Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (born February 16, 1932) is the President of Sierra Leone (1996–1997, 1998–present). He worked for the United Nations Development Programme, and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992. He was elected president in 1996. Most of his time in office was marked by a bloody civil war with the Revolutionary United Front, led by Foday Sankoh, which involved him being temporarily ousted by the military Armed Forces Revolutionary Council from May 1997 to March 1998. He was soon returned to power after a military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Another phase of the civil war led to United Nations and British involvement in the country in 2000. The civil war was officially declared over in early 2002, and Kabbah went on to win yet another term in office in the presidential election later that year. February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... This page contains a list of presidents and other heads of state of Sierra Leone since 1971. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the largest multilateral source of grant technical assistance in the world. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a failed ten-year insurrection in Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. ... Foday Sankoh (October 17, 1937 - July 29, 2003) was a leader of the Sierra Leone rebel faction Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the 10-year-long Sierra Leonean civil war, which ended in 2002. ... The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was the former military of Sierra Leone that merged into the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen countries, founded on May 28, 1975 when fifteen West African countries signed the Treaty of Lagos. ... The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...

Background

Youth and Education

Kabbah was born in Pendembu, Kailahun District, in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone, on 16 February 1932. An ethnic Mandinka, Kabbah was born of Muslim parentage and a devout Muslim himself. He received his secondary education at St. Edward's, the oldest catholic secondary school in the country. He also married a Catholic, the late Patricia Kabbah, nee Tucker, who hailed from the Southern Province. He received his higher education at the Cardiff College of Technology and Commerce, and University College Aberystwyth, Wales, in the United Kingdom, with a Bachelor's degree in Economics in 1959. He later studied law, and in 1969 he became a practicing Barrister-at-Law, member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, London. Location of Kailahun District in Sierra Leone Kailahun District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. ... The Mandinka are a Mande people of West Africa, all descendent physically or culturally from the ancient Mali Empire which controlled the trans-Saharic trade from the Middle East to West Africa. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish: Müslüman, Persian and Urdu: مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a level of technological mastery sufficient to leave the surface of the planet for the first time and explore space. ... Commerce is the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money between two or more entities. ... Affiliations University of Wales, AMBA, ACU, Universities UK, HiPACT Website www. ... Motto: (Welsh for Wales forever) Anthem: Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau Capital Cardiff Largest city Cardiff Official language(s) English, Welsh Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Rhodri Morgan AM Unification    - by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn 1056  Area    - Total 20,779 km² (3rd in... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Face-to-face trading interactions among on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor Economics, as a social science, studies the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Career

The President has spent his entire career in the public sector, as a national and international civil servant. He served in the Western Area and in all the Provinces of Sierra Leone. He was a District Commissioner in Bombali and Kambia (Northern Province), in Kono (Eastern Province) and in Moyamba and Bo (Southern Province). He later became Permanent Secretary in various Ministries, including Trade and Industry, Social Welfare, and Education. Commissioner is a designation that may be used for a variety of official positions, especially referring to a high-ranking public (administrative or police) official, or an analogous official in the private sector (e. ... ...

United Nations

He was an international civil servant for almost two decades. After serving as deputy Chief of the West Africa Division of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in New York, he was reassigned in 1973 to head the Programme’s operation in the southern African Kingdom of Lesotho, as Resident Representative. He also headed UNDP operations in Tanzania and Uganda, and just before Zimbabwe's independence, he was temporarily assigned to that country to help lay the groundwork for cooperation with the United Nations system. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the largest multilateral source of grant technical assistance in the world. ... The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the largest multilateral source of grant technical assistance in the world. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Southern Africa ... While the United Nations is an international organization, the United Nations System is the whole network of international organizations, treaties and conventions that were created by the United Nations. ...

