{{Short description|President of Sierra Leone from 1985-92}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Major General | name = Joseph Saidu Momoh | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|list=OOR OBE}} | image = Joseph Saidu Momoh 1988 (cropped).jpeg | caption = Momoh in 1988 | order = 2nd President of Sierra Leone | term_start = 28 November 1985 | term_end = 29 April 1992 | predecessor = Siaka Stevens | successor = Valentine Strasser | birth_date = {{birth date|1937|1|26|df=y}} | birth_place = Binkolo, Bombali District, British Sierra Leone | death_date = {{death date and age|2003|8|3|1937|1|26|df=y}} | death_place = Conakry, Guinea | spouse = Fatmata Momoh, Hannah Momoh | party = All People's Congress (APC) | vice_president = Francis Minah (1985–1987) <br /> Abu Bakar Kamara (1987–1991) <br /> Abdulai Conteh (1991–1992) | children = JS Momoh jr | allegiance = Sierra Leone | branch = Royal West African Frontier Force<br>Sierra Leone Army | service_years = 1958–1985 | rank = Major General }}
'''Joseph Saidu Momoh''' {{post-nominals|list=OOR OBE}} (26 January 1937 – 3 August 2003) was a Sierra Leonean politician and military officer who served as the second President of Sierra Leone from November 1985 to 29 April 1992.<ref name="Momoh">{{Cite book |title=Muslim Fula business elites and politics in Sierra Leone |last=Jalloh |first=Alusine |publisher=University of Rochester Press |year=2018 |isbn=9781580461146 |location=Rochester, NY |pages=176 |oclc=1006316899}}</ref>
Momoh was a member of the Limba ethnic group and briefly began a career in civil service before joining the military in 1958. Following the rise to power of Siaka Stevens, Momoh was appointed force commander in 1971, promoted to major-general in 1983, and became the secretary general of the country's sole legal party, the All People's Congress in 1985.
Stevens' retired later that year and was succeeded by Momoh after a presidential election in which Momoh was the only candidate. He inherited a deteriorating economy, but made significant improvements in combatting corruption. In foreign policy, he enjoyed positive relations with the United States and the United Kingdom. In 1991, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group incited the Sierra Leone Civil War with the goal of overthrowing him. Later that year, he introduced a new constitution allowing for a multiparty system. Despite this, he was overthrown in a coup d'état the following year led by Valentine Strasser, who cited his government's unpaid salaries and poor logistical supply to frontline soldiers fighting against the RUF as motives. He fled into exile in Guinea, where he died in 2003, one year after the end of the war.
==Early life== Joseph Saidu Momoh was born on 26 January 1937 in Binkolo, Bombali District in the Northern Province of British Sierra Leone to Limba parents.<ref name="Momoh" /> In the early 1940s, his family moved to Freetown, ultimately settling in Wilberforce.<ref name="Momoh" /> His family were Christians.<ref name="Momoh" />
From 1951 to 1955, he was educated at the West African Methodist Collegiate School.<ref name="Momoh" /> Momoh was very athletic and enjoyed playing tennis, basketball and volleyball.<ref name="Momoh" /> He played competitive football for the Young Stars FC at Makeni and Blackpool FC.<ref name="Momoh" />
He completed his education at the Government Clerks School, Technical Institute.<ref name="Momoh" />
==Career==
===Civil service===
In 1956, Momoh worked as third grade clerk in Sierra Leone's civil service.<ref name="Momoh" /> He resigned from this position in 1958 in order to join the armed forces.<ref name="Momoh" />
===Military career===
Momoh's military career began in 1958, when he enlisted in the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) as a private.<ref name="Momoh" /> He trained at the Regular Officers Training School in Ghana and the Nigerian Military Training Academy.<ref name="Momoh" /> He then travelled to the United Kingdom to train at the School of Infantry at Hythe and the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot.<ref name="Momoh" />
He was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Royal Sierra Leone Military Forces in 1963.<ref name="Momoh" /> He was elevated to the rank of major and given command at Moa Barracks, Kailahun.<ref name="Momoh" />
In 1969, Momoh became lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of the First Battalion.<ref name="Momoh" /> A year later, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel.<ref name="Momoh" />
He was appointed deputy force commander in 1971 by President Siaka Stevens, after a coup attempt by Brigadier John Amadu Bangura.<ref name="Momoh" /> Momoh succeeded Bangura as force commander in November 1971.<ref name="Momoh" />
In 1974, he was appointed minister of state with cabinet status.<ref name="Momoh" /> He became major-general in 1983.<ref name="Momoh" />
=== President of Sierra Leone ===
In 1985, Momoh became secretary-general and head of the All People's Congress (APC).<ref name="Momoh" /> The same year, he succeeded President Siaka Stevens by becoming the only candidate in a one-party election in the form of a referendum on 8 October 1985.<ref name="Momoh" />
Momoh became the second President of Sierra Leone and he served from 28 November 1985 to 29 April 1992.
