Codie+Allen+(Joseph+Momoh)

Joseph Saidu Momoh was born in Binkolo, Sierra Leone on the 26th of January, 1937. His childhood was unremarkable, as any others. Soon he joined the Sierra Leone Military Forces where he proved himself to be a very promising soldier (“Joseph Momoh”). In November of 1985 President Siaka Stevens, head of the All People’s Congress party, retired and passed the reigns onto Momoh after an election involving only him as a candidate. At this point he was a well respected Major-General in the Military Force (“Sierra Leone”). Soon after taking his position, he declared a state of economic emergency. This allowed him to have greater control over the economy of Sierra Leone. Despite his continuing search for more control over the country, people did not think of him as a dictator. In fact, his failure to control his other government officials who were constantly corrupting an manipulating states was the major issue people had with him. The public believed him to be unconcerned with the affairs of the states and too weak to handle the position he was in. Because of this constant corruption, Sierra Leone’s economy drastically and quickly began declining and started to completely crash. It reached a point where Sierra Leone was not even able to afford to import and gasoline and oil, causing the country to simply sustain itself without electricity for months. After the economy totally crashed, the Sierra Leone Civil war started in 1991, and Momoh suggested a new constitution initiating multi-party state rule. His attempts to keep the country under control also involved him greatly contributing to the elimination of tribalism. Despite all of this, the publis unrest with him continued to grow and he was overthrown in a military coup in 1992, directed by an army captain by the name of Valentine Strasser. In fear Joseph Momoh fled to Guinea, where he would live the rest of his life in exile (“Joseph Momoh”).

Works Cited

“Joseph Momoh.” //Worldnews.// World News Network, 2011. Web. 4 Feb. 2011.

"Sierra Leone." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 4 Feb. 2011.