When is Armed Forces Day?
February 18th is set aside as a national public holiday to commemorate and appreciate the Sierra Leone Armed Forces who fought in the Second World War and those who fought in over a decade of civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s.
History of Armed Forces Day
The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) is responsible for the territorial security of Sierra Leone’s border and defending the national interests of Sierra Leone, within the framework of its international obligations.
On the 18th of February 2002, the late former president Alhaji Dr. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah declared in his solemn voice in Krio that the “war don don” – “the war is over” and that henceforth, 18th of February shall be a national public holiday in commemoration of the fearless efforts of the country’s Armed Forces in the various wars to uphold peace and democracy.
Over 200,000 Sierra Leoneans died in the ten-year civil war.
Sierra Leone is yet to fully recover from the effects of the war, especially the youth, many of whom have been psychologically scarred for life.
