{"id":401715,"date":"2011-04-27T10:50:14","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T10:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/27\/sierra-leone-celebrates-50-years\/"},"modified":"2011-04-27T10:50:14","modified_gmt":"2011-04-27T10:50:14","slug":"sierra-leone-celebrates-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/27\/sierra-leone-celebrates-50-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Leone celebrates 50 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

27 April 2011<\/span> Last updated at<\/span> 06:50 ET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sierra Leone should celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence from the UK despite its troubled past, President Ernest Bai Koroma has told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“Today we are a peaceful nation. We’re a nation that has agreed on electing our leaders through the democratic process,” he said.<\/p>\n

Some 50,000 people were killed and many more maimed and raped during the 10-year civil war which ended in 2002.<\/p>\n

Correspondents say poverty, corruption and unemployment remain big challenges.<\/p>\n

Sierra Leone is rich in diamonds and iron ore but the population still sees very little benefit from the country’s natural resources.<\/p>\n

Only four in 10 people can read and write and average life expectancy is under 50.<\/p>\n

Pride<\/span><\/p>\n

BBC West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says thousands of people still bear the horrifying trademark of Sierra Leone’s civil war.<\/p>\n

Hands and feet were hacked off by rebels who decided to make a mockery of an election slogan in the 1990s: “The future is in your hands.”<\/p>\n

Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cStart Quote<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

It has been a difficult thing to move forward but we are thankful that today we are a peaceful country\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

End Quote<\/span> Ernest Bai Koroma<\/span> President<\/span><\/div>\n

The UN has warned about a potential increase in tension ahead of the presidential elections next year.<\/p>\n

But Mr Koroma says the country has much to be proud of.<\/p>\n

“We are a nation that is quickly consolidating the peace, living in harmony, having religious tolerance,” he told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.<\/p>\n

“We have to reflect on what went wrong and I believe this is not the time to apportion blame – I would want all of us as Sierra Leoneans to take responsibility for the mistakes of the past,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It has been a difficult thing to move forward but we are thankful that today we are a peaceful country. We now have a focus and we have to build on it.”<\/p>\n

Festivities have been organised all around the country for the golden jubilee – to the tune of Mama Salone, a song specially composed for the event by local rapper Innocent, urging people to come out and celebrate.<\/p>\n

Sierra Leone also has a special significance in the history of the transatlantic slave trade.<\/p>\n

The capital, Freetown, was founded as a home for repatriated former slaves in 1787.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Continue Reading:
\nSierra Leone celebrates 50 years<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

27 April 2011 Last updated at 06:50 ET Sierra Leone should celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence from the UK despite its troubled past, President Ernest Bai Koroma has told the BBC. “Today we are a peaceful nation. 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