Postcolonial Politics in Sierra Leone, 1961 2001: Arrested Democracy and the Rise of Autocracy

This book investigates the historical trajectory of postcolonial Sierra Leone, especially the persistence of a culture of political violence and autocratic tendencies. Drawing on extensive archival research as well as the author’s own interviews, this book will be an important read for researchers of West African history and politics. This book investigates the historical trajectory of postcolonial Sierra Leone, especially the persistence of a culture of political violence and autocratic tendencies. Regarded as a litmus test for the consolidation of democracy in postwar Sierra Leone, the 2023 national polls instead became a stark reminder of the persistence of élite bickering, electoral malfeasance, autocratic political machinations, and violence. This book investigates how a culture of corruption, political violence, and autocracy crystallized in the decades following independence and has persisted into the modern day. Beginning with the colonial legacy and the turbulent SLPP government of Albert Margai and the NRC junta of Andrew Juxon-Smith following independence, the book goes on to consider how Siaka Stevens harnessed Sierra Leone’s political problems for his own advantage. Stevens’s APC regime inflicted a culture of political violence that led to the eleven-year civil war and has persisted despite popular, national and international protests. Drawing on extensive archival research as well as the author’s own interviews, this book will be an important read for researchers of West African history and politics.