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‘There's no bad bush to throw away a bad child’: ‘tradition’-inspired reintegration in post-war Sierra Leone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2008

Laura Stovel
Laura Stovel*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Government and civil society leaders in African transitional states often use rituals and expressions inspired by tradition to facilitate the integration of ex-combatants and displaced people. In Sierra Leone, the expression ‘There's no bad bush to throw away a bad child’, conveys a vision of African society as inherently forgiving and inclusive, and of Africans as needing to be amongst their own people. This ideal was perfectly suited for the needs of an impoverished state seeking to ease the strain on cities, and relying on communities' organic capacities to absorb their own people. This research draws on interviews with diverse Sierra Leoneans to examine the assumptions behind this communitarian ideal. It argues that while ‘There is no bad bush … ’ promotes a form of reconciliation defined as peaceful coexistence, it lacks the elements of justice required for deep reconciliation to occur.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 305 - 324
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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References

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Interviews

British researcher for international NGO, telephone interview, 5.5.2004.

Canadian health worker who worked with war wounded, Freetown, 9.3.2003.

Canadian intern, Freetown, 7.3.2003.

Catholic priest, Makeni, 3.3.2003.

Child reintegration officer, Port Loko, 29.3.2003.

‘Edward’, Mende elder, Mende village (est. 500 people), 5.5.2003.

Elderly female amputee woman, Temne village (est. 5,000 people), 16.3.2003.

Elderly male amputee man, Temne village above, 16.3.2003.

Female educator, Port Loko, 20.8.2007.

Female section chief, Mende village above, 6.5.2003.

Female teacher, Mende village above, 6.5.2003.

Former civil defence force male A, almost-abandoned camp outside Freetown, 16.3.2003.

Former civil defence force male B, almost-abandoned camp outside Freetown, 16.3.2003.

‘Grace’, abductee and ‘ex-combatant’, Mende village above, 6.5.2003.

Health worker, Mende village above, 5.5.2003.

‘Joe’, Head of child reintegration organisation, Freetown, 17.3.2003.

Male student at Fourah Bay College, Freetown, 14.3.2003.

Man in restaurant, Port Loko, group interview with other civilian men, 29.3.2003.

‘Margaret’, abductee and ‘ex-combatant’, Makeni, 2.4.2003.

Musa Jambawai, Bo, 6.5.2003.

Senior manager in inter-religious NGO, Freetown, 8.4.2003.

‘Stephen’, house worker, Freetown, 27.2.2003.

‘William’, NGO reintegration worker, Freetown, 26.2.2003.