The accidental rise (and devastating fall) of Africa’s youngest president

On Wednesday morning, April 29, 1992, the residents of Freetown, Sierra Leone, were awakened by a highly unusual sight: armed soldiers driving combat vehicles into the city, carrying heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft weapons and rocket launchers. The soldiers, sprightly young men from the Tiger and Cobra battalions, marched determinedly into the city and set their sights on both the State House, which housed the President's offices, and the nearby Presidential Residence. By 8 a.m. the soldiers were standing firmly outside the President's door. They had come to demand better conditions on the war front and important army supplies, such as boots.

Among the 60 or so officers were about six men who had served together at the front and whose bond was so close that they jointly organized this heated visit to the head of state. In their midst was a newly minted captain named Valentine Strasser. The young Strasser and his comrades in arms quickly stormed the presidential palace and successfully penetrated the president's private chambers. They found him imprisoned in his bathroom, dressed in his dressing gown.

But later that April morning, as the soldiers held talks with President Joseph Saidu Momoh that were as hot as an iceberg, it became abundantly clear that the president was not ready to give in to their demands. Who did this small group of young officers think they were when they turned up at State House with terse demands and a deadline?

By midday, President Momoh had gone on radio and television, giving the nation a heated update on what was happening. He called the determined soldiers “misguided.” A big mistake. For the fighters, it was now a case of winning or, almost certainly, dying. “Misguided” military officers had only one certain fate in Africa in the early 1990s. The militants reacted quickly. Before he knew it, President Momoh was being put in a helicopter and dropped off in neighboring Guinea. The young soldiers had overthrown his government.

No one was more surprised by the sudden power vacuum, it is said, than the mutineers themselves. When they left the front 24 hours earlier, all they had wanted was better fighting conditions. And while the anxious citizens waited to see what would happen next, the soldiers quickly consulted among themselves. An hour after Momoh's career-ending declaration, Captain Strasser was chosen by his colleagues – most of them rural, less educated officers – thanks to his superior English skills to announce the overthrow of the government. A day later, presumably after quite lively discussions, another announcement was made. Captain Valentine Strasser was the new head of state. He was 25.

The country exploded. Citizens were ecstatic. After 24 years of pure theft by the former president's party, the All People's Congress (APC), people were desperate for change. And the young new leaders seemed to fit the bill. Soon, posters bearing Strasser's image began appearing on the streets and a catchy new song, “Tiger Come Down to Town!”, hit the airwaves.

The new president and his team immediately formed the National Provisional Governing Council (NPRC) with Captain Strasser as chairman and appointed 21 cabinet ministers, retaining only two from the previous government. The young tigers rolled up their jungle-patterned sleeves and got to work.

Corrupt government officials who had acquired wealth through dubious means soon found their assets confiscated. Over US$13 million was reportedly seized from private households. Electricity, previously reliable only in barracks and the homes of government officials, was significantly improved. Fuel supplies were restored. The price of rice, a popular staple, remained stable and salaries were increased. Inflation was reportedly reduced from over 90% to 16%. Work began to rebuild a key road connecting Freetown to the rest of the country. The new government promised to end the ongoing war with Liberian-backed rebels and, in due course, finally return the country to civilian rule.

There was excitement throughout the land; an electrifying spark of new hope for the struggling nation. A new, tough tiger had come to town!

But problems also began to surface, exposing the dark underbelly of the amateur regime.

The NPRC “boys,” usually seen in jungle uniforms and dark, funky sunglasses, loved to party. In the early days of the regime, there were rumors that they were frequent visitors to the dormitories of a local university, having fun with their peers. And beautiful young ladies in Freetown soon began bleaching their skin when word got out that the cool young leaders preferred lighter-skinned – er – companions.

There was also the thorny issue of state-ordered “confiscations”. After coming to power, Strasser took over a palatial estate built in the 1970s by the country's first president, Siaka Stevens, and made it his official residence, claiming that the building had been constructed with state funds. Similarly, some members of the NPRC moved into luxurious homes previously occupied by corrupt government officials, driving the expensive cars of the former oppressors and emulating their opulent lifestyles, profiting from the very assets that had been confiscated from them.

Within a year, a highly incriminating story emerged claiming that the president and some of his “boys” had hoarded tens of millions of dollars worth of diamonds and secretly flown to Europe to sell the gems privately. They had reportedly used some of the proceeds to buy weapons, but had also pocketed some of the money themselves. The article had appeared in a Swedish newspaper. When a local paper ran the story, its editor was arrested and charged with sedition.

Much seemed to be hidden in this dark underbelly. But perhaps even more damaging was the regime's sometimes dangerously clumsy handling of crucial state affairs.

Just eight months after the NPRC seized power, on December 29, 1992, 26 “coup plotters” were summarily executed by firing squad on a beach outside Freetown, immediately sparking international outrage. Shortly afterwards, the government seemed to have a change of heart and declared a national mourning. But the incident sparked sustained international criticism and remained a constant thorn in the NPRC's side in the months that followed.

Later, to end the ongoing border war, the NPRC recruited thousands of new soldiers and deployed them to the violent front on the country's eastern border. Most of the recruits, however, were young and untrained, some barely in their teens. The youthful fighters, disillusioned by inadequate supplies and low pay, soon developed a penchant for drugs and looting – soldiers by day, rebels by night. The helpless population called them “So-bels.”

The longer Strasser's term in office lasted, the more doubts grew about his ability to lead the country. Rumors arose that the young commander-in-chief had little control over the military. And his cabinet. Who knows – perhaps the president's malleability was the reason why the mutineers' communiqué was pressed into his hands on the day of the coup?

Strasser also apparently had difficulties in carrying out his role as the country's top diplomat. For example, it was rumoured that the President could not muster the courage to meet with high-ranking figures such as the Queen during a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government.

The initial euphoria began to fade. The acronym NPRC was translated by the weary population into an unflattering slogan: “Na Pikin Running the Country,” which means something like: “It is the children who run the country.”

Over the next three months, Bio, now in power, paved the way for the promised return to civilian rule. Presidential elections were held in March 1996, after which Bio handed over power to the winning candidate and tendered his resignation from the military. 22 years later, at the age of 54, he successfully ran in and won the country's presidential election. Julius Bio is currently the country's president and head of state.

“We have tried to free Sierra Leone from shame and restore the vision of what our country should be,” In a speech to the United Nations shortly after taking power in 1992, President Strasser said: “Despite our youth, we believe that we have demonstrated leadership qualities and concern for the welfare of our nation, which previous governments have not done for our country over the past 24 years. The youthfulness of the NPRC government should therefore not be held against us…”