Written By: Kakuna Kerina, Matthew Leone & David Tam-Baryoh

The United Nations and the United Nations Observer Mission (UNOMSIL)

United Nations involvement Sierra Leone war actively began after the April 29, 1992 coup that overthrew the Momoh APC government. At peace negotiations held in Cote d'Ivoire in 1995, the RUF refused to accept UN Representative Ambassador Dimka (a Nigerian national) as a mediator, accusing him of siding with the NPRC. This limited UN role continued until the appointment of United Nations Development Programme Representative (UNDP) Elizabeth Lwanga (an Ugandan national) in 1994.

UNDP Representative Lwanga encouraged the NPRC to make the transition to civilian rule through multiparty elections. Supported by US Ambassador John Harsch and British High Commissioner Peter Penfold, the move received popular support in an environment of anti-NPRC sentiment. Gradually, the NPRC "boys" were encouraged to leave power, while simultaneous efforts to bring about an end to the war resulted in the NPRC-RUF meeting of January 1995 in Cote d'Ivoire. In the absence of any alternate representation from the UN, UNDP Representative Lwanga, became the sole channel of UN interest until the appointment of current Special Envoy Francis Okelo (also an Ugandan national).

When the Kabbah government returned to Freetown on March 10, 1998, courtesy of ECOMOG, government officials began to perceive UNDP Representative Lwanga as less than an ally. Dissatisfied with the government's perceived single-minded focus on the prosecution of war criminals, at the expense of desperately needed social programs, Lwanga organized nation-wide seminars in November 1998. The seminars provided the opportunity to a cross-section of society, in various provincial areas, to express their views regarding the war and the possibility of achieving peace. The tension between UNDP Representative Lwanga and the Kabbah government reached its height when the government accused Lwanga of acting in an undiplomatic fashion and requested her withdrawal from the country, which she did shortly thereafter.

On July 13, 1998, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1181 (1998) which established the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL). UNOMSIL was mandated to monitor the military situation and security crisis in the country, the demobilization and disarmament of former combatants, the voluntary disarmament of the Civil Defense Forces, and to assist in monitoring compliance with international humanitarian law. Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed Special Envoy Francis G. Okelo as his Special Representative to Sierra Leone and Chief of Mission. The military component of UNOMSIL included 49 unarmed military observers and 2 troops.

In the aftermath of the January 1999 rebel assault on Freetown, when UNOMSIL personnel were evacuated for a second time, Special Representative Okelo initiated diplomatic efforts to promote dialogue between the Kabbah government and the RUF.

President Kabbah, opposed to negotiating with the RUF, enlisted the support of the pro-government press in an attempt to avert a peace-through-dialogue strategy, which he knew could bring about a compromise with the RUF. The Vision newspaper, owned by Kabbah confidant Siaka Massaquoi, led the anti-Okelo media campaign which portrayed Okelo as promoting the peace process to the advantage of the RUF. The articles and editorials attacking Okelo mounted as the West increased the political pressure on Kabbah to engage peace talks with his enemies, instead of pursuing the war which it had become increasing apparent he could not win.

UNOMSIL, perceived by local journalists as under Okelo's umbrella, in the prevailing monolithic view of the UN, received media criticism as well. The wave of scathing stories against Okelo only subsided when local journalists began to regard Okelo as the messenger, rather than the originator, of a policy that was being pursued Western governments.

Throughout the war, local journalists were critical of what they perceived as the "lip-service" the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was offering as a means to resolve the conflict. And when Burkina Faso head of state Blaise Compaore was elected Chairman of the OAU, the organization was summarily written off as being compromised by Compaore's involvement in the war.