By Brima Sannoh
On a quiet afternoon in Saama Village, Kpaka Chiefdom, Pujehun District, an elderly man, Morray Sondai, sits beneath a mango tree, his walking stick resting across his knees.
Sondai recalls his experience during Sierra Leone’s civil war vividly — the gunshots, the fear, the displacement. He also remembers the day “strangers” arrived in his community with notebooks, asking him to speak about what he had seen and suffered.
“They told us it was for peace,” he narrates softly, in an interview with ManoReporters. “We talked. We cried. After that, we never heard from them again.”
More than two decades after the civil war ended, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is remembered in national records as a cornerstone of post-war justice and healing. But the views of citizens suggest that in many rural communities across Pujehun District, the commission’s legacy feels distant, incomplete, and in some cases, forgotten altogether.
A National Process, a Rural Silence
Established in 2002, the TRC was mandated to uncover the truth about atrocities committed during the eleven-year conflict, promote healing, and recommend reforms to prevent future violence. Thousands of statements were collected nationwide, including testimonies from survivors in Pujehun.Yet speaking to inhabitants of many rural communities in this district reveal a troubling gap between the Commission’s mission and its impact.Many residents told ManoReporters that they participated in the process without ever understanding its outcomes. Some believe compensation or community reconciliation meetings would follow. Others expected their testimonies to bring answers—or at least acknowledgment.
“We thought they would come back to explain what they found,” Messie Mansaray, an elderly woman from Benga Village in Kpanga Chiefdom, said.
Mansaray lost two relatives during the war. “But nobody returned. It is like our stories ended in their books,” she lamented.
Survivors Without Closure
For survivors interviewed by ManoReporters, the absence of a follow-up engagement has left emotional wounds unhealed. Several elders expressed confusion about whether their testimonies mattered or contributed to justice in any meaningful way.
Retired farmer Abu Karim in Dandabu Bakoi Village in Kpanga Krima Chiefdom said he still wondered what became of the names he mentioned during the hearings. Now frail with age, he said: “Were the people punished? Were they forgiven? We don’t know. We were never told.”
This lack of feedback, survivors say, has fostered quiet resentment and a sense that rural suffering was documented but not fully addressed.
A Generation That Never Learned
If the elders remember fragments of the TRC process, many young people in Pujehun know almost nothing about it.
“I only hear that there was a war before I was born,” said Lahai Sesay, a motorbike rider in his early twenties, who lives in Pujehun Town. “Nobody ever explained something called TRC to us.”
A secondary school student, Aminata Rogers, who attends the Holy Roseray Secondary School (HRSS) in Pujehun Town, feels the same. “We don’t learn it in class. Teachers focus on exams. We know about the war only from stories at home.”
The result, community members told ManoReporters, is a growing generational disconnect—where youths inherit trauma without context, and history without structured understanding.
Schools and Pulpits Left Out
Educators interviewed by ManoReporters in the district admitted that transitional justice receives little attention in classrooms.
Vandy Moiwo, a teacher at National Islamic Mission Primary School in Sahn Malen, said while secondary school textbook containing tales of the TRC report exists, there is no material for the primary school level, which he believes is where teaching of the subject should have started for better understanding and awareness.
“There is no dedicated material at the primary level,” Moiwo stated. “Without guidance or training for younger students, it becomes difficult to teach and build awareness from early stages.”
Religious and community leaders also said opportunities for reconciliation dialogue were missed. Alhaji Mustapha Fofanah, Chiefdom Chief Imam, noted that churches and mosques could have played a stronger role but were never fully engaged after the TRC hearings ended.
Civic Education and Civil Society Views
Abdulai Jalsil Sillah, Executive Director of Youth in Action for Development (YAD) Sierra Leone, said post-war outreach faced funding and logistical challenges, particularly in hard-to-reach rural districts like Pujehun. He explained that national attention gradually shifted to governance and elections, leaving community-level healing behind.
“The TRC produced powerful recommendations,” Mr. Sillah said. “But implementation and public education were weak in rural areas. That gap still affects us today.”
Amadu Sengeh Jr., Head of the Civic Education Commission for the Southern Region, said the government has continuously held civic education programs at the community, district, and regional levels across the country, including outreach on transitional justice issues. He noted that while challenges remain, these efforts are intended to ensure that communities stay informed about civic responsibilities, reconciliation, and peacebuilding initiatives.
The TRC recommended memorialisation, civic education, and sustained dialogue—measures that many residents interviewed by ManoReporters say never fully materialised in their communities.
Saama Village, Kpaka Chiefdom, Pujehun District, on Monday 22nd December, 2025. Image, Brima Sannoh, ManoReporters.
Why the Past Still Matters
The consequence of this silence, community members said, include unresolved grievances, land disputes, while youth frustration continues to surface in areas where the past was never openly discussed or understood.
“If the young people don’t know what happened, how will they protect the peace?” quested Vandy Sannoh, Town Chief of Jumbu Malen,
An Unfinished Journey
As the sun sets over the villages of Pujehun, memories of the war remain etched in the minds of those who lived through it—while younger generations walk forward without a clear map of the past.
For many who spoke to ManoReporters, reconciliation feels incomplete, not because the TRC never existed, but because its message never fully reached them.
“We spoke our truth,” said Mr Sondai. “But peace also needs understanding. That part is still missing.”
This story was produced with support from the African Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF), through the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG), under the project Engaging Media and Communities to Change the Narrative on Transitional Justice Issues in Sierra Leone.
