President of Sierra Leone
| President of the Republic of Sierra Leone | |
|---|---|
 Presidential standard | |
| Style | His/Her Excellency |
| Residence | State House (official workplace) State Lodge (official residence) |
| Term length | Five years (renewable once) |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Sierra Leone |
| Precursor | Queen of Sierra Leone |
| Formation | 19 April 1971 |
| First holder | Christopher Okoro Cole (acting) |
| Deputy | Vice President of Sierra Leone |
| Salary | 12,220 USD annually[1] |
| Website | http://www.statehouse.gov.sl/ |
 |
|---|
 Sierra Leone portal |
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. The president of Sierra Leone is formally addressed as His Excellency.
Term
The president is elected by popular vote for a term of five years. He can serve a maximum of two terms, whether or not they are consecutive. For example, if incumbent president Julius Maada Bio were to leave office in 2023, he could run again in 2028, but would no longer be eligible for office from 2033.
Election
Presidential candidates must be Sierra Leonean citizens by birth who are at least 40 years old, able to speak and read English, be a member of a political party, and possess the qualifications to be elected to Parliament. Presidential candidates must win at least 55 percent of the vote in order to be elected in a single round. If no candidate gets the 55 percent requirement, there is a second-round runoff between the top two candidates with the most votes in the first round. 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.[2]
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 residences. 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.[3]
The current president Julius Maada Wonie Bio uses the State Lodge at Hill Station as his official residence.[4] 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
See also
- List of colonial governors of Sierra Leone
- List of heads of state of Sierra Leone
- List of heads of government of Sierra Leone
References
- ^ "The highest and lowest paid African presidents - Business Daily". Business Daily. 27 December 2020.
- ^ BBC country profile
- ^ "Sierra Leone News - Global Times Online – Government Acquires Kabasa Lodge". Archived from the original on 2012-09-22. Retrieved 2012-10-18.
- ^ "Sierra Leone President Koroma Says his Vice is a Patriot | IndepthAfrica". indepthafrica.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-17.
| Queen (1961–1971) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| President of the First Republic (1971–1992) | ||
| Military regime (1992–1996) | ||
| President of the Second Republic (1996–1997) | ||
| Military regime (1997–1998) | ||
| President of the Second Republic (since 1998) | ||
*Acting President | ||