After a successful tour of duty in Eastern and Southern Africa, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah returned to New York to head UNDP’s Eastern and Southern Africa Division. Among other things, he was directly responsible for coordinating UN system assistance to liberation movements recognized by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), such as the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, and the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) of Namibia. Flag of the Organisation of African Unity, later also used by the African Union. ...

Before his retirement in 1992, President Kabbah held a number of senior administrative positions at UNDP Headquarters in New York, including those of Deputy Director and Director of Personnel, and Director, Division of Administration and Management.

Political career in Sierra Leone

Following the military coup in 1992, he was asked to chair the National Advisory Council, one of the mechanisms established by the junta to facilitate the restoration of constitutional rule, including the drafting of a new constitution for Sierra Leone. He reputedly intended his return to Sierra Leone to be a retirement, but was encouraged by those around him and the political situation that arose to become more actively involved in the politics of Sierra Leone.

First term as President

Sierra Leone Civil War

Personalities

Charles Taylor - Foday Sankoh Hinga Norman - Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Johnny Paul Koroma Valentine Strasser - Solomon Musa National motto: Unity - Freedom - Justice // Background Main article: History of Sierra Leone The colonial history of Sierra Leone was not placid. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... For other persons named Charles Taylor, see Charles Taylor (disambiguation). ... Foday Sankoh (October 17, 1937 - July 29, 2003) was a leader of the Sierra Leone rebel faction Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the 10-year-long Sierra Leonean civil war, which ended in 2002. ... Samuel Hinga Norman (1940) was a chieftan from the Mende tribe in Sierra Leone and led the traditional paramilitary force, the Kamajors. ... Johnny Paul Koroma (1960 - June 1, 2003) was the head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998. ... Valentine Esegragbo Melvine Strasser (born 1967) is a former head of state of Sierra Leone. ... Solomon Anthony James Musa (1966 - January 1999) was an important military and political figure in the Sierra Leone Civil War. ...

Armed Forces

RUF - SLA - West Side Boys Kamajors - Executive Outcomes ECOMOG - Sandline International The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a failed ten-year insurrection in Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require rewriting and/or reformatting. ... The West Side Boys were an armed group in Sierra Leone, sometimes described as a splinter faction of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council. ... The Kamajors are a group of traditional hunters from the south and east of Sierra Leone (mostly from the Bo district). ... Executive Outcomes (EO) was a private military company, or mercenary company, founded by Eeben Barlow in 1989 and ceasing to exist in 1999. ... ECOMOG is a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ... Sandline International was a private security (military) company based in London, established in the early 1990s. ...

Attempts at Peace

Lomé Peace Accord - Abidjan Peace Accord UNAMSIL - SCSL PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE AND THE REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT OF SIERRA LEONE THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE and THE REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT OF SIERRA LEONE (RUF/SL) Having met in Lome, Togo, from the 25 May 1999, to 7 July 1999 under the... The Abidjan Peace Accord was a treaty signed between the Sierra Leone Peoples Party(SLPP) government of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group led by Foday Sankoh to find a resolution to the Sierra Leone Civil War. ... The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) is a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone. ... The Special Court for Sierra Leone is an independent judicial body set up to try those who bear greatest responsibility for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sierra Leone after 30 November 1996 during the Sierra Leone Civil War. ...

Political Groups

SLPP - AFRC - APC Political parties in Sierra Leone lists political parties in Sierra Leone. ... SLPP symbol, the palm-tree The Sierra Leone Peoples Party is the ruling political party in Sierra Leone. ... The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was the former military of Sierra Leone that merged into the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. ... The All Peoples Congress is a political party in Sierra Leone. ...

Tribes

Mende - Temne - Limba - Krio The Mende are a large West African ethnic group (population approximately 2 million), speakers of the Mende language, living primarily in Sierra Leone and Liberia. ... The Temne are the largest ethnic group in northern Sierra Leone, and they comprise about 30% of Sierra Leones total population. ... The Limba people are one of the indigenous tribes, or ethnic groups, in the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa. ... The Krio are an ethnic group in Sierra Leone, descendants of various groups of freed slaves landed in Freetown between 1787 and about 1855. ...

