Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone (African Historical Dictionaries Historical Dictionaries of Africa)

333 Pages·2006·9.83 MB·English

by  C. Magbaily Fyle

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HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF AFRICA
Edited by Jon Woronoff
1. Cameroon,by Victor T. Le Vine and Roger P. Nye. 1974. Out of print. See
No. 48.
2. The Congo,2nd ed., by Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff. 1984. Out
of print. See No. 69.
3. Swaziland,by John J. Grotpeter. 1975.
4. The Gambia,2nd ed., by Harry A. Gailey. 1987. Out of print. See No. 79.
5. Botswana,by Richard P. Stevens. 1975. Out of print. See No. 70.
6. Somalia,by Margaret F. Castagno. 1975. Out of print. See No. 87.
7. Benin (Dahomey), 2nd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1987. Out of print. See
No. 61.
8. Burundi,by Warren Weinstein. 1976. Out of print. See No. 73.
9. Togo,3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1996.
10. Lesotho,by Gordon Haliburton. 1977. Out of print. See No. 90.
11. Mali,3rd ed., by Pascal James Imperato. 1996.
12. Sierra Leone,by Cyril Patrick Foray. 1977.
13. Chad,3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1997.
14. Upper Volta,by Daniel Miles McFarland. 1978.
15. Tanzania,by Laura S. Kurtz. 1978.
16. Guinea,3rd ed., by Thomas O’Toole with Ibrahima Bah-Lalya. 1995. Out
of print. See No. 94.
17. Sudan,by John Voll. 1978. Out of print. See No. 53.
18. Rhodesia/Zimbabwe,by R. Kent Rasmussen. 1979. Out of print. See No. 46.
19. Zambia,2nd ed., by John J. Grotpeter, Brian V. Siegel, and James R. Pletcher.
1998.
20. Niger,3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1997.
21. Equatorial Guinea,3rd ed., by Max Liniger-Goumaz. 2000.
22. Guinea-Bissau,3rd ed., by Richard Lobban and Peter Mendy. 1997.
23. Senegal,by Lucie G. Colvin. 1981. Out of print. See No. 65.
24. Morocco,by William Spencer. 1980. Out of print. See No. 71.
25. Malawi,by Cynthia A. Crosby. 1980. Out of print. See No. 84.
26. Angola,by Phyllis Martin. 1980. Out of print. See No. 92.
27. The Central African Republic, by Pierre Kalck. 1980. Out of print. See
No. 51.
28. Algeria,by Alf Andrew Heggoy. 1981. Out of print. See No. 66.
29. Kenya,by Bethwell A. Ogot. 1981. Out of print. See No. 77.
30. Gabon,by David E. Gardinier. 1981. Out of print. See No. 58.
31. Mauritania,by Alfred G. Gerteiny. 1981. Out of print. See No. 68.
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32. Ethiopia,by Chris Prouty and Eugene Rosenfeld. 1981. Out of print. See
No. 91.
33. Libya,3rd ed., by Ronald Bruce St John. 1998.
34. Mauritius,by Lindsay Riviere. 1982.Out of print. See No. 49.
35. Western Sahara,by Tony Hodges. 1982. Out of print. See No. 55.
36. Egypt,by Joan Wucher King. 1984. Out of print. See No. 89.
37. South Africa,by Christopher Saunders. 1983. Out of print. See No. 78.
38. Liberia,by D. Elwood Dunn and Svend E. Holsoe. 1985. Out of print. See
No. 83.
39. Ghana,by Daniel Miles McFarland. 1985.Out of print. See No. 63.
40. Nigeria,2nd ed., by Anthony Oyewole and John Lucas. 2000.
41. Côte d’Ivoire (The Ivory Coast),2nd ed., by Robert J. Mundt. 1995.
42. Cape Verde,2nd ed., by Richard Lobban and Marilyn Halter. 1988. Out of
print. See No. 62.
43. Zaire,by F. Scott Bobb. 1988. Out of print. See No. 76.
44. Botswana, 2nd ed., by Fred Morton, Andrew Murray, and Jeff Ramsay.
1989. Out of print. See No. 70.
45. Tunisia,2nd ed., by Kenneth J. Perkins. 1997.
46. Zimbabwe, 2nd ed., by Steven C. Rubert and R. Kent Rasmussen. 1990.
Out of print. See No. 86.
