Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SIERRA LEONE - EBOLA & THE RUF WAR

There is just and unjust war. What happens in most of the African countries, in my view. are unjust wars. 

One of the primary aims of going to war is to have peace. Innocent men, women and children are not to be killed including prisoners of war. What the RUF did in maiming  and killing innocent people was an unjust practice in warfare. 

Segun Ogungbemi Ph.D

Professor of Philosophy

Adekunle Ajasin University

Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State

Nigeria

Cellphone: 08033041371

                   08024670952

On Oct 28, 2014, at 9:02 PM, "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:

If extreme poverty and the failure of successive governments to address it was the main cause of the war that ravaged this beautiful country, how then can one justify the fact that some of the groups, which fought against the government engaged in the murdering and mutilating of innocent children and women? Mbaku

 

War, by definition, involves murder and mayhem.  Whether the initial cause  is about  poverty, personality conflicts,

a struggle for power,  or oil, on the battle front war takes on a life of its own. One side seeks to dominate the other and

declare victory, at all costs. That is the tragedy of  armed conflict.

 

Professor Emeagwali

 

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John Mbaku
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2014 4:55 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - SIERRA LEONE - EBOLA & THE RUF WAR

 

Dear Mr. Bangura:

 

If extreme poverty and the failure of successive governments to address it was the main cause of the war that ravaged this beautiful country, how then can one justify the fact that some of the groups, which fought against the government engaged in the murdering and mutilating of innocent children and women? If these groups were, indeed, fighting to improve economic conditions for themselves and the rest of Sierra Leone, why did they have to massacre and maim innocent Sierra Leoneans? How can they justify what came to be just outright murder and mayhem?

 

I visited Sierra Leone in the 1970s and yes, there was a lot of maladministration and government insensitivity to the poor. You are right that Siaka Stevens' government failed miserably when it came to providing the country with basic services, especially a nation-wide system of health care that would have provided the country with the wherewithal to put forth a much more robust fight against Ebola. Nevertheless, the impetus to the war, like that in Liberia, cannot be traced entirely to the failure of the government to deal fully and effectively with poverty.

 

On Mon, Oct 27, 2014 at 2:21 PM, william bangura <william.bangura17@gmail.com> wrote:

 The Ebola virus would not have become a pandemic  if the late President Tejan Kabbah, his SLPP, the "political opposition and the intellectual elites" had addressed the problems that led to the war. But, they would not because pragmatically analyzing the war would have validated the actions of the RUF and their leader the late Foday Sankoh.
Claire Short then Tony Blair's Minister for the Department of International Development had articulated that the causes of the war were corruption, disillusionment and maladministration.
The health care of the country rapidly began to deteriorate during the reign of Siaka Stevens--from April 1968--until today. No hospitals were built in all the major cities, neither were polyclinics in the villages. Stevens and all successive governments have ignored the enhancement of health care because they had and could pillage the treasury to seek medical care overseas.
When Solomon Berewa was ill President Koroma gave him US$10,000 for his overseas medical expenses. Nobody questioned the source of Koroma's funds nor its aptness.
The hospitals that are "functional" lack the basic supplies such as plastic gloves and chlorine, and dialysis machines.
There should be about 600 doctors for Sierra Leone's population of 6 million.
There should have been a commission of inquiry to question the rationale and the prosecution of the war when the major players that affected it--Kabbah, Sankoh and Sam Norman--were alive.

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JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics & Willard L. Eccles Professor of Economics and John S. Hinckley Fellow
Department of Economics
Weber State University
1337 Edvalson Street, Dept. 3807
Ogden, UT 84408-3807, USA
(801) 626-7442 Phone
(801) 626-7423 Fax

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