The agreement granted amnesty to many of the rebels, and offered a power-sharing role for the RUF, giving them four posts in the cabinet. President. However, the peace accord fell apart when the AFRC and RUF objected to demands that they disarm. The president, in the capacity as head of government, wields executive authority and is responsible for the appointing the vice president, as well as the cabinet ministers. From 1988 to 2002, he was the managing director of the Reliance Insurance Trust Corporation (Ritcorp). Restoring order to the country after several years of civil strife was his first duty as president. Help from Nigeria Ahmad Tejan Kabbah returned home to his native Sierra Leone to retire after a career with the United Nations as an economist, but was drafted into the country’s movement toward a multiparty democracy during the mid-1990s. Many Sierra Leoneans place great store in Kabbah as the symbol for achieving a peaceful and prosperous future. FREETOWN-(MaraviPost)-He became the world’s youngest Head of State in 1992 when he seized power in Sierra Leone, three days after his 25th birthday.Capt. Under the 1971 Constitution, the first constitution of the Republic of Sierra Leone, the President replaced the Monarch as ceremonial head of state a year later the Presidency became an executive head of state, The President was elected by Parliament for a four-year term. Mr. Bio’s victory in Sierra Leone resembles, in some ways, that of Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president since 2015, according to Mr. Lavali. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, led by Foday Sankoh, were instrumental in this event. Instead he remained in his own home, and lived on his United Nations pension. The Governor-General was the representative of the monarch in Sierra Leone and exercised most of the powers of the Monarch. The Koroma children are currently pursuing studies in the UK . Nearly all citizens are from one of thirteen tribes, with Temne and Mende the largest of them. In his tribute to the late former President … U.S.-SIERRA LEONE RELATIONS The United States established diplomatic relations with Sierra Leone in 1961, following its independence from the United Kingdom. When the civilian government was restored so was the 1991 Constitution and in the 1996 elections the SLPP won the election for most seats in Parliament and the Presidential election. Bio succeeded Ernes… Valentine Strasser led a coup d'état which overthrew President Momoh and his government, again dissolving all political parties and the Parliament. Its parent organization, ECOWAS (West African Economic Community), is a 16-nation consortium of West African nations. Ernest is married to Sia Koroma and they have two children. She is more vocal than the elected president on national issues. Ernest Bai Koroma, the Leader of the All People’s Congress (APC), is considered by his numerous followers all around Sierra Leone and in the Diaspora as The Hope of the Future. The African captives on board the Amistad slave ship, who mutinied and attempted to return to Africa in the 1840s, but instead were tricked into U.S. waters and arrested, hailed from Sierra Leone. The President of Sierra Leone and Commander-in -chief of the Republic of Sierra Leone Military Forces, is actually Her Excellency Fatima Jabbie Bio. Bio and Fatima were married in 2013 in London in an interfaith wedding ceremony that was held in a Church and a Mosque prayer services in London. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Maada_Bio. In 1999, it was estimated that almost half that number had been forced to flee to neighboring countries as a result of the civil war. He quickly learned that the rebels had seized control of the government, and was flown to safety in neighboring Guinea. Religion: Muslim. Kabbah, a Muslim, was about to leave the house for morning prayers at the mosque that day in May, but fortunately kept in touch with the military through a special radio. A constitution was ratified in 1991 and elections scheduled, but a coup in April of 1992 led to a reinstatement of military rule. Valentine Strasser is now said to be living in poverty. “Both leaders furiously studied their documents until just moments before the signing as they sat next to one another on a raised stage,” reported the New York Times about the ceremony in Lome, Togo. As Kabbah told reporter Angella Johnson from the Johannesburg, South Africa daily the Mail & Guardian about this second career, “I don’t regret it [becoming president] because I believed at the time that I had contributed to peace and stability in my country in the very short time that I was there,” Kabbah said. He was the military Head of State of Sierra Leone from January 16, 1996 to March 29, 1996 under the National Provisional Ruling Council. 