Siaka Stevens
Encyclopedia
Siaka Probyn Stevens was the 3rd prime minister
of Sierra Leone
from 1967–1971 and the 1st president of Sierra Leone
from 1971–1985. Stevens is generally criticised for dictatorial methods of government in which many of his political opponents
were executed, as well as for mismanaging the economy. On a positive note, he reduced the ethnic polarisation in the government of Sierra Leone by incorporating members of various ethnic groups into the government.
Stevens and his All People's Congress
(APC) party won the closely contested 1967 Sierra Leone general elections over the incumbent Prime Minister
Sir
Albert Margai
of the Sierra Leone People's Party
(SLPP). In April 1971, Stevens made Sierra Leone a republic and he became the first President of Sierra Leone a day after the constitution had been ratified by Parliament
.
Stevens served as Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) from 1 July] 1980 to 24 June 1981, and engineered the creation of the Mano River Union
, a three country economic federation of Sierra Leone, Liberia
and Guinea
.
Stevens retired from office at the end of his term on 28 November 1985. After pressuring all other potential successors to step aside, he chose Major-General Joseph Saidu Momoh
, the commander of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces as his successor.
, Moyamba District
in the Southern Province
of Sierra Leone to a Limba
father and a Mende
mother. Although born in Moyamba, Stevens was largely raised in Freetown
. Stevens completed his primary education in Freetown and completed secondary school
at Albert Academy
in Freetown, before joining the Sierra Leone Police Force
. From 1923 to 1930, Stevens rose to the rank of First Class Sergeant and Musketry Instructor.
From 1931 to 1946, he worked on the construction of the Sierra Leone Development Company (DELCO) railway, linking the Port of Pepel with the iron ore mines at Marampa. In 1943, he helped co-found the United Mine Workers Union and was appointed to the Protectorate Assembly in 1946 to represent worker interests. In 1947, Stevens studied labor relations
at Ruskin College.
(SLPP) and was elected
to the Legislative Council. A year later, he became Sierra Leone's first Minister of Mines, Lands, and Labor. In 1957, he was elected
to the House of Representatives as a member for Port Loko constituency, but lost his seat as a result of an election petition.
After disagreements with the SLPP leadership, Stevens broke ties with the party and co-founded the People's National Party (PNP), of which he was the first secretary-general and deputy leader. In 1959, he participated in independence talks in London
. When the talks concluded, however, he was the only delegate who refused to sign the agreement on the grounds that there had been a secret defense pact between Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom
. Another point of contention was the Sierra Leonean government's position that there would be no elections held before independence, which would effectively shut him out of the political process. He was promptly expelled from the PNP upon his return from the talks. Stevens then launched the Elections Before Independence Movement (EBIM).
After successfully exploiting the disenchantment of northern and eastern ethnic groups with the SLPP, along with the creation of an alliance with the Sierra Leone Progressive Independence Movement
(SLPIM), the APC became the main opposition party following elections
held in 1962. Stevens was later elected mayor
of Freetown.
held on 17 May 1967, the APC won by an extremely narrow margin, and Stevens was appointed Prime Minister, but he was arrested in only an astonishing several minutes after taking office during a military coup.
After a brief period of military rule, Stevens reassumed the post of Prime Minister on 26 April 1968. In April 1971, a republican constitution was introduced. It was ratified by the House of Representatives on 20 April. A day later, Stevens became the country's first president, with wide executive and legislative powers.
under the new constitution were held. The polls were marred by violence and were boycotted by the SLPP, which gave the APC all 85 seats in the House of Representatives. In March 1976 Stevens was re-elected President unopposed by the House. Stevens's vice-president from 1971 until leaving office in 1985 was Sorie Ibrahim Koroma
.
Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, Stevens continued to consolidate his power, which culminated in a 1978 referendum
on a new constitution that would create a single-party state
. However, the country had been a de facto one-party state since Sierra Leone became a republic. On 12 June, 97.1% of voters were reported to have voted for the new one-party constitution, an implausibly high total that could have only been obtained by massive fraud. Observers agreed that the elections had been heavily manipulated by the government. Proving this, even areas where the SLPP was still dominant were reported as supporting the one-party state by landslide margins. Stevens billed the new one-party system as more "African" than Western-style democracy.
