Government of Sierra Leone

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The government of Sierra Leone is the governing authority of the Republic of Sierra Leone, as established by the Sierra Leone Constitution. The Sierra Leone government is divided into three branches: the executive, legislative and the judiciary. The seat of government of Sierra Leone is in the capital Freetown.

Contents

The government of Sierra Leone takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sierra Leone is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Sierra Leone.

The judiciary of Sierra Leone is independent of the executive and the legislature. Civil rights and freedom of religion are respected. A critical press continues to operate, although the government has intervened for alleged inaccurate reporting, using the 1965 Public Order Act which criminalizes libel.

Executive

Main office-holders
OfficeNamePartySince
President Julius Maada Bio SLPP 4 April 2018
Vice-President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh SLPP 4 April 2018

The current president is Julius Maada Bio (since 4 April 2018). The president is both the head of state and head of government. Ministers of State are appointed by the president with the approval of the House of Representatives; the cabinet is responsible to the president. The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term; elections were last held on 4 April 2018 (Julius Maada Bio, SLPP, 51.8%; Samura Kamara, APC, 47.2%). The president's tenure of office is limited to two five-year terms.

Departments

Legislative

The House of Representatives has 124 members, 112 members elected for a four-year term through proportional representation in 14 multi-seat constituencies with a constituency threshold of 12.5% and 12 Paramount chiefs.

Judiciary

There is a High Court, an Appeals Court, and a Supreme Court. The judicial system continues to function for civil cases though some regard it as handicapped by shortages of resources and qualified personnel. Judges are appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission with the approval of Parliament.

There also are magistrate and local courts and from these appeals lie to the superior courts of judicature.

The 1991 constitution created an ombudsman responsible for looking into complaints of abuses and capricious acts on the part of public officials. In 2000 the government promulgated the Anti-Corruption Act to combat corruption.

Administrative divisions

Sierra Leone is divided into provinces, districts, and chiefdoms. Sierra Leone has 3 rural provinces, plus a capital city administrative province. There are then 14 districts - 12 rural, 2 for the capital Freetown.

Sierra Leone is further divided into 149 chiefdoms. [1] The chiefdoms are hereditary, tribal units of local governance. [1] The World Bank sponsored the creation of elected local councils in 2004. [1]

Political parties and elections

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sierra Leone</span> Country on the southwest coast of West Africa

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It shares its southeastern border with Liberia, and the northern half of the nation is surrounded by Guinea. Covering a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi), Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with diverse environments ranging from savanna to rainforests. The country has a population of 7,092,113 as of the 2015 census. Freetown is the capital and largest city. The country is divided into five administrative regions, which are subdivided into 16 districts.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Sierra Leone</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freetown</span> Capital, chief port, and the largest city of Sierra Leone

Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and political centre, as it is the seat of the Government of Sierra Leone. The population of Freetown was 1,055,964 at the 2015 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sierra Leone People's Party</span> Political party in Sierra Leone

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 April 4, 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, since 2012 it identifies as a social democratic party, with a centrist tendency. Now it is a centrist party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of Sierra Leone</span> Head of state and head of government of Sierra Leone

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Valentine Esegragbo Melvine Strasser is an ex-military leader who served as head of state of Sierra Leone from 1992 to 1996. Previously a junior military officer he became the world's youngest Head of State in 1992, seizing power three days after his 25th birthday. He was the leading member in a group of six young Sierra Leonean soldiers who overthrew president Joseph Saidu Momoh in the 1992 Sierra Leonean coup d'état. They established a military junta called the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Maada Bio</span> 5th and current President of the Republic of Sierra Leone

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 general 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). As the candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), Bio defeated Samura Kamara of the ruling All People's Congress (APC) in the runoff vote of the 2018 Sierra Leone presidential election with 51.8% of the votes to Kamara's 48.2%. International and local observers declared the election free and fair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonthe District</span> Place in Southern Province, Sierra Leone

Bonthe District is a district that comprises several islands and mainland of the Atlantic Ocean in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Bonthe is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Its capital is the town of Bonthe Island and its largest city is Bonthe, on Sherbro Island. As of the 2015 census, the district had a population of 200,730. Bonthe District is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Bonthe District is subdivided into eleven chiefdoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Bai Koroma</span> 4th President of Sierra Leone

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ella Koblo Gulama</span> Sierra Leone politician

Paramount Chief Ella Koblo Gulama OBE, GCOR was a Sierra Leonean paramount chief and politician. In 1957, she became the first elected female Member of Parliament in Sierra Leone. She was re-elected in 1962. During the government of Milton Margai, Gulama became Sierra Leone and sub-Saharan Africa's first female Cabinet Minister.

The Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission (ACC-SL) commonly known as ACC is an independent agency of the Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Government, that investigates and prosecutes corruption cases in Sierra Leone. The ACC is supervised by the Sierra Leone Ministry of Justice. The current Head of the ACC is Francis Ben Kaifala, who has been in office since June 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samura Kamara</span> Sierra Leonean politician and economist

Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara is a Sierra Leonean politician and economist. He was the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party's candidate for President of Sierra Leone in the 2018 election. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone from 2012 to 2017, Minister of Finance and Economic Development from 2009 to 2013, Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2009, Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance during President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subdivisions of Sierra Leone</span>

The subdivisions of Sierra Leone are as follows:

Sylvia Olayinka Walmina Oreshola Blyden is a Sierra Leonean journalist, political commentator, newspaper publisher, and former Sierra Leone minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs under erstwhile President Ernest Bai-Koroma from 2016 to 2017. She served as Special Executive Assistant to Sierra Leone's former president Ernest Bai Koroma from 2013 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Usman Boie Kamara</span>

Alhaji Usman Boie Kamara is a Sierra Leonean politician, businessman and mining engineer who has been Minister of Trade and Industry of Sierra Leone since 2013. He previously worked as director of the Sierra Leone National Diamond Mining Company (NDMC).

Alhaji Alpha Osman Timbo is a Sierra Leonean politician, educationist, lecturer and trade unionist. He was Sierra Leone Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations from 2001-2002 under president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of Sierra Leone</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falaba District</span> Place in Northern Province, Sierra Leone

Falaba District is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. It is one of the sixteen Districts of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest town is Bendugu. Other towns in Falaba District include Falaba, Sikunia, Krubola, Musaia Ganya and Mansadu Falaba District is divided into thirteen chiefdoms. Falaba District is one of the largest Districts in Sierra Leone in land area, However, it is one of the least most populous districts in the country. Falaba District is known for its mostly conservative Muslim population. Falaba District has a population of 205,353, based on 2018 estimate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Konteh</span> APC Sierra Leone Presidential Candidate Aspirant for 2023

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Tristan Reed and James A. Robinson, The Chiefdoms of Sierra Leone, Scholar, Harvard University, 15 July 2013, Document available online, accessed 30 April 2014

Elections