Creating Magic Soldiers: Kamajor Mobilization and Initiation

Abstract

The exact chronology and historical narrative of the Kamajors’ involvement in the war is hard to establish in detail, beyond some well-documented key events. In chapter 5 we traced the evolution of the civil defense units, and the Kamajor society, to a national Civil Defence Force (CDF) only to identify the discrepancies between the official structure of the organization—or at least the way in which it tends to be understood when taken at face value—and its actual working on the ground. Similarly, the perception of the Kamajors by others, their self-perception, and actual events do not always add up. But the power of the Kamajor society and fighting force, in so far as they were conceptualized—by themselves and others—as a military force with supernatural powers, is in a way separate from an accurate historical account of the movement. The perception shapes and guides action and as such impacts on success. It is important to bear in mind this slight disconnect between the accurate historical narrative and the individual narratives that combined to influence action and interpretations of events.

If you lose trustworthiness, the lore will be ruined.¹