Valentine Strasser

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Valentine Esegragbo Melvine Strasser (born April 26, 1967 in Freetown ) was head of state of Sierra Leone from 1992 to 1996 . He belongs to the ethnic group of the Krio ( Creoles ).

At a young age and as head of state, Strasser was considered a quiet, politically ignorant and very shy person. Today he should be known for his quick-tempered manner.

Life path

head of state

On April 29, 1992, Captain Strasser and a group of young officers dropped Yahya Kanu , who just one day earlier was allegedly responsible for the coup against President-elect Joseph Saidu Momoh . The original reason for the coup was the failure to pay the army soldiers . The group founded the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC), which Strasser chaired from May 1, 1992. This made him the youngest head of state in the world. At that time, he was largely celebrated as the “Redeemer” by the population of Sierra Leone.

A coup attempt by supporters of Momoh against him failed at the end of 1992 and led to the execution of 26 people involved, including Yahya Kanu.

After nearly two and a half months, Strasser dissolved the NPRC and became chairman of the Supreme Council of State .

During his tenure, the civil war against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) under Foday Sankoh continued. To get the situation under control, Strasser hired the mercenary company Executive Outcomes . The mercenaries succeeded (temporarily) in repelling the RUF. At the end of Strasser's term of office, the rebels controlled about half of the country and were able to finance themselves through the diamond deposits in their sphere of influence. In response to international pressure, he promised elections for 1995 in October 1993, and later they were scheduled for February 26, 1996. At the beginning of 1996 Strasser declared that he did not want to run for the planned elections.

exile

On January 16, 1996, he was overthrown by his deputy Julius Maada Bio in a coup and taken into exile . This made him the youngest former head of state in the world. First he was flown to Conakry in neighboring Guinea , where his predecessor Momoh had lived since 1992.

He was invited by the United Nations to study law at the University of Warwick in Coventry , but was relegated again after a year at the instigation of the student body. He was then unemployed. In May 2000 , following news of his stay in the UK , Amnesty International asked the UK government to hold Strasser accountable for what had happened during his reign. He had to leave Great Britain and was also expelled from Gambia at the end of 2000 .

Since returning

He returned to Sierra Leone and lives there with his mother, unemployed. The government of Sierra Leone issued a statement asking the population not to harass the returned Strasser after he had been pelted with stones several times on the street. He was feared and his politics at that time are considered hated at the time. Strasser refused several times before the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission , the Truth Commission to testify. He finally did so on July 30, 2003.

In May 2005, Strasser said at a press conference that he had founded the People's Redemption Party and wanted to run for the next presidential election. He already failed to register the party.

In 2012 Strasser lived in poverty and ran a computer school for young people. In 2016 he continued to live in Freetown and gave an interview for the first time in years.

At the beginning of 2019, the seriously ill Strasser was treated at the request of President Julius Maada Bio at state expense in Ghana , among others .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Boys' try to do a man's job: Richard Dowden, in Freetown, reports on the young officers who hold power in Sierra Leone. Independent, November 24, 1993.
  2. ↑ a b c d e What Do You Do With Your Life After You've Already Been The World's Youngest Dictator ?. Buzzfeed News, October 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ a b TRANSCRIPTS OF THEMATIC AND INSTITUTIONAL HEARINGS DECEMBER 1992 COUP TRIALS AND EXECUTIONS. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Appendix 3, Section 3, Area 2. Accessed December 20, 2018.
  4. ^ Sierra Leone News, January 1996. Sierra-Leone.org . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  5. ↑ Ex-Sierra Leone dictator in UK. BBC News, May 27, 2000.
  6. ^ Sierra Leone News, August 2001. Sierra-Leone.org . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  7. ↑ Management and Operation Report. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Volume 1, Chapter 4. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  8. ↑ S Leone ex-leader to fight poll. BBC News, May 2, 2005.
  9. ^ Former Junta Leader Calls for Support. The Independent, In: AllAfrica.com, May 2, 2005.
  10. ↑ Simon Akam: The Vagabond king . In: New Statesman , February 2, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2018. 
  11. ↑ Janet Otieno: Ex-Sierra Leone president stripped of all power trappings . In: Africa Review . February 15, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  12. ^ Former head of Sierra Leone's military regime - Valentine Strasser is seriously ill. The Sierra Leone Telegraph, January 9, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Strasser, Valentine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Strasser, Valentine Esegragbo Melvine (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION sierra-leonian officer, head of state (1992–1996)
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Freetown