47. Mozambique,by Mario Azevedo. 1991. Out of print. See No. 88.
48. Cameroon,2nd ed., by Mark W. DeLancey and H. Mbella Mokeba. 1990.
49. Mauritius,2nd ed., by Sydney Selvon. 1991.
50. Madagascar,by Maureen Covell. 1995. Out of print. See No. 98.
51. The Central African Republic, 2nd ed., by Pierre Kalck; translated by
Thomas O’Toole. 1992. Out of print. See No. 93.
52. Angola,2nd ed., by Susan H. Broadhead. 1992. Out of print. See No. 92.
53. Sudan, 2nd ed., by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Richard A. Lobban Jr., and
John Obert Voll. 1992. Out of print. See No. 85.
54. Malawi,2nd ed., by Cynthia A. Crosby. 1993. Out of print. See No. 84.
55. Western Sahara, 2nd ed., by Anthony Pazzanita and Tony Hodges. 1994.
Out of print. See No. 96.
56. Ethiopia and Eritrea, 2nd ed., by Chris Prouty and Eugene Rosenfeld.
1994. Out of print. See No. 91.
57. Namibia,by John J. Grotpeter. 1994.
58. Gabon,2nd ed., by David E. Gardinier. 1994.
59. Comoro Islands,by Martin Ottenheimer and Harriet Ottenheimer. 1994.
60. Rwanda,by Learthen Dorsey. 1994.
61. Benin,3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1995.
62. Republic of Cape Verde, 3rd ed., by Richard Lobban and Marlene Lopes.
1995.
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63. Ghana, 2nd ed., by David Owusu-Ansah and Daniel Miles McFarland.
1995. Out of print. See No. 97.
64. Uganda,by M. Louise Pirouet. 1995.
65. Senegal,2nd ed., by Andrew F. Clark and Lucie Colvin Phillips. 1994.
66. Algeria, 2nd ed., by Phillip Chiviges Naylor and Alf Andrew Heggoy.
1994.
67. Egypt,2nd ed., by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. 1994. Out of print. See No. 89.
68. Mauritania,2nd ed., by Anthony G. Pazzanita. 1996.
69. Congo, 3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo, Virginia Thompson, and Richard
Adloff. 1996.
70. Botswana,3rd ed., by Jeff Ramsay, Barry Morton, and Fred Morton. 1996.
71. Morocco,2nd ed., by Thomas K. Park. 1996.
72. Tanzania,2nd ed., by Thomas P. Ofcansky and Rodger Yeager. 1997.
73. Burundi,2nd ed., by Ellen K. Eggers. 1997.
74. Burkina Faso,2nd ed., by Daniel Miles McFarland and Lawrence Rupley.
1998.
75. Eritrea,by Tom Killion. 1998.
76. Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), by F. Scott Bobb. 1999. (Re-
vised edition of Historical Dictionary of Zaire, No. 43)
77. Kenya,2nd ed., by Robert M. Maxon and Thomas P. Ofcansky. 2000.
78. South Africa, 2nd ed., by Christopher Saunders and Nicholas Southey.
2000.
79. The Gambia,3rd ed., by Arnold Hughes and Harry A. Gailey. 2000.
80. Swaziland,2nd ed., by Alan R. Booth. 2000.
81. Republic of Cameroon,3rd ed., by Mark W. DeLancey and Mark Dike De-
Lancey. 2000.
82. Djibouti,by Daoud A. Alwan and Yohanis Mibrathu. 2000.
83. Liberia, 2nd ed., by D. Elwood Dunn, Amos J. Beyan, and Carl Patrick
Burrowes. 2001.
84. Malawi,3rd ed., by Owen J. Kalinga and Cynthia A. Crosby. 2001.
85. Sudan,3rd ed.,by Richard A. Lobban Jr., Robert S. Kramer, and Carolyn
Fluehr-Lobban. 2002.
