Siaka Probyn Stevens (24 August 1905–29 May 1988) was prime minister and, later, president of the Republic of
Sierra Leone.
Early life
Born on August 24, 1905 in Moyamba in the Southern Province of Sierra
Leone, to Limba parents. He completed secondary school at Albert Academy in Freetown before joining the Sierra Leone Police Force. From 1923 to
1930, Stevens rose to the rank of First Class Sergeant and Musketry Instructor.
From 1931 to 1946, he worked on the construction of the Sierra
Leone Development Company (DELCO) railway, linking the Port of Pepel with the iron ore mines at Marampa. In 1943, he helped
co-found the United Mine Workers Union and was appointed to the Protectorate Assembly in 1946 to
represent worker interests. In 1947, Stevens studied labor
relations at Ruskin College.
Political career
In 1951, Stevens co-founded the Sierra Leone
People's Party (SLPP) and was elected to the Legislative Council. A year later, he became Sierra Leone's first Minister of
Mines, Lands, and Labor. In 1957, he was elected to the House of Representatives as a member for
Port Loko constituency, but lost his seat as a result of an election petition.
After disagreements with the SLPP leadership, Stevens broke ties with the party and founded the People's National Party (PNP), of which he was the first secretary-general and deputy leader. In
1959, he participated in independence talks in London.
When the talks concluded, however, he was the only delegate who refused to sign the agreement on the grounds that there had been
a secret defense pact between Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom. Another point of
contention was the Sierra Leonean government's position that there would be no elections held before independence, which would
effectively shut him out of the political process. He was promptly expelled from the PNP upon his return from the talks. Stevens
then launched the Elections Before Independence Movement (EBIM), which was later transformed into
the All People's Congress (APC).
After successfully exploiting the disenchantment of northern and eastern ethnic groups with the SLPP, along with the creation
of an alliance with the Sierra Leone Progressive Independence
Movement (SLPIM), the APC became the main opposition party following elections held in 1962.
Stevens was later elected mayor of Freetown.
Interrupted Premiership
In elections held on 17 May 1967, the APC won by an extremely
narrow margin, and Stevens was appointed Prime Minister, but he was arrested only days after taking office during a military
coup.
After a brief period of military rule, Stevens reassumed the post of Prime Minister on 26
April 1968. In April 1971, a republican constitution was
introduced. He became President of the Republic a day after the constitution was ratified by the House of Representatives.
The Stevens Presidency
In 1973, the first elections under the new constitution were held. The polls were marred by
violence and were boycotted by the SLPP, which gave the APC all 85 seats in the House of Representatives. Stevens was re-elected
President unopposed by the House in March 1976. Stevens' vice-president from 1971 until leaving office in 1985 was Sorie Ibrahim Koroma.
Throughout the remainder of the 1970's, Stevens continued to consolidate his power, which culminated in a 1978 referendum on a new constitution that would create a single-party
state. On 12 June, 97.1% of voters was reported to have voted for the new one-party
constitution, but observers agreed that the elections were manipulated by the government. High percentages in favor of the
one-party state were even reported in areas where the opposition SLPP Party was clearly dominant. Following the election, all
opposition members of the House of Representatives had to join Stevens' APC or lose their seats. Two years after being re-elected
for a five year term, Stevens was sworn in for a further term of seven years.
President Stevens served as Chairman of the Organization of African
Unity (OAU) from 1 July 1980 to 24
June 1981, and engineered the creation of the Mano River
Union, a three country economic federation of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.
He thwarted several coup and assassination
attempts and was criticized by some as running a corrupt government that was incapable of improving the economy.
Retirement
Stevens retired from office at the end of his term on 28 November 1985. After pressuring all other potential successors to step aside, Major-General Joseph Saidu Momoh was sworn in as the new President of the Republic.
He died on 29 May 1988 in Freetown.
References
Reno, William. Corruption and State Politics in Sierra Leone (New York: Cambridge University Press), 1995.
Stevens, Siaka Probyn. What Life Has Taught Me (London: Kensal Press), 1984.
Tuchscherer, Konrad. “Siaka Probyn Stevens,” Encyclopedia of Modern Dictators, ed. by Frank J. Coppa (New York: Peter Lang),
2006, pp. 292-295.
Tuchscherer, Konrad. “Siaka Probyn Stevens: Reflection on a Sierra Leonean Leader,” Awoko (Freetown, Sierra Leone), 25 August
2003, p. 5.
Tuchscherer, Konrad. “Reflection on African Leadership: Siaka Probyn Stevens,” Daily Observer (Banjul, The Gambia), 29 August
2003, p. 6.
External links
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