Major General Amara Idara Bangura, Chief of Defense Staff

Exclusive Interview

—CDS Major General AI Bangura   

The Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Amara Idara Bangura, gave the following exclusive interview to Expo Magazine on his key reforms and achievements in his first 100 days in office

 Expo Magazine: Thursday 13th March, 2025 marked 100 days since you took office as Chief of Defence Staff of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces. What can you say have been your key priorities and achievements during this period?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: Thank you very much for that wonderful question. Upon assumption of office, my colleagues and I sat together to first define the trajectory on how to move the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces forward and we agreed to reform the RSLAF in accordance with His Excellency the  President’s directives on the Tri-Service structure issued in 2019. Second, we should try to handle the core of our problem, which we diagnosed has been welfare of our men and women carrying arms to serve their country. We agreed that we should look after their welfare because it is what will motivate them to do their soldiering job. We also agreed that it would consolidate the level of professionalism we want to attain from them in accordance with the reform. We took the structural reform agenda as priority number one, and then the welfare of our troops. These are the two main priorities we set forward upon assumption of office. The Achievements speak for themselves and we want to allow the content of this magazine to focus on my first 100 days to speak to those achievements. Developing a policy instrument to address the issues that affect soldiers welfare and infrastructure is central to my command. Together we set up new institutions that will move the tri- service reform forward. So they are various in their nature and character.

Expo Magazine: What have been your key policy reforms since taking over as CDS?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: The key policy reform is to ensure we have a home-grown National Defence Policy and Strategy which has been lacking since independence. The last National Defence Policy and Strategy that we had was crafted by the IMATT. The policy was based on reorganizing the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces; it never had the trajectory to develop and catapult the Force to deliver adequate security. We need to develop a policy that should not only be in line with the government agenda but also  one that supports our vision for the Armed Forces. So for me developing that policy and then presenting it to the public in a form of validation was vital, and seeking the Defence Council’s approval was a key reform agenda. The policy is set to be presented to the Defence Council anytime from now until we have a strategy on how we want to move, define the ways and means to safe guard our nation. I think we have not started; otherwise we will just be like a ship sailing on the ocean without any direction. I think that has been our major problem from the past, that is why we decided that we must come back to the drawing board and the strategy that set the pathway on how we should progress in the next five years; we then set the Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism around those strategies to see how we progress year by year.

Expo Magazine:  Do you think the role of the military is changing under your leadership?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: Our role as a military force remains constitutionally the same as enshrined in the 1991 constitution. That nature will not change; however what will change is the character of that function. I will see ourselves delivering that role, as for me, that is the key because it is all about leadership in coming up with the various approaches we have decided to undertake. Our military remains the embodiment of  stability in our country to defend its territorial borders, but it is also under new dynamic that has to do with our function; we do not want to be seen as just consumers. We want to be seen as a producers of government development. But how can we contribute to the wellbeing and development of Sierra Leone if we don’t create the special purpose vehicle to undertake those functions? So for me the nature of our key role remains the same but how we deliver this function is changing and is changing dramatically under this leadership.

Expo Magazine: What have you been doing differently to cater for the welfare of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: There is a saying that if you want to have motivated troops to fight you must look after their welfare, so it is two sides of the same coin, you have motivation here, you have welfare on the other side, and welfare is a critical component or one of the factors that influence professionalism. It is set within the conceptual framework of combat power. If you build the army physically you provide them with the equipment to carry out their work but morally you need to get the boys to believing what they agree in order to execute their functions and that moral aspect has got to do with some amount of welfare. Morally,  they should be legally obliged to doing the job but also have the courage in doing it because we should believe in what we are doing. For you to have them think that way you must look after their welfare, their conduct and discipline. So for me welfare is a critical component that must not be overlooked. There is a saying that money can’t buy will even if you buy all the equipment if you don’t have the willpower, the Armed Forces is doomed. What underpins this will is the welfare that generates the willpower of our troops. Welfare empowers our troops. When you address their welfare, they become willing to carry out their job with or without undue influence. That’s why I consider welfare to be a critical component of this administration. Honestly, if we approach it with a sense of responsibility, I’m sure we can resolve most of the difficult welfare issues that have affected RSLAF for years. The soldiers want when they go to work they have an easy means of transportation, they want when they go home they have rice to eat, they want when they are on duty they are looked after, they want when they die their remains are properly looked after, they want when they are here doing the job they have the basics to be able to carry out the job. So for me those are the basics that we must get right before we start building the block.

