A vision for the future of Sierra Leone

On Tuesday, January 16, 1996,

I walked in to the office of the president

as Head of State
of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

I had not been elected.

Four years earlier,

I was one of of 30 heavily-armed
military officers,

all in our 20s,

who had driven from the war front

into the capital city, Freetown.

We had only one objective:

to overthrow a corrupt, repressive,
and single-party dictatorship

that had kept itself in power
for over 25 years.

But in the end, it wasn't a violent coup.

After we fired a few shots
and seized the radio station,

hundreds of thousands of citizens
jumped onto the streets

to welcome us as liberators.

If you are thinking this seems
like a movie script, I'm with you.

I was part of the ruling
military government,

and I served in several roles.

Our goal was always to return the country
to democratic civilian rule,

but after four years,

those multi-party democratic elections
had still not happened.

Citizens were beginning
to lose faith in our promise.

But you know what?

I like to keep my promises.

Some of my comrades and I
staged another military coup,

but this time against
our own head of state and commander.

Again it was a bloodless coup.

That is how I became the new military
head of state on January 16, 1996.

I was still only 31 years old.

Of course, power was sweet.

I felt invulnerable.

I had thousands of heavily armed men

and aircraft at my command.

I was heavily protected,

and I lived in luxury.

But my obligations to my nation
were always superior.

Millions of fellow citizens
were either displaced

or fleeing the violence
and pillage of war,

so I engaged in a series
of diplomatic activities

right across the sub-region,

and convinced the reclusive rebel leader

to initiate peace talks
for the very first time.

I also called a national
consultative conference

of civil society organizations
and stakeholders

to advise on the best way forward.

In both cases, I shared with them
what I believed in then and now,

that Sierra Leone is bigger than all of us

and that Sierra Leone must be a secure,
peaceful and just society

where every person can thrive

and contribute to national development.

And so I initiated peace talks
with the rebels.

I organized the first multi-party
democratic elections in nearly 30 years.

(Applause)

I handed over power

to the newly elected president,

I retired from the army,

and I left my country
for the United States of America

to study,

all in three months.

(Applause)

In many a long walk,

I wondered how we could get it
right again as a nation.

More than 20 years later,

in April 2018,

with a few more wrinkles and grey hair,

I was again head of state.

But guess what?

This time I have been
democratically elected.

(Applause)

At the polling stations last year,

my three-year old daughter
Amina was in my arms.

She insisted on holding on
to my ballot paper with me.

She was intent and focused.

At that moment,

with my ballot papers in both our hands,

I fully understood the one priority for me

if I was elected President
of the Republic of Sierra Leone:

that is, how could I make
the lives of Amina

and millions of other young girls and boys

better in our country?