Ahmad Tejan Kabbah

Who is Ahmad Tejan Kabbah?

Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was the third President of Sierra Leone from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by professions, Kabbah spent many years working for the United Nations Development Programme. He retired from the United Nations and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992.

In early 1996, Kabbah was elected leader of the Sierra Leone People's Party and the party's presidential candidate in the 1996 presidential election. He was elected President of Sierra Leone in the 1996 presidential election with 59% of the vote defeating his closest rival John Karefa-Smart of the United National People's Party who had 40% in the runoff vote and conceded defeat. International observers declared the election free and fair. In his inauguration speech in Freetown, Kabbah promised to end the civil war, which he indeed achieved later in his presidency.

An ethnic Mandingo, Kabbah was Sierra Leone's first Muslim head of state. Kabbah was born in Pendembu, Kailahun District in Eastern Sierra Leone, though he was largely raised in the capital Freetown.

Most of Kabbah's time in office was influenced by the civil war with the Revolutionary United Front, led by Foday Sankoh, which involved him being temporarily ousted by the military Armed Forces Revolutionary Council from May 1997 to March 1998. He was soon returned to power after a military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States, lead by Nigeria. Another phase of the civil war led to United Nations and British involvement in the country in 2000.