Africa: Political Agreements Alone Won’t Heal Sierra Leone’s Social Divide

Constitutional and legal reforms are needed to address divisions rooted in the over-centralisation of power and resources.

Despite a veneer of national cohesion, deep ethnic and political divisions persist in Sierra Leone. These were evident during the 2023 contested elections, which required a national unity agreement to defuse tensions between the government and the opposition All People’s Congress (APC).

The APC had rejected the declaration of President Julius Maada Bio as the winner, citing…