1. The Sierra Leone Peninsula, which is the site of Freetown, is a region of thickly wooded mountains that run parallel to the sea for about 25 miles (40 km). In the event of a vacancy the Vice-President served as Acting President. Sankoh was returned to Sierra Leone, where he spoke out against the atrocities committed by the rebels. The war began on March 23, 1991, when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) under Foday Sankoh, with support of Liberian rebel leader Charles Taylor and his group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NFPL), attempted to overthrow the government of Sierra Leonean President … Called to the Bar (Gray’s Inn), London; district commander for Moyamba, Kono, Bombali and Kambia Districts in Sierra Leone; Ministry of Social Welfare, Freetown, Sierra Leone, deputy secretary; Ministry of Education, Freetown, permanent secretary; Ministry of Trade and Industry, Freetown, permanent secretary; joined staff of United Nations; served as UNDP representative in Lesotho, 1973, Tanzania and Uganda, 1976, and Zimbabwe, 1980; appointed head of Eastern and Southern Africa Division in the United Nations, 1979; served as deputy personnel director and director of the Division of Administration and Management, 1981. The Sierra Leone Civil War was an armed conflict in the West African country of Sierra Leone from 1991 t0 2002. The Prodigal President He refused to accept his salary, and did not even live in the presidential mansion, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. and Sierra Leone enjoy […] Bio succeeded Ernest Bai Koroma as president, who was constitutionally ineligible to run for the presidency having served the maximum two five year terms. Kabbah endured criticism that he was becoming a tool of a foreign power, a leader who was under the thumb of Nigerian head of state General Sani Abacha. There were also problems within the Sierra Leonean army, many of whom were supporters of the RUF. A Personal Experience. Sierra Leone Telegraph: 13 February 2021: President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone yesterday announced a new Le100 Billion National Enterprise Development Fund, at a well-attended event in the northern town of Magburaka. Sierra Leone Telegraph: 9 September 2020: President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone is now out of the country for over two weeks without any update from State House about his health, welfare or whereabouts. He defeated Samura Kamara of the ruling All People’s Congress in the runoff vote of the 2018 Sierra Leone presidential election with 51.8% of the votes to Kamara”s 48.2%. Kabbah instead chose another alternative: protection by a West African peacekeeping force called ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group). At Kabbah’s side was a young girl whose arm had been amputated during the civil war. Economic sanctions had brought hardship to Sierra Leoneans, and basic necessities were becoming increasingly scarce. As African Business’s Dexter Jerome Smith remarked, Kabbah’s decision was a difficult but timely one, for it hailed “a significant if somewhat surprising turn of events on the African continent: Africans sorting out African problems; the region policing itself rather than being policed from outside.”. In the event of a vacancy the Chief Justice served as Officer Administering the Government. Just this week, the Board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) In October of 1997, the AFRC and RUF finally agreed to leave and to return rightful power to Kabbah. We will kill him if he comes back. After earning his degree from the University College of Wales, he was admitted to the Bar of Gray’s Inn in London. She attended Annie Walsh Memorial school and completed post-graduate in Bio-Chemistry at London University. Born October 2nd 1953 in Makeni, Bombali District, Northern Sierra Leone , Koroma attended the Sierra Leone Church primary School, Government Secondary School (Boys) Magburaka and Fourah Bay College , University of Sierra Leone.He graduated in 1976 from Fourah Bay College , University of Sierra Leone following which he taught at the St. Francis Secondary School in Makeni before joining the Sierra Leone National Insurance Company in 1978. Born and raised in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, Koroma spent more than 24 years working in the private insurance industry before entering politics in 2002. Politics: Sierra Leone People’s Party. Born Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, on February 16, 1932, in Pendembu, Kailahun District, Eastern Province, Sierra Leone; married; wife’s name, Patricia Tucker. The president is elected through direct adult suffrage in a popular vote to serve a five-year term subject to o… The couple have one child together that was born in London. An astute business man and a Chartered Insurer, Koroma is also a Fellow of the West African Insurance Institute (WAICA), an Associate of the Institute of Risk Management in the UK and a Member of the Institute of Directors in the UK. Bio’s wife, Fatima Bio is a practicing Muslim and a Gambian national, though she grew up in Kono District in Sierra Leone; and her mother was born in Kono District, Sierra Leone and her father is a Gambian native. I hate him. Sierra Leone's government barred Koroma from leaving the country last month, after anti-corruption investigators announced they wanted a hearing with the former president. After two decades with the United Nations, Kabbah retired and returned to Sierra Leone. Kabbah returned to Sierra Leone in March of 1998, followed by an official announcement from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan heralding the event as a positive step for the future of Sierra Leone and the stability of West Africa. “Kabbah is irrelevant. Another group, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), was also instrumental in this military action. However, as Cameron Duodu