The international community has invested in our country and the UK government has done quite a lot to bring peace to Sierra Leone and also promote post-conflict reconstruction, resettlement and development. Bio's "palace coup" returned the country to democracy. By Sorie Fofana. In a wide-ranging interview, the Former Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa shares his analysis of the coronavirus crisis and how the continent can emerge from it. We plan to provide free education to our people, at least up to secondary school level and maybe further so that we can have the human resources foundation essential for development. A: I wouldn’t confine it to that. The third issue was the overthrow of the government that I was heading and the fourth and final issue was the government human rights record, and its economic management policies. Following the Executive Clearance by His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio, the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Health and Sanitation has concluded arrangement for the medical evacuation of Valentine Strasser. I respect people’s views and […], A Dark Day in Sierra Leone Soccer : 9 footballers killed in accident, Flashback : Late President Joseph Momoh’s 2001 interview by Sierra Leone Live, Sierra Leone’s Wellington Industrial Estate – How It Came, Stayed, and Went Away. Around 70% of our people are involved in agriculture in one way or another. Strasser was then overthrown by his number 2 Julius Maada Bio. Veteran anti-Apartheid campaigner Lord Peter Hain talks about the principles of good governance, Ecobank Group CEO, Ade Ayeyemi discusses business survival strategies in the time of Covid-19 with Omar Ben Yedder, The High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) explains the mission of his organisation and its relevance in the current crisis. Bio is named after his paternal grandfather, who was also a paramount chief of Sogbini Chiefdom. The sole owner, financier , Publisher and Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ) is the Rev. It is owned and published by award-winning veteran journalist Rev. 1 Comment By Ahmed Ojullah Bangura : Until now, I was never interested in writing sensitive political articles. A: Corruption poses a menace to any government and we, as a party, have started a process to ascertain how to deal with it. IN 1992, JULIUS MAADA BIO WAS among a group of six young Sierra Leonean soldiers (that included Captain Valentine Strasser) who toppled President Joseph Momoh’s All People’s Congress government in a bloodless military coup. The first reason had to do with proposed constitutional change and succession. Bio later led a palace coup in 1996, to overthrow Captain Strasser's military government, following a division within the ruling Supreme Council of State over whether to introduce multi-party elections that year, and the conditions for participation of the junta members in the elections. It covers news from the banking, finance, insurance, and currency sectors, as well as the latest analysis from the stock markets and capital markets. By a press release (19/04/19) "On Tuesday, January 16, 1996, I 'walked' into the Office of the President as Head of State of Sierra Leone. It costs you nothing, Sierra Leoneans mourn man who gave his life for Ebola orphans, Covenant Child World Ministry prays for peaceful elections in Sierra Leone, Letter to the SLBC : Ahmed Ojullah Bangura comments on allegations against President Koroma and Dr. Thorpe. Julius Maada Bio was born on May 12, 1964 in Tihun, a small rural town in Sogbini Chiefdom, Bonthe District which is close to the main commercial town of Mattru Jong in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. The country has very low levels of savings so we definitely require large flows of foreign direct investment – and it will be the responsibility of my government to provide an environment conducive for this to take place. Julius Maada Bio was born on May 12, 1964 in Tihun, a village in Sogbini Chiefdom, Bonthe District, just a few distance from the main commercial town of Mattru Jong, in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Since the selfish overthrow of former Sierra Leone Military junta leader Captain Valentine Esegrabo Melvin Strasser in January 1996 by his Second-in-Command Julius Maada Bio, this is the first time ex-servicemen who trained together in the 1988 class with Strasser, Maada, SAJ Musa, Tom Nyuma and co have come out from their long silence around … In 1996, General Julius Maada Bio ousted Strasser in a bloodless coup with Nyuma and Mondeh’s support. COCORIOKO is produced in Somerset, Franklin Township , New Jersey , USA and Brookfields , Freetown, Sierra Leone. Julius Maada Bio and I had agreed a day before to meet at the lounge at Mamba Point Hotel in Wilberforce, part of the west-end of the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, at 11:00 am on a Wednesday. They established a military juntacalled the National Provisional R… Q: Have you identified particular sectors in Sierra Leone that are ripe for inward investment? (Photo: Valentine Strasser left, and Maada Bio). The former Head of State, Valentine Strasser is alive and still admitted at the Aspen Medical Hospital in Freetown. Q: Is the military still a political force in Sierra Leone? Everybody had given up that we would ever have a democratic dispensation. (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio informed the nation that he was committed to the timetable set by […] Julius Maada, the Secretary of State for Information and Nyuma ally, was appointed to the position. Q: What will your government do about corruption? We want to use this opportunity to appeal to the world to continue investing in Sierra Leone. We have courses or programmes that are really not related to our current situation. He also took over as Head of State. Bio's father had nine wives. A: Sierra Leone is considered one of the least developed countries in the world and we cannot afford to stay in that position. Cocorioko is Sierra Leone's premier and most widely read online newsmagazine. I consider the human resources of our country as the foundation of this policy, and education as the cornerstone. We have looked to the experience of other countries like Ghana that has just started lifting its oil, and we want to have a system in place to make sure that our oil becomes a blessing. He wants to ensure that democracy becomes firmly rooted in Sierra Leone and economic development is vigorously pursued in the country. A: The immediate problem is conducting a free and fair election, and we want the international community to be present to make sure that we don’t have armed police supervising the ballot. LEEROY WILFRED KABS-KANU . Bye-election violence in Kailahun : Scores flee into bush as SLPP burn homes and murder young man, An urgent call to all Africans : Please do this today for you and