86. Zimbabwe,3rd ed.,by Steven C. Rubert and R. Kent Rasmussen. 2001.
87. Somalia,2nd ed., by Mohamed Haji Mukhtar. 2002.
88. Mozambique,2nd ed.,by Mario Azevedo, Emmanuel Nnadozie, and Tomé
Mbuia João. 2003.
89. Egypt,3rd ed., by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. and Robert Johnston. 2003.
90. Lesotho, by Scott Rosenberg, Richard Weisfelder, and Michelle Frisbie-
Fulton. 2004.
91. Ethiopia,New Edition,by David H. Shinn and Thomas P. Ofcansky. 2004.
92. Angola,New Edition,by W. Martin James. 2004.
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93. Central African Republic, 3rd ed., by Pierre Kalck, translated by Xavier-
Samuel Kalck, 2005.
94. Guinea,4th ed.,by Thomas O’Toole with Janice E. Baker, 2005.
95. Morocco,2nd ed., by Thomas K. Park and Aomar Boum, 2005.
96. Western Sahara,3rd ed., by Anthony G. Pazzanita, 2005.
97. Ghana,3rd ed., by David Owusu-Ansah, 2005.
98. Madagascar,2nd ed., by Philip M. Allen and Maureen Covell, 2005.
99. Sierra Leone,New Edition, by C. Magbaily Fyle, 2006.
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Historical Dictionary
of Sierra Leone
New Edition
C. Magbaily Fyle
Historical Dictionaries of Africa, No. 99
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Oxford
2006
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SCARECROWPRESS,INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Awholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
PO Box 317
Oxford
OX2 9RU, UK
Copyright ©2006 by C. Magbaily Fyle
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fyle, C. Magbaily, 1944–
Historical dictionary of Sierra Leone / C. Magbaily Fyle.
p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of Africa ; no. 99)
Rev. ed. of: Historical dictionary of Sierra Leone / Cyril P. Foray. 1977.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-10: 0-8108-5339-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-5339-3
1. Sierra Leone—History—Dictionaries. I. Foray, Cyril P., 1934– Historical
dictionary of Sierra Leone. II. Title. III. Series: African historical dictionaries ;
no. 99.
DT516.5.F868 2005
966.4'003—dc22
2005014693
∞™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
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Contents
Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff ix
Acronyms and Abbreviations xi
Maps xiii
Chronology xvii
Introduction xxvii
THE DICTIONARY 1
Bibliography 227
Appendixes
A. Governors of Sierra Leone 275
B. Heads of State 277
C. Chiefdoms and Paramount Chiefs 279
About the Author 287
vii
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Editor’s Foreword
Sierra Leone is another African country that has had more than its share
of troubles. Many of these were not even its fault. There were more than
enough causes of friction; the country began as a colony, West Africa,
like neighboring Liberia, to receive liberated Africans and freed slaves
and evolved into a British protectorate that reached much farther inland
and included a variety of ethnic groups, some in conflict with others.
Still, Sierra Leone got off to a reasonable start politically and econom-
ically, despite differences within the elite, punctuated by military inter-
vention. The worst troubles, however, resulted from the spread of
Liberia’s civil wars into its neighbor, Sierra Leone. It took intervention
by an African military force dominated by Nigeria to sort that out and
to restore a tenuous peace. Now Sierra Leone has another chance, and
with considerable effort and luck may fulfill some of its earlier prom-
ise. That is, at any rate, what the Sierra Leoneans and their friends hope.
Much of this historical review of the country will be complicated and
inexplicable to outsiders. Indeed, many Sierra Leoneans cannot grasp
what has happened either. The causes and explanations—at least some
of them—only become clearer with a rather long view, such as that pro-
vided by this Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone. It traces the history
of the region from earlier times through colonial rule and into indepen-
dence, through somewhat happier times into troubled times, and finally
until the present. The course of events can be followed most simply
through the chronology, and the explanations begin to fall into place
with the introduction. But the core of the book is a compilation of sev-
eral hundred entries in the dictionary concerning crucial events, ethnic
groups, movements, political parties, and especially persons—persons
whose actions and influence strongly impacted events. This study in-
cludes a bibliography, listing many sources that can shed further light
on specific aspects and features of the country and its history.
ix