Stevens, Siaka

Born into a peasant family that belonged to the people of Limb , although his mother came from Mende . He grew up and received a secondary education in Freetown, after which in 1923 he joined the police force, and in 1931 began working on the construction of a railway linking the iron mines to the seaport. In 1943 he founded the united trade union of miners, in 1946 he was appointed from him to the protectorate assembly. In 1951, together with Milton and Albert Margai, he created the People’s Party of Sierra Leone , was elected to the legislative council and was appointed minister of mines, lands and labor in the government of Milton Margai. In 1957, he lost the deputy chair and the post of minister and, as a result of disagreements with Milton, Margai created with the support of Albert Margai (although he soon returned to his union with his brother) a new People’s National Party, which in 1960 joined the Sierra Popular Congress. Leone . At the negotiations on independence from Britain, Stevens was the only delegate who refused to support the independence plan, which provided for a close military-political alliance with the former metropolis. In 1967, the National Congress received a slight margin in the parliamentary elections. Stevens’s assumption of the post of prime minister was, however, prevented by a military coup organized by Commander-in-Chief Lansana with the support of the previous head of government, Albert Margay. In 1968, a number of junior officers overthrew, in turn, who replaced Lansana at the head of the junta Andrew Jackson-Smith and transferred power to the Stevens government.

In 1971, Stevens, who embarked on Africanization and diminishing ties with the metropolis, proclaimed Sierra Leone (formerly the parliamentary monarchy of the Westminster system , where the Queen of Great Britain was considered the head of state) and assumed the presidency with wide powers. In 1973, the opposition boycotted the next parliamentary elections, and in 1978 a new constitution was approved in a referendum, proclaiming a one-party system and abolishing the post of prime minister. Stevens himself was re-elected twice in 1973 and 1978 to the House of Representatives without any alternative, and for the second time he personally extended his five-year term to seven years. The Stevens regime was marked by the plundering of natural resources, the weak development of the social sphere (which eventually became one of the causes of the civil war that began in 1991, after Stevens died) and political repression against opponents, in particular, John Amadu Bangoura was arrested and executed leader of the coup that brought Stevens to power. At the same time, Stevens enjoyed a certain prestige among other African states. In October 1973, he created, together with Liberia, the Union of the States of the Mano River , which in 1980 was joined by Guinea , which had previously been negatively attuned to the Stevens regime. At the same time, Stevens was elected chairman of the Organization of African Unity for a year. In 1985, Stevens voluntarily refused another re-election by organizing a popular referendum to endorse the candidacy of his successor, Major General Joseph Saida Momo , to whom he transferred power.

• Site dedicated to Siake Stevens