Mo Farah claiming another Olympic gold at the 2016 Rio games had a BBC commentator pointing out the British athlete shared his birthday with three other gold medal winning Britons – Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Steve Redgrave. They were all born on 23rd March. My date nerd reaction was to immediately recall this date as one that is far from golden for Sierra Leone.

23rd March 1967 is when the country settled into a more enduring democracy defying and denying arrangement after the country’s top soldier had the previous day, his birthday as it happens, declared martial law. Exactly twenty years later – 23rd March 1987 – cabinet minister Francis Minah was arrested and accused – many believe wrongly – of plotting a coup d’état. Then there was the 23rd March 1991 Revolutionary United Front (RUF) incursion into Sierra Leone that marked the start of a campaign of terror and banditry that would leave tens of thousands dead, even more displaced, unknown numbers mutilated, and a whole country in unimaginable dysfunction.

Over the decades, what should be the most memorable of these dates, the most recent of the three, has struggled for recognition as a date of significance in the country’s history. Fact is, those not informed on the chronology of Sierra Leone’s eleven-year civil war should be forgiven for thinking the RUF raid on the capital Freetown that started on 6th January 1999 is the only phase of the conflict that was brutal and impactful enough to warrant commemoration.

My attempts at deep dives into any links between the various 23rd March dates suggests more than just a common place in the calendar. Did the disruption and delay to his taking power after things settled down with the National Reformation Council in charge on 23rd March 1967 shape the Stevens reign? Did the All Peoples Congress become determined not to lose power again? What about actions against opponents and dissenters? After all, the records suggest RUF leader Foday Sankoh was motivated by the anger because of incarceration by the Stevens government. What did the 23 March 1987 arrest of Francis Minah and his subsequent execution do to the already uneasy relationship between state and people? Did the fallouts of 23 March 1967 and 1987 enable the ease of the RUF incursion of 23 March 1991? Whatever the case, questions that have not been sufficiently asked remain inadequately answered and “never again” is a wish that is not supported by the understanding that will give it a chance.

Bottom line for me is the worry that attitudes towards the history, politics and administration of a state cannot be as casual as seems the case in Sierra Leone; a country that needs to better distribute attention to all its regions and events. It was the events of 23rd March 1991 and 2,845 days after it that led to and caused the much talked about and rightly commemorated January 6th, 1999, aka ‘J6’. Thirty years after the start of the darkest chapter in Sierra Leone’s history, remembering when and where it started would be a clear statement that all parts of Sierra Leone and all lives in Sierra Leone are equally valued and respected. Getting into the detail of why and how will bring extra value that, though not quite gold medal winning stuff, should give the absolute treasure that is understanding how things got to where they did or are.

© Othame Kabia