See also

Freetown - Mano River Conflict diamond - Liberian Civil War Map of Sierra Leone showing the capital Freetown Freetown, population 1,070,200 (2004), is the largest city and capital of Sierra Leone, lying on the Freetown Peninsula on the Atlantic coast. ... The Mano River is a river in west Africa, it originates in the Guinea Highlands in Liberia and forms the Liberia-Sierra Leone border. ... A conflict diamond (also called a blood diamond or a war diamond) is a diamond mined in a war zone and sold, usually clandestinely, in order to finance an insurgent or invading armys war efforts. ... Charles Taylor, a leader of the NPFL and later President of Liberia. ...

In March 1996, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, leader of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), was elected President of Sierra Leone in the first multi-party elections in twenty-three years. Guided by his philosophy of "political inclusion" he appointed the most broad-based government in the nation's history, drawing from all political parties represented in Parliament, and ‘technocrats’ in civil society. One minority party did not accept his offer of a cabinet post. SLPP symbol, the palm-tree The Sierra Leone Peoples Party is the ruling political party in Sierra Leone. ...

The President's first major objective was to end the rebel war which, in four years had already claimed hundreds of innocent lives, driven thousands of others into refugee status, and ruined the nation's economy. In November 1996, in Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire, he signed a peace agreement with the rebel leader, former Corporal Foday Sankoh of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Foday Sankoh (October 17, 1937 - July 29, 2003) was a leader of the Sierra Leone rebel faction Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the 10-year-long Sierra Leonean civil war, which ended in 2002. ... The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a failed ten-year insurrection in Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. ...

The rebels reneged on the Agreement, resumed hostilities, and later perpetrated on the people of Sierra Leone what has been described as one of the most brutal internal conflicts in the world.

1996 Presidential election

SLPP symbol, the palm-tree The Sierra Leone Peoples Party is the ruling political party in Sierra Leone. ... John Albert Musselman Karefa-Smart is a politician from Sierra Leone and current leader of the United National Peoples Party. ... The United National Peoples Party is a political party in Sierra Leone. ... Thaimu Bangura (d. ... The Peoples Democratic Party is a political party in Sierra Leone. ... John Karimu (d. ... Edward Mohammed Turay was a politician in Sierra Leone. ... The All Peoples Congress is a political party in Sierra Leone. ... Abu Aiah Koroma (26 November 1928 - 6 March 2005) was a lawyer and politician in Sierra Leone. ... Abass Bundu is a former politician and diplomat from Sierra Leone. ... Amadu Jalloh was a politician in Sierra Leone. ... Edward Kargbo is a politician in Sierra Leone. ... Desmond Edgar Fashole Luke was a politician and lawyer in Sierra Leone. ... The National Unity Movement (Spanish: Movimiento de Unidad Nacional - MUN) is a Nicaraguan political party founded in year 2000 by retired army chief and Sandinista dissident Joaquín Cuadra. ...

Coup and exile

In 1996, a coup attempt involving Johnny Paul Koroma and other junior officers of the Sierra Leone Army was unsuccessful, but served as notice that Kabbah's control over military and government officials in Freetown was weakening. Johnny Paul Koroma (1960 - June 1, 2003) was the head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998. ... Map of Sierra Leone showing the capital Freetown Freetown, population 1,070,200 (2004), is the largest city and capital of Sierra Leone, lying on the Freetown Peninsula on the Atlantic coast. ...

