ABSTRACT
Democracy had no practical basis in the systems imposed through colonial rule. There was no democracy under colonial military rule. At best, popular democracy in the post-independence era translated into majority rule. The idea that democracy protects the rights of minority groups to dissent was not sufficiently recognized. This chapter illustrates both indigenous misrule and Western culpability in Sierra Leone’s increasingly corrupt and authoritarian environment after independence. Fourah Bay College struggled to survive using some very adept political maneuvering both nationally and internationally. At times, it provided a safe haven for traditional scholarship. At other times, it launched open public protest. FBC occupied an ambiguous if not precarious space between African and European cultural forces.
