European contacts with Sierra Leone were among the first in West Africa, and Sierra Leone was one of the first West African British colonies. Following a visit in 1462, the Portuguese explorer, Pedro de Sintra, gave the territory its name, Sierra Leone or "lion mountain," unknowingly following the local name for the Freetown area, "place of the mountain." The first Englishman to arrive, John Hawkins, came in search of slaves in 1562. Sir Francis Drake, the fabled adventurer, arrived in 1580.
Foreign settlement did not occur for another two centuries, when the British laid plans for a refuge within the British Empire for freed slates. In 1787, the site of Freetown received the first 400 freedmen from Great Britain. Disease and hostility from the indigenous people almost eliminated this first group. Five years later, however, another band of settlers, 1,000 freed slaves who had fled from the United States to Nova Scotia during the American Revolution, arrived under the auspices of the newly formed British Sierra Leone Company, which exercised administrative control over the successful settlement. In 1800, about 550 blacks arrived from Jamaica via Nova Scotia; these were the Maroons, escaped slaves who maintained their independence in the mountains of Jamaica. The financial burdens of administration became too pressing by 1808 for the company, and the coastal area was annexed as a British crown colony.
Thousands of slaves were liberated at Freetown the following year; most chose to remain in Sierra Leone. These returned Africans, or Creoles as they came to be called, were from all parts of Africa. Cut off from their homes and traditions by the experience of slavery, they assimilated the English style of living and built a flourishing trade on the West African coast.
In the early 19th century, Freetown served as the residence of the British governor, who also ruled the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and The Gambia settlements. Sierra Leone served as the educational center of British West Africa as well. Fourah Bay College, established in 1827, rapidly became a magnet for English-speaking Africans on the west coast. For more than a century it was the only European-style university in black Africa.
The colonial history of Sierra Leone was not entirely placid; the indigenous peoples mounted several unsuccessful revolts against British rule and Creole domination in the territory. Perhaps the most intensive and best known is the Hut Tax War of 1898, which resulted from colonial efforts to bring the general population into a system of taxation.
Most of the 20th century history of the colony was peaceful, however, and the journey to independence was completed without violence. The 1951 constitution provided the framework for decolonization. Local ministerial responsibility was introduced in 1953 when Sir Milton Margai was appointed chief minister. He became prime minister after the successful completion of constitutional talks in London in 1960. Independence came in April 1961, and Sierra Leone became a parliamentary system within the British Commonwealth. In April 1971, it adopted a republican constitution, cutting the link to the British monarchy but remaining within the Commonwealth. A national referendum held in June 1978 overwhelmingly approved a one-party republican constitution.
Current Political Conditions
Under the 1978 constitution, Sierra Leone is a republic with an executive form of government. The president and the Cabinet exercise executive authority. The leader of the sole recognized constitutionally permitted party (since 1978), chosen by a national delegates conference, becomes the only candidate for election as president and assumes the office for a 7-year term if he receives a majority of valid votes cast in a national election.
First and second vice presidents are appointed by the president, along with the Cabinet ministers, from among the members of the national legislature. Legislative responsibility is vested in a unicameral House of Representatives (formerly called the Parliament). This consists of 104 seats: 85 popularly elected members, 12 paramount chiefs elected by traditional councils from their respective districts, and 7 members appointed by the president.
A newly proposed amendment, if accepted by the House of Representatives, will increase the total number of seats within the House of Representatives to 127. The number of elected members would increase to 105 and the number of presidential appointed members to 10. The House is elected to a 5-year term, but elections may be called earlier, reflecting the parliamentary tradition.
The judicial system comprises a Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and High Court of Justice, with judges appointed by the president, and magistrates' courts. Local courts administer traditional law, with lay judges and procedures that do not require legal counsel.
The basic unit of local government generally is a paramount chief and a council of elders. A separate, partially elected council and a mayor govern Freetown. The three provinces each have a governing minister, with Cabinet rank.
Sir Milton Margai's Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) led the country to independence and the first general elections under a universal adult franchise in May 1962, with Sir Milton as prime minister. Upon his death in 1964, his half-brother, Sir Albert Margai, succeeded him in office. Sir Albert attempted to establish a one-party political system but met fierce resistance by the opposition All People's Congress (APC), and he ultimately abandoned his effort.
In the closely contested second round of elections, on March 17, 1967, the APC won a plurality of the parliamentary seats. Accordingly, the governor general (representing the British monarch) declared Siaka Stevens, APC leader and mayor of Freetown, as the new prime minister. Within a few hours Steven and Margai were placed under house arrest by Brig. David Lansana, the commander of the Royal Sierra Leone Military Forces, on the grounds that the determination of office should await the election of the tribal representatives to the House. A group of senior army officers overrode this action by seizing control of the government on March 23, arresting Brig. Lansana and suspending the constitution. The group constituted itself as the National Reformation Council (NRC), with Brig. A.T. Juxon-Smith as its chairman. The NRC, in turn, was overthrown in April 1968 by a "sergeants' revolt," the Anti-Corruption Revolutionary Movement. NRC members were imprisoned, and other army and police officers deposed. Stevens at last assumed the office of prime minister under the restored constitution.
The return to civilian rule led to by-elections beginning in the fall of 1968 and the appointment of an all-APC Cabinet. Tranquility was not completely restored; in 1970, a state of emergency was declared after provincial disturbances, and in March 1971 and July 1974, alleged military coups plots were uncovered by the government. The leaders of these plots were tried and executed. In 1977 student demonstrations against the government disrupted Sierra Leonean politics.
Following the adoption of a republican constitution in April 1971, Siaka Stevens was appointed president of the republic by the House; he was inaugurated for a second 5-year term in April 1976. In the national elections that followed in May 1977, the APC won 74 seats and the opposing SLPP 15. The next year, Stevens' government won approval for the idea of one-party government, which the APC had once rejected. Following enactment of the 1978 constitution, which made official a one-party state, the SLPP members of Parliament joined the APC.
The first elections under the new one-party constitution took place May 1, 1982. Elections in about two-thirds of the constituencies were contested. Irregularities forced the government to cancel elections in 13 constituencies. By-elections took place on June 4, 1982. The new Cabinet appointed after the election was balanced ethnically between Temnes and Mendes. It included as the new finance minister Salia Jusu-Sheriff, the former leader of the SLPP. His accession to the Cabinet was viewed by many as a step toward making the APC a true national party.
Siaka P. Stevens, who had been head of state of Sierra Leone for 18 years, retired from that position in November 1985, although he continues his role as Chairman of the ruling APC Party. In August 1985, the APC named as party candidate to succeed Stevens, Stevens' own choice, Sierra Leonean military force commander Joseph Saidu Momoh. Momoh was elected president in a single-party referendum on October 1, 1985, and officially assumed the position on November 28, 1985. A formal inauguration was held in January 1986. New parliamentary elections were held in May 1986, thus completing the transition process begun in 1985.
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, July 1986.