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African Affairs Advance Access originally published online on June 13, 2008
African Affairs 2008 107(428):387-403; doi:10.1093/afraf/adn039
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© The Author [2008]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal African Society. All rights reserved

Remove or Reform? a Case for (Restructuring) Chiefdom Governance in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone

Edward Sawyer

Ed Sawyer graduated from Newcastle University with first-class honours in 2006. His life was cut tragically short by a car accident in Sierra Leone in May 2007. Tim Kelsall has edited this article, submitted to African Affairs in July 2006, in Ed's memory.

Recent analyses of Sierra Leone's eleven-year civil war have argued that the conflict was fuelled by a crisis within chiefdom authority, with emphasis on increasing tensions between rural youth and their elders. However, a counter-argument has also emerged, emphasising that customary authority is still highly regarded in post-conflict Sierra Leone and that chiefs act as an influential barrier against bureaucratic abuses of power. This article draws on fieldwork from three districts in Sierra Leone to argue that chiefdom authority indeed continues to have considerable support. In particular, section chiefs and headmen are seen as being particularly important for settling small disputes, especially in the rural areas where contact between villagers and chiefs is most apparent.


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A comment on “Remove or reform?”
Paul Richards
African Affairs, 11 Aug 2008 [Full text]

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