The National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration has discharged a total of 436 former fighters from their demobilisation centres, OCHA reported. The ex-combatants, it said, are now enrolled in various programmes for their reintegration into society. In the western Freetown neighbourhood of Wilberforce, 280 former fighters were discharged.
Most of them were members of the Civil Defence Forces. Some were from the Sierra Leone Border Guards, the Special Task Force, and vigilantes attached to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Others had belonged to the now defunct Armed Forces Revolutionary Council and the Sierra Leone Army.
In Daru, 47 former fighters - mostly RUF - were discharged. By 23 March another 72 had been discharged from the programme in Port Loko. So far, the NCDDR has 11,039 ex-fighters enrolled in its countrywide reintegration programme, which includes agriculture, small enterprise development, apprenticeship and public works.
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