Sierra Leone's Enduring Extractive Legacy

Key Insight

Sierra Leone became a British colony in 1896, with Freetown as its capital. The British gradually extended rule into the interior, declaring it a protectorate on August 31, 1896. They created 'paramount chiefs' like Suluku in Kono. When the British levied a five-shilling hut tax in January 1898, chiefs rebelled in the Hut Tax Rebellion, particularly strong in Mendeland. Work on a railway from Freetown began in March 1896 but was disrupted by the rebellion; its route was diverted south to Mendeland to ensure quick access and control over rebellious areas.

Upon independence in 1961, power shifted to the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), supported by the south and east. In 1967, Siaka Stevens's All People's Congress (APC), backed by northern ethnic groups, won a contested election. Stevens, prioritizing power consolidation over economic growth, ordered the destruction of the railway to Bo, a key economic link for Mendeland's coffee and cocoa exports. This action, despite fatally damaging vibrant economic sectors, prevented his opponents in Mendeland from gaining strength, mirroring historical rulers who sacrificed growth to thwart political challenges.

Stevens's regime demonstrated a continuity with British extractive methods. He ruled through a violent dictatorship, becoming president in 1971 and establishing a one-party state after 1978. Like the British, he exploited farmers via marketing boards; by 1985, farmers received as little as 10 percent of world prices for their produce, with 90 percent extracted for his personal enrichment and political support, not public services. The British-established system of indirect rule through paramount chiefs, holding office for life and accountable to external powers, also persisted, with chiefs continuing to collect taxes, now a poll tax, in a rigid, undemocratic system.