Saving the Sum of Things for Pay: Executive Outcomes in Sierra Leone
Part 3
by Michael van Maanen
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Creating the Market - State Collapse in Sierra Leone
EXO was employed in April 1995 to provide military support for the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) government of Valentine Strasser in the war against Foday Sankoh's Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The RUF had emerged five years previously in opposition to the corrupt and oligarchical regime of President Joseph Momoh which lost power in a military coup led by Strasser in 1992. Despite initial soundings by the NPRC to create a government of national unity which would include the RUF, Sankoh and his lieutenants refused to accept the legitimacy of Strasser's Ruling Council. Politically, the RUF was in no position to make such a move. The NPRC, while arguably lacking both leadership and vision, had been hailed as saviours throughout the country. The RUF on the other hand found little support among the civilian population, relying instead on the backing of the Liberian warlord-turned-President, Charles Taylor, who was keen to punish Momoh's government for its support of the ECOMOG military campaign against his Liberian rebellion.
By all accounts the RUF was a mysterious movement, lacking a coherent ideology, organisational structure and support base. Its attempts to attract new recruits from rural areas were crude but effective, with young men being given a choice between enlisting or dying. The local population was similarly exposed to a systematic campaign of terror and intimidation which ensured their submission. According to one EXO operative, "the cutting off of hands, arms and legs was standard practice. Cutting open pregnant women while they were still alive, killing the foetus…[it was all] pretty primitive stuff [but]…common".
By 1994/95 the RUF had made considerable ground. Having captured the crucial alluvial diamond, bauxite and titanium mining fields in the south, east and north east, it slowly drained Strasser's Ruling Council of its principle source of revenue. The Royal Sierra Leone Military Force (RSLMF), which had been conscripting youths from the streets of Freetown since 1992 and hastily dispatching them to the front line, disintegrated into an incompetent and wholly ineffective fighting force.
As the economy struggled with a severe cash-flow problem, the poorly trained and unpaid soldiers of the RSLMF sought compensation by looting villages and diamond mines. Soldiers recognised this to be far more profitable than fighting the RUF and soon earned the tag of 'sobel' - soldier by day, rebel by night. Indeed, a system emerged whereby soldiers of the RSLMF aided the RUF in their criminal actions, with both groups blaming one another for the excesses while simultaneously sharing in the bounty. So pronounced was the inadequacy of the RSLMF, that by March 1995 the RUF had advanced as far as Waterloo (around 25-30kms outside of the capital, Freetown) with relative ease.
Selling the Arts of War
Well aware of the need to fill this security vacuum, Strasser began searching for alternatives and was eventually introduced to the Executive Outcomes concept by Tony Buckingham, a senior Branch-Heritage executive, and Michael Grunberg, a senior financial adviser for Diamond Works. The contract eventually concluded between Grunberg, acting on behalf of EXO, and the NPRC was financially complex but ultimately proved to be of mutual benefit for both Branch-Energy and EXO as well as Strasser's Ruling Council.
EXO's initial operational strategy was firstly to reorganise the RSLMF into "a proper military structure" and secondly to retrain its forces to a level where it could uphold the government without external assistance. In conjunction, the formal operational plan recommended and approved by the NPRC listed three main objectives for EXO's military campaign:
Evict the RUF from areas east of Freetown.
Stabilise the Sierra Rutile diamond mining area in order to generate revenue for the government and guarantee payment for EXO.
Locate and destroy RUF Headquarters. Efforts were also to be devoted to developing a psychological warfare programme and a strong public relations programme.
EXO's advance team of around 30 men arrived in Sierra Leone in May and began an evaluation, training and restructuring programme with the RSLMF. The company also launched a major campaign to utilise the traditional hunters of Sierra Leonean society, the kamajors, in an infantry support role. However, the majority of offensives launched against the RUF in 1995 were undertaken primarily by EXO personnel with limited assistance from the RSLMF.
The primary objective of securing Freetown was achieved after only ten days of fighting, with EXO's team of approximately 150 men driving the RUF 100kms into the interior. By August the Kono mining district had been successfully retaken and 'clearance' operations began in the area with the support of two additional RSLMF infantry battalions and one Mi-24 helicopter gunship. The key target of Sierra Rutile was recaptured by early December, allowing the government access to badly needed revenues. EXO maintained a strong presence in the Rutile area in order "to provide mining companies with necessary security and to stabilise the region".