Following the election, all opposition members of the House of Representatives were required to join Stevens's APC or lose their seats. Two years after being re-elected for a five-year term, Stevens was sworn in for an additional term of seven years, having by then adopted the title of "Dr."
President Stevens served as Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) from 1 July 1980 to 24 June 1981, and engineered the creation of the Mano River Union
, a three country economic federation of Sierra Leone, Liberia
and Guinea
.
Stevens' regime was very repressive and corrupt, even by African standards of the time. Many of his opponents, some of which were once close associates, were imprisoned and killed. The Internal Security Unit, a gang of unemployed urban youths amply supplied with drugs, was deployed as Stevens' personal death squad.
Among his close associates sent to the gallows were John Amadu Bangura, who had once plucked Stevens from political oblivion when the army obliterated civilian politics after the 1967 Huha elections; at that time, Stevens had been down and out, living in exile in Conakry, Guinea, with his main remaining option, a planned assault on the sovereignty of Sierra Leone and her citizens. Bangura was to be the ring leader, but the plan never materialized because of a coup headed by Bangura. Bangura, in turn, handed over power to Siaka Stevens as prime minister (Kpana:2005).
Another prominent Sierre Leonean murdered during Siaka Steven's rule was Dr Mohamed Forna. He was hanged along with 14 other people in 1974 after trumped up charges of treason. Dr Forna was the popular finance minister when Steven's came to power. He had fallen out of favor after protesting about rampant corruption.
Stevens also grossly mismanaged the economy. He and his closest colleagues looted state resources, to the point that the state was unable to supply basic services. The education system was more or less nonexistent. The poverty was especially pronounced in rural areas, which were largely isolated from Freetown. Although he had retired by the time of the Sierra Leone Civil War
in 1991, the impact of his political, social, and economic policies directly contributed to that conflict.
was sworn in as the new President of the Republic.
He died on 29 May 1988 in Freetown.
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
from 1967–1971 and the 1st president of Sierra Leone
President of Sierra Leone
The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone is the head of state and the head of government of Sierra Leone, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces...
from 1971–1985. Stevens is generally criticised for dictatorial methods of government in which many of his political opponents
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
were executed, as well as for mismanaging the economy. On a positive note, he reduced the ethnic polarisation in the government of Sierra Leone by incorporating members of various ethnic groups into the government.
Stevens and his All People's Congress
All People's Congress
The All People's Congress is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other is the Sierra Leone People's Party . The party was founded in 1960 by Pa Mucktarru Kallay, Allieu Badarr Koroma,Alhaji Sheik Gibril Sesay C A Kamara-Taylor, S A T Koroma and Abu Bakarr S Bangura...
(APC) party won the closely contested 1967 Sierra Leone general elections over the incumbent Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Albert Margai
Albert Margai
Sir Albert Michael Margai was the second prime minister of Sierra Leone and the half-brother of Sir Milton Margai, the country's first Prime Minister...
of the Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with the All People's Congress .-Formation:...
(SLPP). In April 1971, Stevens made Sierra Leone a republic and he became the first President of Sierra Leone a day after the constitution had been ratified by Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
.
Stevens served as Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) from 1 July] 1980 to 24 June 1981, and engineered the creation of the Mano River Union
Mano River Union
The Mano River Union is an international association established in 1973 between Liberia and Sierra Leone. In 1980, Guinea joined the union. The goal of the Union was to foster economic cooperation among the countries...
, a three country economic federation of Sierra Leone, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
and Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
.
Stevens retired from office at the end of his term on 28 November 1985. After pressuring all other potential successors to step aside, he chose Major-General Joseph Saidu Momoh
Joseph Saidu Momoh
Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh was the President of Sierra Leone from November, 1985 to April 29, 1992.- Biography :...
, the commander of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces as his successor.
Early life
Siaka Probyn Stevens was born on August 24, 1905 in MoyambaMoyamba
Moyamba is the capital and largest city of Moyamba District, in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, with a population of 11,485 in the 2004 census. The city is about 48 miles southeast of the capital, Freetown. The population of the city is ethnically diverse although the Mende people make up...
, Moyamba District
Moyamba District
Moyamba District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone with a population of 260,910 in the 2004 census. Its capital and largest city is Moyamba. The other major towns include Njala, Rotifunk and Shenge...
in the Southern Province
Southern Province, Sierra Leone
The Southern Province is one of three provinces of Sierra Leone. It covers an area of 19,694 km² and has a population of 1,377,067 . It consists of four districts . Its capital and administrative center is Bo, which is also the second largest and second most populated city in Sierra Leone...
of Sierra Leone to a Limba
Limba people (Sierra Leone)
The Limba people is a major ethnic group in the Republic of Sierra Leone. They form the third largest ethnic group in the country, about 8.5% of Sierra Leone's total population ....
father and a Mende
Mende people
The Mende people are one of the two largest and most dominant ethnic group in Sierra Leone, along with the Temne. The Mende make up 30% of Sierra Leone's total population or 1,932,015 members...
mother. Although born in Moyamba, Stevens was largely raised in Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
. Stevens completed his primary education in Freetown and completed secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
at Albert Academy
Albert Academy
The Albert Academy is a secondary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was founded on 4 October 1904 and named after American missionary Rev. Ira E. Albert. The school's motto is Esse Quam Vederi . It is situated at Berry Street in Freetown...
in Freetown, before joining the Sierra Leone Police Force
Sierra Leone Police
The Sierra Leone Police locally known as Salone Police is the national police force of the Republic of Sierra Leone, responsible for law enforcement and crime investigation throughout Sierra Leone...
. From 1923 to 1930, Stevens rose to the rank of First Class Sergeant and Musketry Instructor.
From 1931 to 1946, he worked on the construction of the Sierra Leone Development Company (DELCO) railway, linking the Port of Pepel with the iron ore mines at Marampa. In 1943, he helped co-found the United Mine Workers Union and was appointed to the Protectorate Assembly in 1946 to represent worker interests. In 1947, Stevens studied labor relations
Labor relations
Industrial relations is a multidisciplinary field that studies the employment relationship. Industrial relations is increasingly being called employment relations because of the importance of non-industrial employment relationships. Many outsiders also equate industrial relations to labour relations...
at Ruskin College.
Political career
In 1951, Stevens co-founded the Sierra Leone People's PartySierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with the All People's Congress .-Formation:...
(SLPP) and was elected
Sierra Leonean legislative election, 1951
Elections to the Legislative Council were held in Sierra Leone under a new constitution in 1951, though only seven seats were up for direct election.-Results:...
to the Legislative Council. A year later, he became Sierra Leone's first Minister of Mines, Lands, and Labor. In 1957, he was elected
Sierra Leonean legislative election, 1957
Elections for the Legislative Council were held in Sierra Leone in May 1957. A total of 39 seats were up for election, whilst another 12 paramount chiefs were indirectly elected....
to the House of Representatives as a member for Port Loko constituency, but lost his seat as a result of an election petition.
After disagreements with the SLPP leadership, Stevens broke ties with the party and co-founded the People's National Party (PNP), of which he was the first secretary-general and deputy leader. In 1959, he participated in independence talks in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. When the talks concluded, however, he was the only delegate who refused to sign the agreement on the grounds that there had been a secret defense pact between Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Another point of contention was the Sierra Leonean government's position that there would be no elections held before independence, which would effectively shut him out of the political process. He was promptly expelled from the PNP upon his return from the talks. Stevens then launched the Elections Before Independence Movement (EBIM).
After successfully exploiting the disenchantment of northern and eastern ethnic groups with the SLPP, along with the creation of an alliance with the Sierra Leone Progressive Independence Movement
Sierra Leone Progressive Independence Movement
Sierra Leone Progressive Independence Movement was a political party in Sierra Leone, led by Paramount Chief from Kono, Tamba Sungu Mbriwa. The party was founded in 1958, through the merger of the Kono Progressive Movement and the Sierra Leone Independence Movement...
(SLPIM), the APC became the main opposition party following elections
Sierra Leonean general election, 1962
General elections were held in Sierra Leone in May 1962, just over a year after the country gained independence from the United Kingdom. The first to be held under universal suffrage, they were won by the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party, although his party received less votes than independent...
held in 1962. Stevens was later elected mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Freetown.
Interrupted Premiership
In electionsSierra Leonean general election, 1967
General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 17 March 1967. They were won by the opposition All People's Congress, marking the first time that a ruling party had lost an election in sub-Saharan Africa...
held on 17 May 1967, the APC won by an extremely narrow margin, and Stevens was appointed Prime Minister, but he was arrested in only an astonishing several minutes after taking office during a military coup.
