President of Sierra Leone
President of the Republic of Sierra Leone | |
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Presidential Flag | |
Style | His/ Her Excellency |
Residence | State House |
Term length |
Five years (renewable only once) |
Inaugural holder | Christopher Okoro Cole (acting) |
Formation |
Constitution of Sierra Leone 19 April 1971 |
Deputy | Vice President of Sierra Leone |
Salary | US$1000 (per month) |
Website | http://www.statehouse.gov.sl/ |
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Sierra Leone |
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Legislative
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The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone is the head of state and the head of government of Sierra Leone, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.
As the head of the executive branch of the Sierra Leone government, the president implements laws passed by parliament. The president has influence especially over members of the party of the President in the legislative branch of Parliament. The president constitutionally appoints judges of the Sierra Leone Judicial branch, including judges of the high court, the court of appeals and the Supreme Court. The president heads a Cabinet of ministers, which must be approved by the Parliament. The president is the most powerful, and the most influential person in the Government of Sierra Leone.
Term
The president is elected by popular vote to a maximum of two five-year terms.
Election
To be elected president of Sierra Leone, a candidate must gain at least 55 percent of the vote. If no candidate gets the 55 percent requirement, there will be a second-round runoff between the top two candidates with the most votes in the first round. For qualification to be elected President of Sierra Leone, the person must be a Sierra Leonean citizen by birth; should have attained the age of 40 years; should be a member of a political party; and should be able to speak and read the English language. The current president of Sierra Leone is Julius Maada Bio. Julius Bio was sworn in as president on 12 May 2018, three weeks after the results of the 2018 Sierra Leonean general election were declared.[1]
Residence
The President of Sierra Leone official and principal workplace is at State House, located in Tower Hill in central Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.
The president of Sierra Leone has two official residence. The first is at State Lodge, located in the affluent neighborhood of Hill Station in the west end of Freetown; the second is at Kabassa Lodge, located in the affluent neighborhood of Juba Hill in the west end of Freetown.[2]
The current president Julius Maada Wonie Bio uses the State Lodge at Hill Station as his official residence.[3] The former president of Sierra Leone Ahmad Tejan Kabbah used State Lodge as his residence. Former Sierra Leone presidents Joseph Saidu Momoh and Siaka Stevens used the Kabassa Lodge at Juba Hill as their official residence.
Security and protection
The President of Sierra Leone is heavily guarded by the Presidential Guard, which is made up of a special unit of soldiers of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces and a special unit of police officers of the Operational Support Division of the Sierra Leone Police Force.
List of Presidents
Latest election
Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
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Ernest Bai Koroma | All People's Congress | 1,314,881 | 58.7 |
Julius Maada Bio | Sierra Leone People's Party | 837,517 | 37.4 |
Charles Francis Margai | People's Movement for Democratic Change | 28,944 | 1.3 |
Joshua Albert Carew | Citizens Democratic Party | 22,863 | 1.0 |
Eldred Collins | Revolutionary United Front | 12,993 | 0.6 |
Gibrilla Kamara | People's Democratic Party | 8,273 | 0.4 |
Kandeh Baba Conteh | Peace and Liberation Party | 6,144 | 0.3 |
Mohamed Bangura | United Democratic Movement | 5,069 | 0.2 |
James Obai Fullah | United National People's Party | 5,044 | 0.2 |
Invalid/blank votes | 108,898 | – | |
Total | 2,459,524 | 100 | |
Registered voters/turnout | 87.3 | ||
Source:National Electoral Commission[4] |