Sierra Leone first became inhabited by indigenous African peoples at least 2,500 years ago. The Limba were the first tribe known to inhabit Sierra Leone. The dense tropical rainforest partially isolated the region from other West African cultures, and it became a refuge for peoples escaping violence and jihads. Sierra Leone was named by Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra, who mapped the region in 1462. The Freetown estuary provided a good natural harbour for ships to shelter and replenish drinking water, and gained more international attention as coastal and trans-Atlantic trade supplanted trans-Saharan trade.
Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was a Sierra Leonean politician who served twice as the 3rd President of Sierra Leone, from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by profession, Kabbah spent many years working for the United Nations Development Programme. He retired from the United Nations and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992.
The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with its main political rival the All People's Congress (APC). It has been the ruling party in Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. The SLPP dominated Sierra Leone's politics from its foundation in 1951 to 1967, when it lost the 1967 parliamentary election to the APC, led by Siaka Stevens. Originally a centre-right, conservative party, it identifies since 2012 as a centre-left social democratic party, with a centrist tendency.
Siaka Probyn Stevens was the leader of Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1985, serving as Prime Minister from 1967 to 1971 and as President from 1971 to 1985. Stevens' leadership was often characterized by patrimonial rule and self-indulgence, consolidating power by means of corruption and exploitation.
The All People's Congress (APC) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other being its main political rival the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). The APC has been the main opposition party in Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018 when Julius Maada Bio of the SLPP won the 2018 presidential elections, though it maintains a majority in parliament.
Julius Maada Wonie Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the current president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military head of state of Sierra Leone from 16 January 1996 to 29 March 1996, in a military junta government known as the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC).
Charles Francis Kondo Margai is a Sierra Leonean politician and constitutional lawyer who served as Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Sierra Leone in 2018.
Solomon Ekuma Dominic Berewa was Vice-president of Sierra Leone from May 2002 to September 2007. Standing as the candidate of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), he was defeated in the second round of the 2007 presidential election by Ernest Bai Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC).
Ernest Bai Koroma is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018.
Abass Chernor Bundu is a Sierra Leonean politician, diplomat, and the current Speaker of the Sierra Leone House of Parliament, in office since April 25, 2018. Bundu was elected speaker by receiving 70 votes in Parliament. The main opposition the All People's Congress, which won the most seats in Parliament, boycotted the election process in protest and did not nominate a candidate for speaker. Bundu is a veteran politician, and a very close ally and personal friend of Sierra Leone's president Julius Maada Bio.
Andrew Victor Lungay is a Sierra Leonean politician from the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). He is a member of parliament of Sierra Leone from Kenema District since 2002.
Kailahun District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is the town of Kailahun. The second most populous city in the district is Segbwema. Other major towns in Kailahun District include Koindu, Pendembu and Daru. As of the 2015 census, the district had a population of 525,372. Kailahun District is subdivided into fourteen chiefdoms.
General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 11 August 2007. Seven candidates competed in the first round of the presidential election; no candidate received the necessary 55% of the vote to win in the first round, and a second round was held between the top two candidates, Ernest Bai Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) and Solomon Berewa of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), on 8 September. According to official results, Koroma won the election with 54.6% of the vote.
General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 26 and 27 February 1996 to elect the President and members of Parliament, with a second round of the presidential election on 15 March. They were the first elections since multi-party democracy had been reintroduced following a referendum on a new constitution in 1991, and the first multi-party elections held in the country since 1977.
Haja Afsatu Olayinka Ebishola Savage Kabba is a Sierra Leonean Oku politician and former Sierra Leone minister of Energy and Power. She served as a member of Parliament of Sierra Leone from the Western Area Urban District from 2002 to 2007.
Bernadette Lahai, CRSL is a Sierra Leonean politician and the current Minority Leader of Parliament of Sierra Leone. She is the leader of the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) in the Sierra Leone House of Parliament. She currently represent Constituency 13 from Kenema District in the Sierra Leone House of Parliament.
General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 17 November 2012. The result was a sweeping victory for the ruling All People's Congress. Its leader, incumbent president Ernest Bai Koroma, won 58.7% of the vote, enough to win a second term without the need for a runoff. The APC also won 67 of the 112 elected seats in Parliament. To date, it is the APC's best showing at an election since the restoration of multiparty politics in 1991.
In April 1961, Sierra Leone became politically independent of Great Britain. It retained a parliamentary system of government and was a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), led by Sir Milton Margai were victorious in the first general election under universal adult franchise in May 1962. Upon Sir Milton's death in 1964, his half-brother, Sir Albert Margai, succeeded him as Prime Minister. Sir Albert attempted to establish a one-party state had the ready cooperation of the opposition All People' Congress but met fierce resistance from some cadre within his party Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) and ultimately abandoned the idea.
General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 7 March 2018 to elect the President, Parliament and local councils. Incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma did not run for another term, as he was constitutionally ineligible, having served the maximum ten years in office.
General elections were held in Sierra Leone on 24 June 2023 to elect the president and members of Parliament. Incumbent president Julius Maada Bio was re-elected with 56% of the vote and the Sierra Leone People's Party won 81 seats in Parliament compared to the main opposition party, the All People's Congress, which won 54 seats. The result was contested by the All People's Congress, which demanded a rerun, citing "glaring irregularities". European election observers stated that there were "statistical inconsistencies" in the presidential results published, with the European Union Election Observation Mission saying that the electoral commission should "publish disaggregated results data per polling station to allow for public scrutiny of the results." Unless that happened, it said that transparency was compromised. The Carter Center echoed these sentiments, as did the United States, Britain, Ireland, Germany, France and the European Union.
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