Simple directory > Regional > Sierra Leone

Country : Sierra Leone Official name: Republic of Sierra Leone Head of State: President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (SLPP) (elected 1996; re-elected 14 May 2002) Head of government: President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Ruling party: Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) (elected 14 May 2002) Area: 72,325 square km Population: 4.85 million (2004) Capital: Freetown Official language: English Currency: Leone (Le) = 100 cents Exchange rate: Le2,455.00 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$169 (2003) GDP real growth: 6.50% (2003) Labour force: 1.37 million (2003) Inflation: 7.40% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$155.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$1.50 billion (2003)

Historical profile

1787 The state was founded by the British as a homeland for freed slaves.

1808 Freetown became a British colony. Over the following 60 years around 70,000 ex-slaves arrived in the country, mainly in the Freetown area. The colonial authorities appointed non-indigenous Africans to the civil service and senior administrative positions, thus laying the foundation for future civil strife.

1954 Sierra Leone was allowed some degree of self-rule through a new local administration. Sir Milton Margai of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) was appointed the head of the newly-established administration.

1961 Sierra Leone gained independence from Britain in April, but remained part of the Commonwealth. Sir Milton Margai became the country's first prime minister.

1964 Following Sir Milton's death, his half-brother, Sir Albert Margai, was appointed as prime minister.

1967 After the All Peoples Congress (APC) won the parliamentary election and its leader, Siaka Stevens, was appointed as prime minister, Sierra Leonean military officers staged a coup.

1968 After an army revolt, Stevens and the APC returned to government.

1971 Sierra Leone became a republic. Stevens was appointed as the country's first president.

1978 A new constitution was introduced, which established one-party rule in the country.

1985 The APC appointed Major General Joseph Momoh as president.

1991 Fighting from the civil war in neighbouring Liberia spilled across into Sierra Leone. Taking advantage of this, rebel groups opposed to the government of Major General Joseph Momoh – principally the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) led by Foday Sankoh – launched a series of attacks, which took much of the eastern part of the country.

1992 A coup brought Captain Valentine Strasser to power. He presided over a military government, the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC), which suspended the constitution and ruled by decree.

1996 Strasser was deposed by his colleague Brigadier Julius Bio. Multi-party elections ended four years of military rule. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP became president.

1997 Major Johnny-Paul Koroma led a coup and ousted President Kabbah, who went into exile in Guinea. The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (ARFC) was installed in government, backed by the RUF. The international community condemned the coup and imposed economic sanctions. The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) dispatched a peace-keeping force, the Ecowas Monitoring Group (Ecomog), to Sierra Leone in order to reinstate the government of President Kabbah. A peace accord was reached in October in which Koroma pledged to step down in 1998.

1998 Ecomog launched a military offensive against the AFRC after Koroma showed no sign of implementing the 1997 agreement. Ecomog ejected the AFRC from Freetown and President Kabbah returned to Sierra Leone. The RUF remained in control of large areas outside the capital.

1999 The government and the RUF signed a peace agreement, allowing for the deployment of UN peace-keeping forces. A Cabinet of National Unity was sworn in by President Kabbah.

2000 British forces were deployed in Sierra Leone to provide emergency logistical and tactical support for the mainly third-world UN force. Foday Sankoh was arrested after peace with the RUF broke down.

2001 Legislative and presidential elections were postponed because of the unstable security situation in the country.

2002 The state of emergency was lifted. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (SLPP) was re-elected. The SLPP won the parliamentary elections.

2003 According to a survey of food production by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), food production had recovered as many people who had moved away during the 10-year civil war returned and resumed planting their fields.

2004 By February, the disarmament and rehabilitation of more than 70,000 civil war combatants had been officially completed.

The first local elections in more than three decades were held in May. War crimes trials of senior militia leaders from both sides of the civil war began in June.

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