Despite the positive military advances against the RUF, Strasser's NPRC continued to fall further behind in its proposed payments to EXO. Indeed, by mid-December, with the promised February elections rapidly approaching and with increasing tensions emerging within the Ruling Council, EXO announced they would leave unless a new payment plan was concluded. This was hastily achieved although it did not save President Strasser from being overthrown in a military coup led by Brigadier Julius Maada Bio on 16 January.
The change of leadership did not seriously alter EXO's position in the country. In fact, EXO exerted pressure on Bio to conform to Strasser's election timetable after he considered their postponement in the face of RUF pressure. As van den Berg recalls, "we told him [Bio] that it would be a bad idea if he postponed the elections and we also told him that it was part of our deal that elections would take place. [The] military would have to hand over control to a democratically elected civilian government, and if he didn't keep to that deal then we would leave. So in a subtle way I would like to say that we actually enforced the elections at the time".
A critical turning point in the conflict followed an EXO/RSLMF ground assault operation that destroyed a major RUF stronghold in the Kangari Hills. Facing total defeat on the battlefield, Sankoh agreed to cut his losses and negotiate with the military government for the first time in five years. Ultimately, a level of stability was created and enforced through EXO's presence which allowed the first democratic elections in 27 years to take place during February and March 1996. The newly elected President, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, retained EXO's services and the company was again placed on the offensive following Sankoh's failure to adhere to the unilateral cease-fire which had been implemented at the onset of peace negotiations.
The result was the destruction in October 1996 of RUF headquarters near Bo in the South East of the country. Politically discredited and militarily defeated, Sankoh signed the Abidjan Peace Accord on 30 November 1996 following assurances from Kabbah that EXO's contract would be terminated. Under mounting international pressure to expel the South African mercenaries, the agreement was honoured and EXO's last man left Freetown on February 7, 1997. While bitter over the "premature termination" of their contract, EXO hailed the operation as "A complete success…[T]here was control, law and order and stability, democracy had been restored".
Creating the Market - State Collapse in Sierra Leone
EXO was employed in April 1995 to provide military support for the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) government of Valentine Strasser in the war against Foday Sankoh's Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The RUF had emerged five years previously in opposition to the corrupt and oligarchical regime of President Joseph Momoh which lost power in a military coup led by Strasser in 1992. Despite initial soundings by the NPRC to create a government of national unity which would include the RUF, Sankoh and his lieutenants refused to accept the legitimacy of Strasser's Ruling Council. Politically, the RUF was in no position to make such a move. The NPRC, while arguably lacking both leadership and vision, had been hailed as saviours throughout the country. The RUF on the other hand found little support among the civilian population, relying instead on the backing of the Liberian warlord-turned-President, Charles Taylor, who was keen to punish Momoh's government for its support of the ECOMOG military campaign against his Liberian rebellion.
By all accounts the RUF was a mysterious movement, lacking a coherent ideology, organisational structure and support base. Its attempts to attract new recruits from rural areas were crude but effective, with young men being given a choice between enlisting or dying. The local population was similarly exposed to a systematic campaign of terror and intimidation which ensured their submission. According to one EXO operative, "the cutting off of hands, arms and legs was standard practice. Cutting open pregnant women while they were still alive, killing the foetus…[it was all] pretty primitive stuff [but]…common".
By 1994/95 the RUF had made considerable ground. Having captured the crucial alluvial diamond, bauxite and titanium mining fields in the south, east and north east, it slowly drained Strasser's Ruling Council of its principle source of revenue. The Royal Sierra Leone Military Force (RSLMF), which had been conscripting youths from the streets of Freetown since 1992 and hastily dispatching them to the front line, disintegrated into an incompetent and wholly ineffective fighting force.
