“the war is over” and that henceforth, 18th February each year shall be a national public holiday in commemoration of the fearless efforts of the country’s armed forces in the various external and internal wars to uphold peace and democracy.
Over 200,000 Sierra Leoneans died in the senseless, almost eleven-year civil war that left at least 5,000 people amputated, killed or displaced by drugged, power-drunk rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) between 1991 and 2001.