your people. Before the pilot and his crew left they got strict instructions warning them against any harm inflicted on Captain Strasser. I had to act a second time, in what was called a “palace coup”, just to keep our promises. From small workshops to large awards ceremonies, our events are recognised as some of the premier fixtures on the international calendar, and provide an excellent opportunity to network with the current decision makers and leaders from around the world. Q: Looking ahead to the November elections, what kind of policies are you running on? (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio overthrew Capt. Our problem is not just limited to the lack of capital, but also the functioning of the government, the quality of leadership, and the sort of policies that will assure investors that their investment in Sierra Leone is safe, and that they can repatriate their profits. Djibouti has risen to become a major logistics hub. What Alex Alex did not discuss is the Treasonable act - the criminality surrounding the 29th April 1992 Coup d'état. Julius Maada Bio, who was then Strasser’s deputy, led a coup that overthrew him. In early 1996, I took over the government and within three months, I was able to initiate a peace process. He also took over as Head of State. We have also had some recent discoveries of rutile, bauxite, iron ore, gold, and diamond deposits, and of course the recently discovered off-shore oil. Strasser replaced Musa as deputy NPRC chairman with Captain Julius Maada Bio, who was instantly promoted by Strasser to Brigadier. Kabs-Kanu at kabbskanu@aol.com. IC Events has established itself as one of the leading organisers of African business, economic and political events. We want to look at technical training and also improve the quality of education from primary school to university level. Using a variety of platforms and services including magazines, electronic media and international events, we deliver unparalleled coverage on the latest developments in Africa. progress paper calls the overthrow a palace coup — probably agreed upon by general strasser and his deputy, brigadier julius maada bio. So SLPP should always be grateful to its son, retired Lieutenant Maada Bio. These are offensive weapons, but they claim that they are for the armed forces and police to counter terrorism. Q: If the international community were to grant you three wishes, what would they be? We cannot develop if we don’t have quality education. There have been a lot of stupid comments made since the release of President Julius Maada Bio’s first cabinet list. He has lost everything including his health and even hope since his overthrow by current president Julius Maada Bio in a palace coup. It is my ardent belief that we should provide the necessary support to this sector. Ethiopia’s civil conflict is over – or is it? Valentine Strasser first lost power, then he lost his money and was abandoned by his wife, Gloria,making the former Head of State a complete island and a man of nowhere. He is a retired Brigadier General in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military Head of State of Sierra Leone from January 16, 1996, to March 29, 1996 in a military Junta government. Four years earlier, I was one of 30 heavily-armed military officers, all of us in our twenties, who had driven from the war front into the … In late 1995 or early 1996, a dispute arose between Strasser and Bio on whether to establish peace first and then hold the election or vice versa. All matters pertaining to the paper should be directed to the CEO, Rev. A: It is important that the world’s leaders know that you cannot just treat people of another country with impunity, in any way you choose. IC Publications is one of the world’s leading sources of analysis and debate on African political and economic issues. No article or any part of this website should be reproduced without the expressed permission of the Publisher. So our goal is to better develop the country and move it forward. Bio's father had nine wives. I want to provide the quality of leadership that instils confidence so that we can really kick-start our development. He talked to Stephen Williams about his vision. Julius Maada Bio (born May 12, 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician, and the current president of Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. It is a troubling development because we should be thinking about elections in a free atmosphere, not in the middle of a conflict. He had been a junior military officer but in 1992, he became the world's youngest Head of State when he seized power three days after his 25th birthday. We have proposed to put in place an effective management system for the extractive industries. Bio later led a palace coup in 1996, to overthrow Captain Strasser’s military government, following a division within the ruling Supreme Council of State over whether to introduce multi-party elections that year, and the conditions for participation of the junta members in the elections. Sierra Leone's new President Julius Maada Bio is no stranger to his country’s politics. There is currently an anti-corruption commission and while it has the basic legal infrastructure to prosecute, what is lacking is the freedom and independence to act. TED Meet in Canada: President Bio Proud to Tell about 'Overthrow' of his Boss Strasser! Q: Are you happy with the current syllabus in use? A: We have a highly polarised country and also a difficulty with the democratic process, in the sense that the transition of power from one government to another is problematic. On 16th January, 1996 Brig. Did the APC Score an Own Goal with the Commission of Inquiry? He was the leading member in a group of six young Sierra Leonean soldiers who overthrew president Joseph Saidu Momoh on 29 April 1992 military coup. Valentine Esegragbo Melvine Strasser (born 26 April 1967) is an ex-military leader who served as head of state of Sierra Leone from 1992 to 1996. This was after SLPP had spent 3 decades in wilderness. ... specifically the deputy who was Brigadier General Maada Bio. We must assure them that Sierra Leone respects the rule of law, and it is a country that protects investments. MAADA BIO, BRUTUS, STRASSER AND JULIUS CEASER"- a piece sympathetically wrapped over the proposition of whether it is time to give sustenance to Captain Strasser. Q: What are your views on the ICC, and the conviction of Charles Taylor by the Special Court for Sierra Leone? When you have a smooth change from one government to another, it creates confidence. Q: What are the main challenges facing Sierra Leone today? A: Well, the military has been retrained – by the British army mainly -– and they have kept themselves in the barracks so far. Q: So you don’t identify the root of the development problem to be simply that the government does not have adequate finance to roll out services to the people?