Momoh declared a state of economic emergency early in his rule, granting himself greater control over Sierra Leone's economy, but he was not regarded as a dictator. Instead, his people viewed him as far too weak and inattentive to the affairs of state, allowing his notoriously corrupt advisors to manipulate matters behind the scenes.
Momoh had inherited a disintegrating economy from his predecessor and he was unable to stop the trend. The country's currency decreased in value. Sierra Leone reached the point under President Momoh where it could not afford to import gasoline and fuel oil, and the country went without electricity for months at a time.
Momoh had also inherited a system that was rife with corruption and the instability which corruption led to. Momoh took huge strides to root out graft, cronyism, embezzlement, influence peddling and extortion from within Sierra Leone's government. International observers considered him mostly successful in these endeavors. This led to him forming a good relationship with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and American President Ronald Reagan, who were encouraged by advisors to meet with Momoh and form a good partnership with him as a way of welcoming Sierra Leone out of the instability it had fallen into for so much of the 1970s and 1980s. Both leaders increased aid to Sierra Leone and increased governmental cooperation between their governments and that of Momoh's administration throughout 1987 and early 1988.<ref name="Vol 1994 pp. 139-157">Limiting Administrative Corruption in Sierra Leone by Sahr John Kpundeh - The Journal of Modern African Studies - Vol. 32, No. 1 (Mar., 1994), pp. 139-157 (19 pages)</ref>
===1987 treason trial===
On 23 March 1987, police reported that a group of conspirators was plotting to assassinate Momoh and stage a coup d'état after they raided a house in Freetown and discovered a cache of weapons, including rocket launchers.<ref name="apnews">{{Cite web |url=https://www.apnews.com/984b27b0479c90a4cb47a13106ad8120 |title=Former Vice President Convicted Of Treason, Sentenced To Death |website=AP News |access-date=2018-07-09 |archive-date=2022-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529044432/https://apnews.com/article/984b27b0479c90a4cb47a13106ad8120 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
James Bambay Kamara, the Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police, gave the order to arrest First Vice President Francis Minah, G.M.T. Kaikai, Jamil Sahid Mohamed and fifteen others.<ref name="Berewa">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4DHTu6c19YC&q=francis+minah&pg=PA84 |title=A New Perspective on Governance, Leadership, Conflict and Nation Building in Sierra Leone |last=Berewa |first=Solomon E. |date=December 2011 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781467888868 |access-date=2018-07-10}}</ref><ref name="apnews" />
Minah was a personal friend of Momoh and while he{{who|date=October 2022}} did not personally believe that Minah was involved in the plot, he did not want to oppose Inspector General Kamara.<ref name="Berewa" /> Momoh did not intervene on behalf of Minah.<ref name="Berewa" />
The treason trial went on for five months until October 1987 when the jury delivered a guilty verdict.<ref name="apnews" /> The former First Vice President and 17 others were convicted of treason and sentenced to death.<ref name="apnews" /> Jamil Sahid Mohamed escaped to Lebanon where he remained in exile.<ref name="apnews" /> They were executed on warrants signed by Momoh.<ref name="Berewa" /> A team of international oberservers from Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Algeria and South Korea all concurred that the trial was justified, and was not politically motivated.<ref name="Berewa" />
===The 1991 Persian Gulf War===
Under Momoh's leadership, Sierra Leone joined the coalition of nations that opposed Saddam Hussein's occupation of Kuwait.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/world/meast/gulf-war-fast-facts/index.html|title = Gulf War Fast Facts|website = CNN|date = 16 September 2013}}</ref>
===The SCIPA Group===
