List of heads of government of Sierra Leone
This is a list of heads of government of Sierra Leone, from the establishment of the office of Chief Minister in 1954 until the present day. The office of Prime Minister was abolished after the constitutional referendum in 1978, and reinstated in 2018 with the appointment of David J. Francis as Chief Minister.
National Council of Sierra Leone
The National Council of Sierra Leone was the main opposition party in Sierra Leone in the early 1950s.
The organisation was founded by former members of the Sierra Leonean branch of the National Congress of British West Africa around Herbert Bankole-Bright and Isaac Wallace-Johnson in 1950. It gained much of its support from the Creole people and some Oku people of the Freetown colony.
Initially, some proposed that the group be named the "Ogboni Society", but it instead took the name National Council of the Colony of Sierra Leone, later shortened to "National Council of Sierra Leone".
The National Council stood in opposition to the Stevenson Constitution of 1947, instead calling for a federal state, with the colony and the protectorate having separate assemblies.
In the 1951 elections, it initially appeared that the National Council had won more seats than the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). However, all the independent members from the protectorate later declared for the SLPP, placing the National Council a distant second. It became the main opposition. When the SLPP failed to act on the constitution issue, the Council attempted to block all government business.
The group also organised protests over the constitution. The Positive Action Group faction led by Otto During attempted to instigated legal action against the Governor of Sierra Leone, claiming that the imposition of the constitution was itself unconstitutional.
In 1954, Wallace-Johnson split away to found the United Sierra Leone Progressive Party. The National Council lost all of its seats at the 1957 election, slumping to only 1.8% of the votes cast. The main opposition became Wallace-Johnson's group. Bankole-Bright died the following year, and the party appears to have collapsed.
Chief Commissioners
- 1946 - 1947 James Stevenson Fenton (b. 1891 - d. 1975)
- 1947 - 1949 Logie Weir Wilson (b. 1894 - d. 1961)
- 1949 - 1959 Hubert Childs
Chief Minister of Sierra Leone Protectorate
| № | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
| 1 |  |
Sir Milton Margai (1895–1964) |
9 July 1954 | 14 August 1958 | 4 years, 36 days | Sierra Leone People's Party |
Prime Minister of Sierra Leone Protectorate
| № | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
| 1 | |
Sir Milton Margai (1895–1964) |
14 August 1958 | 27 April 1961 | 2 years, 256 days | Sierra Leone People's Party |
Prime Minister of Sierra Leone
| Prime Minister | Term of Office | Political Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| № | Name(Born–Died) | Portrait | Took Office | Left Office | |
| Sierra Leone (1961–1971) | |||||
| 1 | Sir Milton Margai(1895–1964) | |
27 April 1961 | 28 April 1964
(Died in Office) |
Sierra Leone People's Party |
| 2 | Maurice Henry Dorman
(1912–1993) |
28 April 1964 | 28 April 1964 | Independent | |
| 3 | Sir Albert Margai(1910–1980) | |
28 April 1964 | 21 March 1967 | Sierra Leone People's Party |
| 4 | Henry Josiah Lightfoot Boston
(1898–1969) |
21 March 1967 | 21 March 1967 | Independent | |
| 5 | Banja Tejan-Sie
(1917–2000) |
21 March 1967 | 21 March 1967 | Independent | |
| 6 | Siaka Stevens(1905–1988) | 21 March 1967 (minutes)(Deposed) | All People's Congress | ||
| Military rule (1967–1968 | |||||
| 7 | Brigadier David Lansana(1922–1975) | .jpg) |
21 March 1967 | 25 March 1967 | Military |
| 8 | Ambrose Patrick Genda
(1927–2001) |
25 March 1967 | 25 March 1967 | National Reformation Council | |
| 9 | Commissioner Leslie William Leigh(1921–1980) | 25 March 1967 | 28 March 1968 | National Reformation Council | |
| 10 | Brigadier Andrew Juxon-Smith(1931–1996) | 28 March 1968 | 18 April 1968 | National Reformation Council | |
| 11 | Warrant Officer 1st Class Patrick Conteh
(19?–?) |
18 April 1968 | 18 April 1968 | National Reformation Council | |
| 12 | Brigadier John Amadu Bangura(1930–1970) | 18 April 1968 | 22 April 1968 | National Reformation Council | |
| Sierra Leone (1968–1971) | |||||
| 13 | Siaka Stevens(1905–1988) | 22 April 1968 | 17 April 1971 | All People's Congress | |
| 14 | Sorie Ibrahim Koroma(1930–1994) | |
17 April 1971 | 17 April 1971 | All People's Congress |
| 15 | Christian Alusine Kamara-Taylor(1917–1985) | |
17 April 1971 | 19 April 1971 | All People's Congress |
| First Republic (1971–1992) | |||||
| 16 | Christopher Okoro Cole
(1921–1990) |
19 April 1971 | 21 April 1971 | Independent | |
| 17 | Siaka Stevens
(1905–1988) |
21 April 1971 | 28 November 1985 | All People's Congress | |
| 18 | Joseph Saidu Momoh(1937–2003) | 28 November 1985 | 29 April 1992
(deposed) |
All People's Congress | |
| Chairmen of the National Provisional Defense Council | |||||
| 19 | John Benjamini ( 1952 —) | 29 April 1992 | 29 April 1992 | ||
| 20 | Captain Yahya Kanu
(d. 1992) |
29 April 1992 | 1 May 1992 | Military | |
| 21 | Akim A. Gibril (b. 1946) | 1 May 1992 | 1 May 1992 | Military | |
| Chairmen of the Supreme Council of State | |||||
| 22 | Captain Valentine Strasser(b. 1967) | 1 May 1992 | 17 January 1996 | Military | |
| 23 | Brigadier Julius Maada Bio(b. 1964) | 17 January 1996 | 29 March 1996 | Military | |
| Second Republic (1996–1997) | |||||
| 24 | Ahmad Tejan Kabbah(1932–2014) |  |
29 March 1996 | 25 May 1997 | Sierra Leone People's Party |
| Chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council | |||||
| 25 | Major Johnny Paul Koroma(1960–2003?) | 25 May 1997 | 12 February 1998 | Armed Forces Revolutionary Council | |
| Second Republic (1998–present) | |||||
| 26 | Ahmad Tejan Kabbah(1932–2014) | |
12 February 1998 | 17 September 2007 | Sierra Leone People's Party |
| 27 | Ernest Bai Koroma(1953–) |  |
17 September 2007 | 4 April 2018 | All People's Congress |
| 28 | Julius Maada Bio(1964–) | .jpg) |
4 April 2018 | 8 May 2018 | Sierra Leone People's Party |
| Chief Minister of Sierra Leone | |||||
| 29 | David J. Francis (born 1965) |
 |
8 May 2018 | 30 April 2021 | Independent |
| 30 | Jacob Jusu Saffa (born 19??) |
.jpg) |
30 April 2021 | 10 July 2023 | Independent |
| 31 | David Moinina Sengeh (born 1986/87) |
_(cropped).jpg) |
10 July 2023 | Incumbent | Independent |
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