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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1894 |
| Headquarters | State Avenue, Tower Hill, Freetown, Sierra Leone |
| Agency executive |
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Sierra Leone Ministry of Defence and National Security is a Sierra Leonean government department in charge of implementing and supervising the Sierra Leone Armed Forces and the territorial security of Sierra Leone's international border and defending the national interests of Sierra Leone.
The Ministry of Defence and National Security building is located in State Avenue at Tower Hill in central Freetown, a few distance from the State House.
Mission Statement The mission of the Ministry is to formulate, implement, monitor and evaluate strategic defence policy for the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) that is effective and fostered within a framework of democratic governance.
To formulate and implement strategic defence policy; To develop and maintain a re-structured and robust RSLAF that is well trained, well disciplined and well cared for; To equip and provide logistics support to the RSLAF; To transform the RSLAF into an organization that is accountable, incorruptible and subject to democratic control; To continually evolve and improve the RSLAF; To deliver the endorsed Defence Missions and Military Tasks.
The department is headed by the Minister of Defence and National Security, who must be a civilian, and is appointed by the President of Sierra Leone and must be confirmed by the Parliament of Sierra Leone in order to take office.
The current Minister of Defence and National Security is a retired Brig Gen Kellie Hassan Conteh, who was appointed by President Julius Maada Bio in October 2020. The Sierra Leone Minister of Defence is one of the most important, government agencies in the country and the position is usually held by a retired Sierra Leonean military officer.
Like all government ministries in the country, the Minister of Defence can be dismissed by the president of Sierra Leone at any time. During the Sierra Leone civil war, Sierra Leone's president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah appointed himself Minister of Defence and National Security, which is legal.
| Portrait | Minister of Defence | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (1932–2014) | 2 November 1999 | September 2007 | 7 years, 358 days | [1] [2] | |
| Major (Rtd.) Alfred Paolo Conteh | 26 October 2007 | 5 May 2018 | 10 years, 191 days | ||
| Colonel (Rtd.) Simeon Nasiru Sheriff (born 1959) Acting | 5 May 2018 | 20 November 2019 | 1 year, 199 days | [3] | |
| Brigadier general (Rtd.) Kellie Hassan Conteh GCOR | 20 November 2019 | Incumbent | 4 years, 186 days | [4] |
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 is bordered by Guinea to the north. With a land area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi), Sierra Leone has a tropical climate and with a variety of environments ranging from savannas to rainforests. According to the 2015 census, Sierra Leone has a population of 7,092,113, with Freetown serving as both the capital and largest city. The country is divided into five administrative regions, which are further 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.
The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces are the armed forces of Sierra Leone, responsible for the territorial security of Sierra Leone's borders and defending the national interests of Sierra Leone, within the framework of the 1991 Sierra Leone Constitution and International laws. The armed forces were formed after independence in 1961, on the basis of elements of the former British Royal West African Frontier Force, then present in the Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate.
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 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.
Julius Maada Wonie Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician who has served as 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).
The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002), or the Sierra Leonean Civil War, was a civil war in Sierra Leone that began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), with support from the special forces of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government. The resulting civil war lasted almost 11 years, and had over 50,000, up to 70,000, casualties in total; an estimated 2.5 million people were displaced during the conflict.
Samuel Hinga Norman was a Sierra Leonean politician from the Mende tribe. He was the founder and leader of the Civil Defence Forces, commonly known as the Kamajors. The Kamajors supported the government of Ahmed Tejan Kabbah against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which was led by Foday Sankoh. On 7 March 2003 Hinga Norman was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He died on 22 February 2007 in Dakar, Senegal while undergoing medical treatment.
The Lomé Peace Agreement was a peace agreement signed on 7 July 1999 between the warring parties in the civil war that gripped Sierra Leone for almost a decade. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah signed with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader, Foday Sankoh and granted Sankoh a position in the transitional government as well as amnesty for him and all combatants. The accord is named for Lomé, the capital of Togo, where the negotiations took place and the agreement was signed.
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.
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.
Patricia Kabbah was a Sierra Leonean lawyer who served as First Lady of Sierra Leone from 1996 to 1998. She was the first wife of Sierra Leone's third president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential first ladies in the history of Sierra Leone.
The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces. He is responsible for the administration and the operational control of the Sierra Leonean military. It is the highest rank military position in the country.
Haja Zainab Hawa Bangura is a Sierra Leonean politician and social activist who has been serving as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) since 2018, appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. She served as the second United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict with the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations from 2012 to 2017, in succession to the first holder of the post, Margot Wallström. In 2017 she was succeeded by Pramila Patten.
Joseph C. Blell is a politician from the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party. He served as Sierra Leone's High Commissioner to Nigeria from 1993 to 2002. He was also Sierra Leone's Deputy Minister of Defense from 2002 until 2007. He is a Sierra Leonean.
Major General Alfred Claude Nelson-Williams, GCOR is a retired Major General in the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF). Nelson-Williams previously served as Chief of Defense Staff for Sierra Leone from 2008 to 2010.
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.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1436, adopted unanimously on 24 September 2002, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Sierra Leone, the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) for a further six months beginning on 30 September 2002.
The United Kingdom began a military intervention in Sierra Leone on 7 May 2000 under the codename Operation Palliser. Although small numbers of British personnel had been deployed previously, Palliser was the first large-scale intervention by British forces in the Sierra Leone Civil War. In early May 2000, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)—one of the main parties to the civil war—advanced on the country's capital, Freetown, prompting the British government to dispatch an "Operational Reconnaissance and Liaison Team" (ORLT) to prepare to evacuate foreign citizens. On 6 May, the RUF blocked the road connecting Freetown to the country's main airport, Lungi. The next day, British soldiers began to secure the airport and other areas essential to an evacuation. The majority of those who wished to leave were evacuated within the first two days of the operation, but many chose to stay following the arrival of British forces.
The Constitution of Sierra Leone is the supreme law governing Sierra Leone and delineates its frame of government. It entered into force on October 1, 1991, following a popular referendum and approval by President Joseph Momoh. It superseded the 1978 Constitution.
 Security forces of Sierra Leone | |
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