Expo Magazine: What strategies and innovations did you roll out that helped you deliver these milestones?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: The first thing is we defined our interest and realized that our influence lies within the well-being of our troops. That said, it means that as leaders, our interests are dead until we get the troop’s interests to surpass our individual interests. So, the first thing is to get the mindset right. The second thing is to make sure we review the policy instruments at the highest public policy level within the defence force. For example, we reviewed the policy of border control operations and some key personnel welfare policies. We realized that we must focus on construction and delivering basic amenities for soldiers in the barracks, which we had discussed at the policy level. This is why we started building boreholes for our barracks to provide water and rehabilitating our roads, which were in bad shape. We sat and agreed that we use our engineers and equipment to ensure that we fix those bad roads. Therefore, we need to first redefine the policy at the highest public policy level in defence to align it with the welfare issues we face. Above all, we should set the trajectory for national defence policies.

Expo Magazine: Can you say the Sierra Leone Armed Forces are more united and focused on protecting the people of Sierra Leone under your leadership?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: Well, I do not want to take all the glory for that. I think we have always been united. Whenever we are confronted with challenges, the cohesiveness we have always possessed helps us defeat those challenges. What I have done is to rejuvenate this unity and ensure we have an all-hands-on-deck approach, an inclusive form of leadership where everyone takes part in what we are doing, so that all of us have a stake in it.

Expo Magazine: What can you say were the initial challenges you faced when you took over, and how did you manage to navigate them?

Major General AI Bangura speaking at one recent field event

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: One was to ensure that the public policy instrument that is responsible for us to institute the reforms are right in place and in order, then seeking the appropriate authority from my Commander-in-Chief H.E the President and other oversight bodies like the Defence Ministry that we have the approval for policies and interventions we want to undertake. But, that needs time. We may have the will to do it, but we must navigate through the structures and mechanisms to ensure that everything is in place, and then we are given the approval to proceed. So, with that anxiety we had, we found out that we needed to go through these steps. So, I would not say it is a challenge. We painstakingly went through all the boxes to ensure we were on track. An army like Sierra Leone needs to be renewed in its energy. So, coming in with huge barrage of ideas to implement, I found out that some of the platforms you need to get them stronger before you start adding other layers or blocks on them. So, laying these foundation very strong before laying other blocks on them was a bit challenging, but with the team, we were able to walk through them. I alone cannot do it all, but I have a team of Service Chiefs, General Staff and colleague Generals who have owned the idea as we all want to see a better RSLAF [Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces] provide adequate peace and security for our dear nation called Mama Sierra Leone. Because all hands are on deck, whatever challenge we have, we face them and devise ways of addressing them. I think, so far, we have been successful with that.