In May 1997, a military coup forced the President into exile in neighbouring Guinea. The coup was led by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, and upon seizing power, Koroma was freed and installed as the head of state. Kabbah's democratically elected government was restored nine months later when the military-rebel junta was removed by troops representing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the command of the Nigerian led ECOMOG (ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group) and loyal civil and military defence forces, notably the Kamajors led by Samuel Hinga Norman. The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was the former military of Sierra Leone that merged into the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. ... The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen countries, founded on May 28, 1975 when fifteen West African countries signed the Treaty of Lagos. ... ECOMOG is a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ... The Kamajors are a group of traditional hunters from the south and east of Sierra Leone (mostly from the Bo district). ... Samuel Hinga Norman (1940) was a chieftan from the Mende tribe in Sierra Leone and led the traditional paramilitary force, the Kamajors. ...

Kabbah was forced to flee to Guinea and attempted to garner international support.

Return to Sierra Leone

Once again, in pursuit of peace, President Kabbah signed the Lomé Peace Accord with the RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh on 7 July, 1999. Notwithstanding repeated violations by the RUF, the document, known as the Lomé Peace Agreement, remained the cornerstone of sustainable peace, security, justice and national reconciliation in Sierra Leone. On 18 January 2002, at a ceremony marking the conclusion of the disarmament and demobilization of ex-combatants under the auspices of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), he declared that the rebel war was over. PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE AND THE REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT OF SIERRA LEONE THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE and THE REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT OF SIERRA LEONE (RUF/SL) Having met in Lome, Togo, from the 25 May 1999, to 7 July 1999 under the... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) is a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone. ...

2002 Presidential election

SLPP symbol, the palm-tree The Sierra Leone Peoples Party is the ruling political party in Sierra Leone. ... Ernest Bai Koroma (born 2 October 1953 in Makeni, Bombali District, Northern Sierra Leone) is a politician in Sierra Leone. ... The All Peoples Congress is a political party in Sierra Leone. ... Johnny Paul Koroma (1960 - June 1, 2003) was the head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998. ... The Peace and Liberation Party is a political party in Sierra Leone. ... Alimamy Pallo Bangura is a politician in Sierra Leone. ... The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a failed ten-year insurrection in Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. ... John Albert Musselman Karefa-Smart is a politician from Sierra Leone and current leader of the United National Peoples Party. ... The United National Peoples Party is a political party in Sierra Leone. ...

Political goals and views

As the first leader after the civil war, Kabbah's main task has been to disarm the different factions involved in the fighting and to build unity of the country. Time magazine has called Kabbah a "diamond in the rough" for his success as the first civilian elected ruler of Sierra Leone in 34 years and his role in the end of what became a decade long conflict from 1992 until 2000. Although he himself is not corrupt, Kabbah has been accused of inability to deal with corrupt officials in his government many of whom are said to be profiting from the diamond trade. Kabbah has struggled with this problem and invited the British to help set up an anticorruption commission. Kabbah leaves office in 2007 at the end of his second 5-year term. Constitutionally, he is ineligible to seek re-election. (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ...

Personal life

Kabbah's wife Patricia, an ethnic Mende, died in 1998. He has five children, Mariama, Abu, Michael,Isata and Tejan Jr. and three grandchildren, Simone,Isata, and Aidan. The Mende are a large tribe (population approximately 700,000), speakers of the Mende language, living primarily in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. ...

Honors

President Kabbah, as Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone in Freetown holds an honorary doctor of laws degree of the University. In September 2001 Southern Connecticut State University in the United States awarded him with an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, in recognition of his effort to bring peace to his country. The University of Sierra Leone is the name of the former unitary public university system in Sierra Leone, which, as of May 2005, was reconstitued into the individual colleges of Fourah Bay College and Njala University college. ... Map of Sierra Leone showing the capital Freetown Freetown, population 1,070,200 (2004), is the largest city and capital of Sierra Leone, lying on the Freetown Peninsula on the Atlantic coast. ... Southern Connecticut State University, one of four state universities in Connecticut, is located in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

The President is Grand Commander of the Order of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

References

Aisha Labi. "Diamond In the Rough" Time Magazine Sunday, August 18, 2002 accessed from [1] on August 27, 2005 (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ...