Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Sierra Leone

Chief of Staff advises against ethnicity in new army

    ABIDJAN

    The chief of staff of Sierra Leone's armed forces, Brigadier General Maxwell Khobe, has advised the country's authorities that future recruitment should "be based on merit irrespective of where people come from and there should be an equal number from every district," an army spokesman told IRIN on Friday.

    Sierra Leone is rebuilding its army, which was dissolved by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah on his return to power in 1998, AFP reported. The dissolved army had been made up mostly of Temnes from north central Sierra Leone, AFP added. The Temne and the Mende - who live in the south and east - are the country's largest ethnic groups.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join