As the economy struggled with a severe cash-flow problem, the poorly trained and unpaid soldiers of the RSLMF sought compensation by looting villages and diamond mines. Soldiers recognised this to be far more profitable than fighting the RUF and soon earned the tag of 'sobel' - soldier by day, rebel by night. Indeed, a system emerged whereby soldiers of the RSLMF aided the RUF in their criminal actions, with both groups blaming one another for the excesses while simultaneously sharing in the bounty. So pronounced was the inadequacy of the RSLMF, that by March 1995 the RUF had advanced as far as Waterloo (around 25-30kms outside of the capital, Freetown) with relative ease.
Selling the Arts of War
Well aware of the need to fill this security vacuum, Strasser began searching for alternatives and was eventually introduced to the Executive Outcomes concept by Tony Buckingham, a senior Branch-Heritage executive, and Michael Grunberg, a senior financial adviser for Diamond Works. The contract eventually concluded between Grunberg, acting on behalf of EXO, and the NPRC was financially complex but ultimately proved to be of mutual benefit for both Branch-Energy and EXO as well as Strasser's Ruling Council.
EXO's initial operational strategy was firstly to reorganise the RSLMF into "a proper military structure" and secondly to retrain its forces to a level where it could uphold the government without external assistance. In conjunction, the formal operational plan recommended and approved by the NPRC listed three main objectives for EXO's military campaign:
-
Evict the RUF from areas east of Freetown.
Stabilise the Sierra Rutile diamond mining area in order to generate revenue for the government and guarantee payment for EXO.
Locate and destroy RUF Headquarters. Efforts were also to be devoted to developing a psychological warfare programme and a strong public relations programme.
EXO's advance team of around 30 men arrived in Sierra Leone in May and began an evaluation, training and restructuring programme with the RSLMF. The company also launched a major campaign to utilise the traditional hunters of Sierra Leonean society, the kamajors, in an infantry support role. However, the majority of offensives launched against the RUF in 1995 were undertaken primarily by EXO personnel with limited assistance from the RSLMF.
The primary objective of securing Freetown was achieved after only ten days of fighting, with EXO's team of approximately 150 men driving the RUF 100kms into the interior. By August the Kono mining district had been successfully retaken and 'clearance' operations began in the area with the support of two additional RSLMF infantry battalions and one Mi-24 helicopter gunship. The key target of Sierra Rutile was recaptured by early December, allowing the government access to badly needed revenues. EXO maintained a strong presence in the Rutile area in order "to provide mining companies with necessary security and to stabilise the region".
Despite the positive military advances against the RUF, Strasser's NPRC continued to fall further behind in its proposed payments to EXO. Indeed, by mid-December, with the promised February elections rapidly approaching and with increasing tensions emerging within the Ruling Council, EXO announced they would leave unless a new payment plan was concluded. This was hastily achieved although it did not save President Strasser from being overthrown in a military coup led by Brigadier Julius Maada Bio on 16 January.
The change of leadership did not seriously alter EXO's position in the country. In fact, EXO exerted pressure on Bio to conform to Strasser's election timetable after he considered their postponement in the face of RUF pressure. As van den Berg recalls, "we told him [Bio] that it would be a bad idea if he postponed the elections and we also told him that it was part of our deal that elections would take place. [The] military would have to hand over control to a democratically elected civilian government, and if he didn't keep to that deal then we would leave. So in a subtle way I would like to say that we actually enforced the elections at the time".
A critical turning point in the conflict followed an EXO/RSLMF ground assault operation that destroyed a major RUF stronghold in the Kangari Hills. Facing total defeat on the battlefield, Sankoh agreed to cut his losses and negotiate with the military government for the first time in five years. Ultimately, a level of stability was created and enforced through EXO's presence which allowed the first democratic elections in 27 years to take place during February and March 1996. The newly elected President, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, retained EXO's services and the company was again placed on the offensive following Sankoh's failure to adhere to the unilateral cease-fire which had been implemented at the onset of peace negotiations.
The result was the destruction in October 1996 of RUF headquarters near Bo in the South East of the country. Politically discredited and militarily defeated, Sankoh signed the Abidjan Peace Accord on 30 November 1996 following assurances from Kabbah that EXO's contract would be terminated. Under mounting international pressure to expel the South African mercenaries, the agreement was honoured and EXO's last man left Freetown on February 7, 1997. While bitter over the "premature termination" of their contract, EXO hailed the operation as "A complete success…[T]here was control, law and order and stability, democracy had been restored".
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