explained in the Mail & Guardian, Kabbah “did not want to implement the agreement. A spokesperson for the rebel government, Lt. Col. Gibril Massaquri, said only that same month that Kabbah was “a criminal… You do not understand,” the Christian Science Monitor quoted Massaquri as stating. After the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Governor-General was appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of Sierra Leone without the involvement of the British government. Photos and bios of the current Heads of State, Dictators and First Ladies. “I now feel that I have a moral duty to my people because maybe they were looking for someone like me to begin the process of economic development.”, As the SLPP candidate, Kabbah was declared the victor in the country’s first multi-party elections in March of 1996. Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio started his 14-day quarantine on Monday after revelations that his bodyguard tested positive for coronavirus, the president’s spokesperson confirmed. Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Former President of Sierra Leone. Religion: Muslim. In the early 1970s, Kabbah was hired by the United Nations and served as a developmental economist for a number of years. Sierra Leone eventually became a colony for freed slaves under British protection, and the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) became the dominant political party in the 1950s. Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh Vice-President. They asked for a large sum of money for a protection deal, which “would have provided Kabbah and his most senior Cabinet members with a paramilitary anti-riot force of about 500 men and a two-man intelligence unit (staffed by South Africans) who would have been based at military headquarters to give early warning of any coup plots,” explained Mail & Guardian journalists Khareen Pech and Yusuf Hassan. Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabba: Two Decades Of Conflict and Democracy in Sierra Leone. He is a retired Brigadier General in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military Head of State of Sierra Leone from January 16, 1996, to March 29, 1996, under a military Junta government. Koroma moved over to the Reliance Insurance Trust Corporation (Ritcorp) in 1985 and became its Managing Director in 1988, a position he outstandingly held up to the March 2002 Elections. Maada Bio is an ethnic Sherbro and a practicing Roman Catholic Christian. Sierra Leone is a strife-torn, but mineral-rich West African nation with an area of 28,000 square miles and a population of five million people. Bio has three children, all three born in the United States from a previous marriage. Julius Maada Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the 5th and current president of Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. “I shall sign it as president of Sierra Leone, but more importantly I shall sign it for the thousands of children of Sierra Leone,” the president was reported as saying by the New York Times. Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio Visits Adamus Resources Mines, Expresses Desire to have Similar Facility in Sierra Leone. In 1996, he was elected president in Sierra Leone’s first free elections since its independence. The president of the country is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Sierra Leone. This is a list of the heads of state of Sierra Leone, from the independence of the Sierra Leone in 1961 to the present day. Bio is the first democcratically elected Sierra Leonean president born in the post colonial independent nation of Sierra Leone, as he was born three years after Sierra Leone became independence. A New Era Bio was the SLPP presidential candidate in the 2012 presidential election, but he received 37% of the votes as he was defeated by the incumbent president Ernest Bai Koroma who won 58% of the votes. He attended St. Edward’s School in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown, then traveled to Great Britain for further education. Life’s Work In the event of a vacancy the Vice-President served as Acting President. The reason is that the RUF’s brand of terrorism–amputating the limbs of villagers to coerce them into supporting it– horrified a lot of the middle-class people on whom Kabbah depended for support.”. Returning to his homeland, Kabbah served as commander for several districts in Sierra Leone before joining the country’s Ministry of Social Welfare as a deputy secretary. There are three living former Sierra Leonean Heads of State: Sierra Leone presidents and head of state by tribes, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_heads_of_state_of_Sierra_Leone&oldid=998243254, Lists of political office-holders in Sierra Leone, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, This page was last edited on 4 January 2021, at 13:26. However, the ongoing civil strife that had plagued Sierra Leone in recent times did not end. In mid-1998, Sierra Leoneans who collaborated with the AFRC/RUF forces were tried for treason. Valentine Strasser became a leading member of a group of six equally young fellow officers, who overthrew president Joseph Saidu Momoh in the April 29, 1992, military coup. Sierra Leone’s finance laws do not authorize the wife of a sitting president to directly receive or use any public funds to undertake a social activity or public campaign. Elected president of Sierra Leone, March, 1996, and March, 1998; serves as minister of defense of Sierra Leone. President Julius Maada Bio Addresses World’s Largest Mining Investment Event, Calls for Trustworthy and Patient Investors to Sierra Leone. Many government soldiers welcomed RUF forces into Freetown when a coup ousted Kabbah from office in May of 1997. By Francis H. Murray Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister, Professor David Francis says President Julius Maada Bio has officially given a directive to abolish the death penalty from the country’s statutes. Career PlanetRulers - Current Heads of State & Dictators. Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born May 12, 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the 5th and current president of Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. Politics: Sierra Leone People’s Party. The president of Sierra Leone discusses how his country is recovering from years of conflict and government corruption. “Unless Kabbah comes back, there will be no peace,” a Freetown resident told reporter Carl A. Prine of the Christian Science Monitor. Executive Outcomes, a private security company that took much of credit for the stability in Sierra Leone before the coup, had warned Kabbah of the potential for such an insurgency. Among the president’s listed expenses were a cash withdrawal on December 4, 2020, of Le550,060,520.52 (US$53,908) from the Local and Overseas Travel Account held at the Bank of Sierra Leone to be used as per diem by the president for a three-day working visit to Gabon. Sierra Leone: High-Level Delegation From Guinea Meets Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio, Presents Letter From President Conde 8 February 2021 Government of Sierra Leone … Sierra Leone Telegraph: 9 September 2020: President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone is now out of the country for over two weeks without any update from State House about his health, welfare or whereabouts. Bio led a military coup in Sierra Leone on January 16, 1996, ousting his close friend and the leader of the NPRC junta government, Captain Valentine Strasser. The Peninsula Mountains rise from the coastal swamps and reach some 2,900 feet (880 metres) at Picket Hill. Bio is a retired Brigadier in the Sierra Leone Military. However, the mood within Sierra Leone remained tense. Neighboring Nigeria footed much of the bill for the military action in Sierra Leone that finally ousted the AFRC and RUF from power. The fund will support micro, small and medium-sized businesses that are struggling to gain access to finance for growth and expansion, which… Forgiveness and Future Hopes Bio justified his actions as a means to return Sierra Leone to a democratically elected civilian government and end the Sierra Leone civil war. This is a list of the heads of state of Sierra Leone, from the independence of the Sierra Leone in 1961 to the present day. The succession to the throne was the same as the succession to the British throne. Mr. … Bio was the presidential candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party. Sierra Leone:- Proposed Ebola back to school Action Plan. Former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma is among the Persons of Interest that the Biobele Commission of Inquiry indicted in its Report and recommended actions that must be instituted against them some of which the SLPP Led Government, headed by President Julius Maada Bio accepted as indicated in the Government White Paper. Bio is also the second Sierra Leonean president to have previously served in the Sierra Leone military. President Bio first married Fatima Jabbe in the UK in 2013 before he became President. Weeks of negotiation resulted in another peace accord, signed by both Kabbah and Sankoh, in July of 1999. Later that year, Kabbah heeded warnings from his military advisers and ordered the execution of 24 collaborators. Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio made international headlines when he declared rape and sexual violence a national emergency earlier this year. He had been a member of the SLPP since 1954, and his long and distinguished career made him an attractive candidate for president. In the event of a vacancy the Vice-President served as Acting President. Early in 1999, Kabbah asked the United Nations to help forge a peace agreement between his government and the AFRC/RUF. Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born May 12, 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the 5th and current president of Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. Years of Unrest The monarch was represented in Sierra Leone by a Governor-General. The president is a title enshrined in the constitution which dictates that the president is the head of state as well as head of government. Bio fulfilled his promise to return Sierra Leone to democracy; and he handed power to Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP following Kabbah’s victory in the 1996 presidential election. In November of 1996 he signed the Abidjan (Nigeria) Accord, which was also signed by rebel leader Sankoh. People of Sierra Leone are quite right to be concerned. Accra, Ghana, Wednesday 27 January 2021 – His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has attended the state