 Formation of the APC ............................................................................................ 67 5.2 The Role of the Paramount Chiefs in 1967 Elections ........................................... 68 5.3 APC Government-Chieftaincy Nexus: Force, Manipulation and Civil War ........... 72 5.4 Power-Conflict Perspective ................................................................................... 83 Chapter 6: Role of the Chieftaincy in Post-War Sierra Leone ............................. 85 6.1 Post-War Rehabilitation of the Chieftaincy .......................................................... 86 3 6.2 De Jure Perspectives on the Local Government Act ............................................. 91 6.3 De facto Perspectives on the Local Government Act ........................................... 94 6.4 Power-Conflict Perspective ................................................................................. 101 Chapter 7: Local Elections and Rural Views on Accountability ........................ 104 7.1 Bo Case Study ...................................................................................................... 105 7.2 Rural Perspectives on Accountability ................................................................. 109 7.3 Power-Conflict Perspective ................................................................................. 115 Chapter 8: Conclusions .................................................................................... 116 8.1 Conclusions on Research Questions ................................................................... 116 8.2 Comparison of Thesis’ Findings with the Dominant Discourse .......................... 124 Chapter 9: Thesis’ Findings in Perspective ....................................................... 126 List of References ...................................................................................................... 130 Appendix 1: List of Interviews ................................................................................... 136 Appendix 2: Interview-Guide .................................................................................... 138 Appendix 3: Number of Paramount Chiefs before, during and after the war ......... 140 Appendix 4: Map of Ethnic Groups in Sierra Leone .................................................. 141 Appendix 5: Conflict Victimization Index .................................................................. 142 Appendix 6: Percent of Respondent Trusting Local and Magistrate Court officials 143 Appendix 7: Changes in Relative Ranking of Central and Local Government .......... 143 List of Figures Figure 1: Map of West Africa...............................................................................6 Figure 2: The Conceptual Dimension of Power………………………………………………..22 Figure 3: Power Processes Explored………………………………………………………………..26 Figure 4: The use of the Abductive Strategy of Analysis in this Thesis……………..33 Figure 5: Map of Sierra Leone and Field-Work Sites…………………………………………39 Figure 6: Chiefdom Administration Anno 1937………………………………………………..51 Figure 7: The SLPP-Chieftaincy Power Nexus. Reciprocity and Accountability…56 Figure 8: SLPP Post war Rehabilitation and Empowerment of Chiefs……………...85 Figure 9: Revenue Size of the Local Councils in 2005/2006-US$.........................91 Figure 10: Impacts of the Local Government Act and Conflict Scenario…………..99 Figure 11: Contact with Different Levels of Government………………………………...110 Figure 12: Accountability of Different Levels of Government…………………………..111 Figure 13: Trust in Various Groups…………………………………………………………………..112 Figure 14: Kids Playing Football outside Kailahun Court Barrie………………………..114 4 Chapter 1: Introduction Since the 1990s, Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced an increasing official recognition of the Chieftaincy as an institution by governments1. Though the Chieftaincy in a historical perspective generally has had a strong position in the local communities across sub-Saharan Africa, governments have in the past often taken an oppositional, and in some cases repressive, stand towards the Chieftaincy. In this perspective the contemporary trend of official recognition and empowerment presents a significant shift in the Government-Chieftaincy relationship. Catherina Boone (1998: 130) argues that a reconfiguration of power has occurred after the cold-war, where “new forms of social mobilization and new patterns of state-society relations” have emerged; and as Englebert (2002: 1) notes: “Several governments have passed constitutional reforms restoring, recognizing, or providing traditional leaders with a measure of incorporation”. The focus of the international community’s dominant development and state-building agenda of ‘rolling back the state’, decentralising government, and empowering civil society seems only to have supported this trend (Buur & Kyed 2007: 11-12). These developments have re-affirmed the African Chieftaincy as a focal point in studies exploring contemporary African politics and state-formation processes. Hence, Richard Sklar (2001: 8) noted in a key address at the University of Ibadan in 1 Malawi, Nigeria and Botswana are the typical examples of states that in a long-term perspective have been pro traditional authority. Examples of other countries that have later revised their constitutions in some way or the other empowering traditional authority is South Africa in 1996 , Ghana in 1992, and Uganda in 1993.(Englebert: 2002). Even countries that have earlier been repressive and banning traditional authority have changed their position, like Tanzania and Burkina Faso (Ibid). One of the best examples is, however, Mozambique. Once extremely repressive with regard to the chieftaincy, the government now empowers the traditional authority through, among other initiatives, the decentralisation process currently taking place (Buur