The SCIPA Group was an Israeli mineral company led by Nir Guaz that arrived in Sierra Leone in 1989.<ref name="Pham">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZnPFKpwoIkIC&q=SCIPA+diamonds&pg=PA73 |title=Child Soldiers, Adult Interests: The Global Dimensions of the Sierra Leonean Tragedy |last=Pham |first=John-Peter |date=2005 |publisher=Nova Publishers |isbn=9781594546716 |access-date=2018-07-10}}</ref> SCIPA bought its way into Momoh's favor by providing the government with loans and enabling Sierra Leone to enter into negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.<ref name="Pham" /> On Christmas Eve 1989, Momoh had Guaz arrested, charged with economic sabotage and deported from Sierra Leone.<ref name="Pham" />
In September 1991, after the start of the Sierra Leone Civil War, Momoh ushered in a new constitution which dismantled the one-party state established in 1978 and instituted multiparty democracy. He also played a great part in dissolving tribalism. He was congratulated on this by British Prime Minister John Major and American President George H. W. Bush, who both declared these reforms as "important steps towards democratization" and "essential steps forward." Momoh said John Major had proven to be a "genuine friend of Sierra Leone" and he referred to George H.W. Bush as a "great leader of the world."<ref name="Vol 1994 pp. 139-157"/>
==Military coup== {{Main|1992 Sierra Leonean coup d'état}} Momoh's efforts at reform came too late to rescue Sierra Leone from chaos. He was overthrown in a military coup staged by Valentine Strasser, a 25-year-old army captain, in April 1992.
In April 1992, a group of young soldiers marched to Freetown from the war front where they had been fighting the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) led by Foday Sankoh.<ref name="SEM">{{Cite web |url=http://sierraexpressmedia.com/?p=56435 |title=Was the 1992 coup a blessing or a curse for Sierra Leone? |last=Mansaray |first=Ibrahim Sourie |date=2013 |access-date=2018-06-17}}</ref> Incensed by terrible working conditions, unpaid salaries and a lack of government support they staged a coup d'état.<ref name="SEM" />
On 29 April 1992, the soldiers, led by Captain Valentine Strasser announced the military coup on the radio.<ref name="SEM" />
Momoh fled to Guinea and sought political asylum.<ref name="SEM" />
==Exile and death==
Momoh was granted political asylum in neighboring Guinea by President Lansana Conté.<ref name="F. Neppie">{{Cite web|url=http://cocorioko.net/on-ex-president-momohs-will-wife-reveals-it-all/|title=On Ex-President Momoh's will. Wife reveals it all|date=2005-12-24|website=cocorioko.net|access-date=2018-06-18}}</ref> He took up residence in a mansion in Nongo Tadi, Conakry.<ref name="F. Neppie" /> Momoh died on 3 August 2003 at the age of 66, Momoh spent the last years of his life as a guest of the military government in Guinea. Foday Sankoh had died a few days earlier.
==Honours==
In 1971, Momoh was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.<ref name="Momoh"/> He was decorated as an Officer of the Order of the Rokel in 1974 by President Siaka Stevens.<ref name="Momoh" />
* {{flagicon|Sierra Leone}} Sierra Leone: Order of the Rokel (1974)<ref name="Momoh" /> * {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Kingdom: Order of the British Empire (1971)<ref name="Momoh" />
==References==
{{reflist}} * Reno, William. Corruption and State Politics in Sierra Leone (New York: Cambridge University Press), 1995. * Tuchscherer, Konrad. “Joseph Saidu Momoh,” Encyclopedia of Modern Dictators, ed. by Frank J. Coppa (New York: Peter Lang), 2006, pp. 189–191. * Tuchscherer, Konrad. “Joseph Saidu Momoh: A Legacy of Missed Opportunity,” Awoko (Freetown, Sierra Leone), 25 July 2003, p. 7. * Tuchscherer, Konrad. “Joseph Saidu Momoh: Human Rights,” Daily Observer (Banjul, The Gambia), 14 August 2003, p. 12.
==External links== * [http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Newsletters/irinw598.html News about his release], IRIN November 1999
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{{Presidents, Sierra Leone}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Momoh, Joseph Saidu}} Category:1937 births Category:2003 deaths Category:People from Bombali District Category:Limba people (Sierra Leone) Category:Sierra Leonean Christians Category:All People's Congress politicians Category:Presidents of Sierra Leone Category:20th-century Sierra Leonean politicians Category:Sierra Leonean military personnel Category:Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School Category:Leaders ousted by a coup Category:Sierra Leonean exiles