Expo Magazine: What interventions have you rolled out to reduce the dependence of the military on the national coffers?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: Thank you for such a very critical question. As I mentioned, our role in Section 168(2) of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone tasks is that we must contribute to the wellbeing and development of our country. But then I sat back and reflected how we have done this major task. I informed my colleagues that we needed to pay more attention to executing this task. I think this has been the missing part in all what we have been doing since we joined the army. We did not focus on how we should contribute towards our nation’s well-being and development. There is nothing that debars the Armed Forces from undertaking developmental schemes that achieve this constitutional task. So, we agreed that we needed to explore some form of defence investment schemes or defence enterprise schemes. We registered businesses that are independent from the hierarchy of the defence but owned and managed by the defence, and we are going to register other schemes. This is the only way we can operate and deliver on the well-being and development of our country. So, what did we do? We started by developing paper work and conceptual frameworks that are geared toward being fused into policy instruments, discussed and approved by the highest public policy committee to ensure that we have the approval to go ahead with these ideas and if there are challenges we try to overcome them to make sure that we forge ahead with the idea. For example, we want to go into an investment to make sure we become the biggest producer of cashew nuts in Sierra Leone in the next five years. So, we are working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security as well as making sure that the Defence Policy Committee approves the concept. We are securing land for farming so that by May we will start planting even if it is a thousand or four thousand hectares of cashew farm per year. In the next four or five years, we would have achieved the goal of being the largest cashew producer in Sierra Leone. We should not just be buying; we should start producing. We are working with our partners in delivering positive developments. The First Lady has been very instrumental in providing healthcare for the army and other citizens. We are in collaboration with the First Lady and other partners to ensure that we become the first healthcare service delivery point for Sierra Leone and the subregion. The 34 Military Hospital is the angle to deliver on that task. We are setting up laboratories to start producing ten of the most essential drugs that we use daily in our hospitals. Once we set up these laboratories, it would reduce government spending on defence, and would also generate revenue. We also want to ensure that we set up civil construction firms to undertake civil engineering construction projects. We should be seen contributing to the making of our roads, whether feeder roads or major roads. We also want to be the fastest-growing real estate developer in Sierra Leone. We are acquiring land in the provincial headquarters to construct houses not just for our soldiers, but for any other Sierra Leonean that wants to own property. We have our Engineering Construction Companies, which will be delivering this task. We have our Armed Forces Endowment and Loan Scheme, as well as the goodwill of our development partners, to help fund the project. All of these would make us partially dependent on government resources.

Expo Magazine: What have been your key international and diplomatic engagements in your first 100 days?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: As they say, no man is an island, and no man stands alone. Defence diplomacy is a critical part of foreign policy and is an integral part of our national defence policy and strategy. We have established a Defence Engagement Directorate with a One-Star General in charge, and we are developing a defence engagement strategy or plan. We began by engaging Cuba to support our hospitals; we engaged Turkey to deliver medical support; and we are now engaging Egypt to participate in defense investment schemes. So, we are reaching out to people who have an interest and those who have already achieved what we want to achieve, so we can learn from their mistakes and make comparisons to minimize our own.

And also, sub-regionally we are engaging very well with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU). The AU has contributed USD 9.5 million worth of Peace Support Operations (PSO) equipment for our peacekeeping aspirations. Despite the challenges, there is still a consensus that the ECOWAS bloc is vital in ensuring peace, security, and development of the subregion. We are also in touch with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, one of the key pillars of this country’s stability, as they have sacrificed their blood, money, and energy to give us the peace and democracy we have today. We are rejuvenating that relationship. We recognize all other contributors to Sierra Leone’s peace, security, and democracy; we will continue to engage with them.

Expo Magazine: Are there any lessons from your first 100 days in office?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: Yes, there are always lessons for the first steps. One of the lessons I have learnt strongly is that you always need to have a team to work with. That was the first thing I had to do: constitute a team, present an idea to them, and let them deliberate on the way forward. For me, that was the first lesson. The second lesson is that it is difficult to navigate a space where you want to do things that are surmounting with limited resources for which we have to compete with other government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). That is why we emphasize that the only way to reduce this kind of stress is to find a way to contribute meaningfully to the well-being of the State while also taking care of ourselves. Finally, the subregion is undergoing rapid change, so we must begin to think about how to protect our country. This is why we are charting the way forward and working with government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to find ways to capacitate the Armed Forces, so that we can deliver security properly. Those are the main challenges.

Expo Magazine: What can you say are your key priorities going forward, and how do you hope to deliver them?

Maj Gen Idara Bangura: My priorities are two-fold. One is to deliver maximum security for the State, so that we all go home and sleep and wake up without fear which is the primary objective of any Armed Forces. The second priority is to look after ourselves by investing in defence investment schemes, which will also contribute to the well-being and development of Sierra Leone. But in doing all of these, there are certain centres of attention: soldiers’ welfare and policy reform is key. The focus is to provide the needed security on one hand and ensure the welfare of soldiers on the other.

Copyright –Published in Expo Magazine,  March-April 2025 Edition Vol.3, No.3, (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)