Studies on post-conflict reconstruction in Africa have glossed over the need for state transformation as a prerequisite for sustainable peace-building in postconflict societies. An attempt is made to fill this crevasse using the relevance of Claude Ake’s political thought for state reconstruction in post-conflict Africa. Drawing on Sierra Leone, Ake’s works on the state are discussed against the backdrop of externally-driven state reconstruction projects hinged on hegemonic discourses of nation-building in post-conflict situations.