The Manor River Region: Volatility and Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons

Abstract

This chapter examined the nexus between volatile political situation and the proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALWs) in the Manor River region of West Africa. The Manor River region is endowed with abundant human and natural resources with potentials for socio-economic and political development of the entire region. Incidentally, for over two decades, the resource-rich region comprising Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivore and Guinea were enveloped by violent conflicts. Like a wildfire, the rebellion that started in Liberia spread to neighbouring Sierra Leone and continued unabated until the entire region was engulfed in cataclysm conflicts. The transborder export of the violence which was facilitated by porous borders did not however, happen in isolation as it was accompanied by the illicit spread of instruments of violence notably, SALWs that not only fuelled the conflicts but also prolonged them. The resultant political instability and insecurity triggered by the violent conflicts perpetrated by state and non-state actors across the region aided by their allies no doubt had adverse implications for peace, security, stability and overall development of the region. Incidentally, the regional architecture for the control of SALWs through the Manor River Union has yielded little result as the parties to the crisis have not translated the peace agreements to action. Drawing from qualitative content analysis of secondary data using the thesis of domino effect, this study concludes that the systemic violent conflicts that ravaged the Manor River region countries created an atmosphere of political volatility and proliferation of SALWs with both reinforcing each other. As a prognosis for action, it is therefore recommended that practical steps be taken to address the underlying sociopolitical and economic situations that threaten security within the region as well as forge a collaborative and continuous efforts at all levels of engagements at arms control.