Decentralization, local governance and centre–periphery conflict in Sierra Leone
✍ Scribed by Allan Rosenbaum; Maria Victoria Rojas
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 140 KB
- Volume
- 17
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0271-2075
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Issues of centralization±decentralization and centre±periphery resource distribution are frequent administrative and political concerns which can have, upon occasion, very profound consequences for the stability of a society. An analysis of recent events in Sierra Leone demonstrates their signi®cance. On 25 May, 1997 the country's ®rst democratically elected government in almost 30 years was overthrown after little more than a year in of®ce by a group of rebellious military of®cers. Most commentators have attributed this turn of events simply to military disgruntlement. In fact, a careful analysis demonstrates that the central government's commitment to decentralization and the strengthening of local governance exacerbated the centre±periphery con¯ict issues that have plagued the country since its independence and thus were the real underlying causal factors.