After a brief period of military rule, Stevens reassumed the post of Prime Minister on 26 April 1968. In April 1971, a republican constitution was introduced. It was ratified by the House of Representatives on 20 April. A day later, Stevens became the country's first president, with wide executive and legislative powers.
The Stevens Presidency
In 1973, the first electionsSierra Leonean general election, 1973
General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 15 May 1973. The result was a victory for the All People's Congress, which won 84 of the 85 elected seats. However, the main opposition, the Sierra Leone People's Party boycotted the election due to violence and alleged irregularities, and most APC...
under the new constitution were held. The polls were marred by violence and were boycotted by the SLPP, which gave the APC all 85 seats in the House of Representatives. In March 1976 Stevens was re-elected President unopposed by the House. Stevens's vice-president from 1971 until leaving office in 1985 was Sorie Ibrahim Koroma
Sorie Ibrahim Koroma
Sorie Ibrahim Koroma commonly known as S.I. Koroma is a former Sierra Leonean politician, labor activist and one of the founding members of the All People's Congress , one of Sierra Leone's most dominant political party...
.
Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, Stevens continued to consolidate his power, which culminated in a 1978 referendum
Sierra Leonean constitutional referendum, 1978
A constitutional referendum was held in Sierra Leone on 12 July 1978. The changes were aimed at turning the country into a presidential single-party state, with the All People's Congress as the sole legal party. The new constitution had been adopted by parliament in May, and was put to public...
on a new constitution that would create a single-party state
Single-party state
A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election...
. However, the country had been a de facto one-party state since Sierra Leone became a republic. On 12 June, 97.1% of voters were reported to have voted for the new one-party constitution, an implausibly high total that could have only been obtained by massive fraud. Observers agreed that the elections had been heavily manipulated by the government. Proving this, even areas where the SLPP was still dominant were reported as supporting the one-party state by landslide margins. Stevens billed the new one-party system as more "African" than Western-style democracy.
Following the election, all opposition members of the House of Representatives were required to join Stevens's APC or lose their seats. Two years after being re-elected for a five-year term, Stevens was sworn in for an additional term of seven years, having by then adopted the title of "Dr."
President Stevens served as Chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) from 1 July 1980 to 24 June 1981, and engineered the creation of the Mano River Union
Mano River Union
The Mano River Union is an international association established in 1973 between Liberia and Sierra Leone. In 1980, Guinea joined the union. The goal of the Union was to foster economic cooperation among the countries...
, a three country economic federation of Sierra Leone, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
and Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
.
Stevens' regime was very repressive and corrupt, even by African standards of the time. Many of his opponents, some of which were once close associates, were imprisoned and killed. The Internal Security Unit, a gang of unemployed urban youths amply supplied with drugs, was deployed as Stevens' personal death squad.
Among his close associates sent to the gallows were John Amadu Bangura, who had once plucked Stevens from political oblivion when the army obliterated civilian politics after the 1967 Huha elections; at that time, Stevens had been down and out, living in exile in Conakry, Guinea, with his main remaining option, a planned assault on the sovereignty of Sierra Leone and her citizens. Bangura was to be the ring leader, but the plan never materialized because of a coup headed by Bangura. Bangura, in turn, handed over power to Siaka Stevens as prime minister (Kpana:2005).
Another prominent Sierre Leonean murdered during Siaka Steven's rule was Dr Mohamed Forna. He was hanged along with 14 other people in 1974 after trumped up charges of treason. Dr Forna was the popular finance minister when Steven's came to power. He had fallen out of favor after protesting about rampant corruption.
Stevens also grossly mismanaged the economy. He and his closest colleagues looted state resources, to the point that the state was unable to supply basic services. The education system was more or less nonexistent. The poverty was especially pronounced in rural areas, which were largely isolated from Freetown. Although he had retired by the time of the Sierra Leone Civil War
Sierra Leone Civil War
The Sierra Leone Civil War began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front , with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia , intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government...
in 1991, the impact of his political, social, and economic policies directly contributed to that conflict.
Retirement
Stevens retired from office at the end of his term on 28 November 1985. After pressuring all other potential successors to step aside, Major-General Joseph Saidu MomohJoseph Saidu Momoh
Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh was the President of Sierra Leone from November, 1985 to April 29, 1992.- Biography :...
was sworn in as the new President of the Republic.
He died on 29 May 1988 in Freetown.