Communicating Justice

Memorials in Sierra Leone: An honour to the dead or a painful reminder of war?

by Foday Sajuma of Radio Moa

Kailahun, Sierra Leone, May 2008 -- On March 23rd 1991, Kailahun district was the first community in Sierra Leone to taste the bitterness of the brutal eleven year war.

Today, several legacies of the war still remain very evident in communities throughout the district. In Bomaru, a war monument has been constructed. The names of the first eleven innocent civilians and four military officers, who lost their lives, have been inscribed on it.

Some residents of Bomaru are unhappy with the existence of the monument in their community.  They claim the government did not consult them before they constructed it and say it reminds them of the many killings and pains which the Liberians inflicted when they invaded.

One Bomaru youth, Musa Lahai, says the money to build the memorial could have been spent on more useful things; “The Government could have given us the money to rehabilitate our plantations, reconstruct our houses and rejuvenate our battered lives rather than wasting it” he said.

However, other community members have praised the government for a job well done. Town chief Vandi Gboso Kallon says that the monument always reminds people of the dark days and therefore puts them on their toes to be security conscious, especially as their community is so close to the boundary with Liberia.

Kallon says “Some people told me that it’s good to have such a structure as it indicates government recognition of their community and is an honor to the dead.”

Despite the disagreements, the monument in this small boarder town is talk of the district and the country at large. Several other spots where horrible events took place have also been identified as places for a potential memorial. Inhabitants of these communities are therefore clamoring for either monuments or museums or a cemetery with a symbolic mass grave as a means to keep history on track. Areas identified include:-
 
- Slaughter house in Kailahun where hundreds of alleged formal Kamajor fighters captured by the RUF fighters during the war were jailed and later killed in cold blood.

- Geihun, where hundreds of civilians were allegedly dumped into a creek and its immediate surrounding by the Revolutionary United Front for collaborating with the then National Provisional Ruling Council military regime. Reports indicate that some victims were fried in palm oil before they were dumped.  

- In Koindu, where the RUF resisted the Guineans, many people want to see a monument at the point where the scrapped tanks were grounded.

So for now, the debate will continue throughout the Kailahun district, with perhaps further monuments, or even a museum or cemetery being built in the future. What’s certain is that these constructions will for some people, honour the dead, while for others bring back painful memories of war and loss.

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