funeral of the late Flt Lt Jerry J. Rawlings, the first President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana who passed away on 12 November 2020, aged 73. The Governor-General was appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the Monarch. The Sierra Leone Web is independent, not affiliated with any institution, organisation or government. The rebels seized the diamond-mine regions of Sierra Leone after driving a Mercedes car into the gates of the country’s largest prison and freeing the inmates, many of whom were political detainees. Koroma earned a bachelor's degree from Fourah Bay College in 1976; and is an insurance agent by profession. The civilian government was restored so was the 1991 Constitution and the Members of Parliament and the President. He defeated Samura Kamara of the ruling All People’s Congress in the runoff vote of the 2018 Sierra Leone presidential election with 51.8% of the votes to Kamara”s 48.2%. From 1961 to 1971 the head of state under the Sierra Leone Independence Act 1961 was the Queen of Sierra Leone Elizabeth II, who was also the Monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. Sankoh was made the equivalent of vice president and head of a task force on national reconstruction. The 1978 Constitution proclaimed Sierra Leone as a one-party state, the President was elected for a seven-year term and can only serve two terms, then in 1991 a new Constitution was made to end the status as a one-party state, the President now serves a five-year term and can only serve two terms. The President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Members of the Fourth Estate, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening, The year 2020 has been truly remarkable and exciting not only for the media in Sierra Leone but also our great country. The people hate him.” The citizens of Sierra Leone realized that they had few alternatives. Education: Received degree from University College of Wales. General Joseph Momoh became president in 1985, and a movement to create a multi-party democracy gained momentum. In the countryside, they waged a campaign against the return of the elected government that was code-named “No Living Thing.” As New York Times reporter Barbara Crossette explained, “some victims have been turned into messengers of death, disfigured then sent away bearing letters warning President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and the African peacekeeping troops who restored him to office in March that armed resistance, led by remnants of a former military junta, will continue and that no one is safe.”. FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone's anti-corruption commission could issue a warrant for the arrest of former President Ernest Bai Koroma after he failed to comply with a … Meanwhile, Sankoh had been captured by ECOMOG, and there was talk that the rebel leader would become Kabbah’s deputy in an attempt to forge a new, pluralistic era for the country. Fled After Bloody Coup He made this statement on Thursday 4th February 2021 during the first presidential award for best performing ministries at State House in Freetown. Electricity and telephone services had been shut down while the AFRC/RUF junta remained in power. Major Johnny Koroma led a coup d'état which overthrew President Kabbah and his government, dissolving all political parties and the Parliament. The dawn of independence also launched the start of 17 years of unrest, and Sierra Leone was declared a one-party state in 1978. “Residents cleaned up the streets, and flags, streamers and banners decorated the city.”, Only one month prior to Kabbah’s return, retreating AFRC and RUF forces had laid waste to Freetown, setting fire to buildings and automobiles. The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone is seems to be missing and this is causing serious unrest in different social media platforms in the country, more especially Facebook. Kabbah was born in 1932 in the Kailahun District. The country achieved its independence in 1961. Sierra Leone became a republic under the Constitution of 1971 and the Monarch and Governor-General were replaced by an ceremonial President, a year later it became an executive Presidency. After a 1997 coup, Kabbah was forced to flee the country for several months, but returned to its capital, Freetown, in 1998 to great fanfare. Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio today exchanged wedding vows with the First Lady Fatima Bio at the St. Paul’s Seminary Chapel in Freetown for the second time. Happy Independence Day to fellow Sierra Leoneans in Sierra Leone and around the world. More information about Sierra Leone is available on the Sierra Leone Page and from other Department of State publications and other sources listed at the end of this fact sheet. From there, he served as permanent secretary in the ministries of education and of trade and industry. We have an elected President called Julius Maada Bio, but as it is, it is his wife, Fatima Bio controlling power in Sierra Leone. “In Freetown, throngs of people lined the route of Kabbah’s motorcade, wearing traditional tribal costumes, banging drums and singing songs written for the occasion,” reported CNN. Bio was the presidential candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party. Sia Koroma is from Kono District, Eastern Province of Sierra Leone.