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'''Siaka Probyn Stevens''' (24_August 1905–29_May 1988) was a Sierra_Leonean politician and former president.
==Early Life==
Born in Moyamba, he completed secondary school at Albert Academy in Freetown before joining the Sierra Leone Police Force. From 1923 to 1930, Stevens rose to the rank of First Class Sergeant and Musketry Instructor.
From 1931 to 1946, he worked on the construction of the Sierra Leone Development Company (DELCO) railway, linking the Port of Pepel with the Iron_ore mines at Marampa. In 1943, he helped co-found the United Mine Workers Union and was appointed to the Protectorate Assembly in 1946 to represent worker interests. In 1947, Stevens studied Labor_relations at the Ruskin College of Oxford University.
==Political Career==
In 1951, Stevens co-founded the Sierra_Leone_People's_Party (SLPP) and was elected to the Legislative Council. A year later, he became Sierra Leone's first minister of Mines, Lands, and Labor. In 1957, he was elected to the House of Representatives as a member for Port Loko constituency, but lost his seat as a result of an election petition.
After disagreements with the SLPP leadership, Stevens broke ties with the party and founded the People's National Party (PNP), of which he was the first secretary-general and deputy leader. In 1959, he participated in independence talks in London. When the talks concluded, however, he was the only delegate who refused to sign the agreement on the grounds that there had been a secret defense pact between Sierra Leone and the United_Kingdom. Another point of contention was the Sierra Leonean government's position that there would be no elections held before independence, which would effectively shut him out of the political process. He was promptly expelled from the PNP upon his return from the talks. Stevens then launched the Elections_Before_Independence_Movement (EBIM), which was later transformed into the All_People's_Congress (APC).
After successfully exploiting the disenchantment of northern and eastern ethnic groups with the SLPP, along with the creation of an alliance with the Sierra_Leone_Progressive_Independence_Movement (SLPIM), the APC became the main opposition party following elections held in 1962. Stevens was later elected Mayor of Freetown.
==Interrupted Premiership==
In elections held on 17_May 1967, the APC won and Stevens was appointed Prime Minsiter, but he was arrested only days after taking office during a military Coup.
After a brief period of military rule, Stevens reassumed the post of Prime Minister on 26_April 1968. In April 1971, a republican constitution was introduced. He became President of the Republic a day after the constitution was ratified by the House of Representatives.
==The Stevens Presidency==
In 1973, the first elections under the new constitution were held. The polls were marred by violence and were boycotted by the SLPP, which gave the APC all 85 seats in the House of Representatives. Stevens was re-elected President unopposed by the House in March 1976.
Throughout the remainder of the 1970's, he continued to consolidate his power, which culminated in a 1978 referendum on a new constitution that would create a single-party state. On 12_June, 97.1% of voters approved the constitution. All opposition members of the House of Representatives had to join the APC or lose their seats. Stevens, two years after being re-elected for a five year term, was sworn in for a further term of seven years.
Spearheading the movements for African Unity and Nonalignment, he served as Chairman of the Organization_of_African_Unity (OAU) from 1_July 1980 to 24_June 1981, and engineered the creation of the Mano_River_Union, a three country economic federation of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.
He thwarted several Coup and Assassination attempts and was criticized by some as running a corrupt government that was incapable of improving the economy.
==Retirement==
Stevens retired from office at the end of his term on 28_October 1985. After pressuring all other potential successors to step aside, Major-General Joseph_Saidu_Momoh was sworn in as the new President of the Republic.
He died on 29_May 1988 in Freetown.
==External links==
*Siaka Stevens Website
*Siaka Stevens Biography
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{{succession box|title=Prime Minister of Sierra Leone|before=Albert_Margai|after=Christopher_Cole|years=1968–1971}}
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{{succession box|title=President of Sierra Leone|before=Christopher_Cole|after=Joseph_Saidu_Momoh|years=1971–1985}}
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