Magic Soldiers and Strategy – Nathalie Wlodarczyk
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seen throughout the country, and the ir power a form of the same power already known to
civilians from their own initiation to Poro or Sande and part of their common-sense
world. An account by a Kamajor ex-combatant illustrates this:
“I led an attack on AFRC forces on the main road between the diamond area in Kono and Makeni.
The AFRC and the RUF attacked our position with heavy artillery. To prove that our society's
medicine really works, I decided to go onto the road and face these guys. They were shooting at me,
but I walked on towards them, and none of their bullets or artillery hit me. At a bridge there, I shot
the driver of a rebel vehicle. There were six rebels in the truck. I captured the vehicle with all the
ammunition inside. I drove it back to our base. It was one of the key battles because it weakened the
rebels in the northern area.”
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In this case, regardless of the actual causal chain the interpretation dictated by the
fighter’s (and most likely his enemy’s) beliefs, has a positive outcome in that it reinforces
beliefs. That is, even if he failed to be hit by the enemy’s fire because they were not
aiming properly
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or their weapons had not been cleaned, he interpreted his survival as
the result of the power of his medicine. The AFRC/RUF
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fighters who saw him walk
straight through the salvo of fire and capture one of their vehicles, would likely have
assumed a similar interpretation as the alternative would have both left them looking
incompetent, but also because they shared the wider belief in the potency of spiritual
protection.
3.
Conclusion: Traditional religion and strategy beyond Sierra Leone?
In line with Bourdieu’s theory of practice, the disposition of the population to believe in
spiritual power and the accessibility of that power through certain means was as a shared
common-sense a natural component of any strategy formulated to achieve an interest.
With the onset of the war, the spiritual common-sense was therefore translated into
practice also in the new field – that of armed conflict.
leader Joseph Kony. E.g. one ex-combatant, quoted by Richards and Peters, who after the war converted to
Christianity, now condemned Kamajor practices as witchcraft, but did not doubt their power. Richards and
Peters (1998) p.18
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Interview with Kenneth Kuka [radio interview transcript]. Radio Netherlands, 21 January 2000 [cited 10
May 2004]. Available from
http://www.rnw.nl/humanrights/html/Kamajor.html
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A very common cause of the limited casualties in gun battles, as many young fighters had had no proper
training in the use of automatic weapons and often imitated Hollywood heroes such as Rambo, spraying
bullets from the hip rather than taking aim.
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The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was the military junta that overthrew President
Kabbah in a coup in 1997 and joined forces with the rebel RUF.
Convention