Former Child Soldiers and the Motorbike Taxi Industry in Sierra Leone

Many of those engaging in Okada riding today in Sierra Leone are former child soldiers. However, it is important to note that the motorbike taxi phenomenon is not unique to the post-conflict period in SierraLeone (Burge 2011).

In those early years, commercial bike riding remained a marginal enterprise, involving just a handful of bikes, mainly in extraurban transport. Intraurban motorbike transport started to grow after 1998 with the arrival of people unwilling to walk within town: fighters of different national factions; ECOMOG [The Economic Community of West African States' (ECOWAS) Nigerian led ECOWAS Monitoring Group]; and later on, UN soldiers. People who already owned a bike adapted quickly to this new demand and offered their services to those requesting them. (p. 68)

With the influx of foreign soldiers and nationals, bike riding slowly became a requisite service and means of transport during the war. Significantly, Nigerian soldiers and members of ECOMOG began to purchase bikes and hire individuals living in Makeni as riders (Burge 2011). The industry began to notably expand following the end of the civil war (Biirge 2011; Denov 2011; Menzel 2011; Peters 2007; Voldby 2011). Okada riding, as it is referred to locally, has evolved as a common mode of transportation in the country's major provincial towns. As Ibrahim and Shepler (2011) remark:

(...) riding motorbikes (okada) has become not only a source of youth employment, but the most effective and, in some places, the only means of transportation in the country.

Various factors contributed to the aggrandizement of the industry. Importantly, economic forces drove the industry's development, mainly the demand for com­mercial and personal transportation. A vast number of four-wheeled taxis, a ubiq­uitous means of transport before the war, were destroyed (Denov 2011; Fithen and Richards 2005; Peters 2007). This, in conjunction with the structural damages the nation incurred, specifically to its road networks, resulted in the demand for an alternative means of private transportation.

Motorbike taxis carry numerous advantages over other means of transport in Sierra Leone. For one, motorbikes enjoy superior maneuverability as they have the capacity to swiftly weave through traffic, navigate poorly maintained and often dilapidated routes, and avert obstructions on the road (Peters 2007). Yet other factors influencing the growth of the industry were the limitations of the country's disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs. It has been argued that these programs did not sufficiently provide youth with the skills requisite for reintegration in the post-conflict era, particularly in light of the country's frail economy (Burge 2011; Denov 2010; Menzel 2011). The DDR process in Sierra Leone was deemed vital in transitioning ex-combatants from a military to a civilian lifestyle. Approximately 79,000 combatants signed on to the nation's DDR program (Leff 2008). By equipping former soldiers with vocational skills in areas such as bricklaying, carpentry, agriculture, and auto mechanics, it was presumed that social and economic reintegration would be achieved. Although the underlying objectives of the DDR program may have been well intentioned, they failed to seriously consider numerous factors upon which their success depended on. For one, the DDR program primarily concentrated on the supply of skilled labor while overlooking the actual demand for such labor in the economy.

Unlike those uninvolved in armed combat, former soldiers developed a distinct set of skills, attitudes, characteristics, values, and desires through their participation in the war, which rendered them “suitable” for the motorbike taxi industry. Signif­icantly, during the war, youth were provided with myriad opportunities for accessing power and status (Denov 2010; Peters 2007). For instance, through an armed group, youth could progressively make their way up the military ranks. Moreover, looting communities and cities often provided these youth with eco­nomic resources they never believed they could access (Denov 2010). For some youth, brandishing a weapon instilled a sense of power and control. This sense of wartime empowerment marked a clear departure from the prewar context where many youth were socially and economically immobile (Keen 2003).

However, the post-conflict context constituted a reversion to the zero-power, zero-opportunity reality many youth found themselves in prior to the war. Eco­nomic opportunities, such as the motorbike taxi industry, specifically drew in former soldiers given their continued desire for power, authority, control, status, and excitement (Burge 2011; Cubitt 2012; Denov 2011; Peters 2007).

I love bike riding. When I am on top of my bike, I become the boss. I choose who to carry on the bike and who not to carry. I am in total control in the absence of my boss...The bike gives me authority and I’m someone that likes authority so much.

In this regard, motorbike taxi riding can be viewed as an “acceptable substitute in times of peace” (Peters 2007, p.15). Harnessing the skills, knowledge, resources, and strengths they developed during the war, former child soldiers have managed to engage in what Cubitt (2012) considers “autonomous economic integration” (p. 34). Manifesting itself outside of the confines of DDR and national employment initiatives, the motorbike taxi industry is demonstrative of these young people’s ingenuity in identifying and filling in a post-conflict economic vacuum. Through this endeavor, former combatants are not only rebuilding their own lives but also contributing to the economic and social development of the country by providing a crucial means of transportation while, simultaneously, creating employment (over 150,000 jobs) for the masses of urban underemployed youth (Cubitt 2012).

Yet, importantly for this chapter, how does the Okada industry function within the broader context of Big Man networks in postwar Sierra Leone? Before explor­ing this further, the study’s methodology is addressed.

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