Valentine Esegragbo Melvine Strasser (born 26 April 1967) is a former Sierra Leonean military officer who served as
head of state
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
of
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
from 1992 to 1996. He became the world's youngest head of state in 1992, seizing power three days after his 25th birthday.
Strasser was born and raised in the neighbourhood of
Allen Town in the east end of Sierra Leone's capital
Freetown
Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...
to
Creole parents. He
enlisted in the
Republic of Sierra Leone Military Forces (RSLMF) at age eighteen, immediately after graduating from
secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
. In the context of the
Sierra Leone Civil War which had erupted in the previous year, he led a
coup d'état in 1992 which overthrew president
Joseph Saidu Momoh. He then established the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC)
military junta
A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...
. During the war, he hired
Executive Outcomes, a South African mercenary firm to repel the
Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group.
As the war continued, after nearly four years in power, Strasser was ousted in a second
military coup in 1996, led by his deputy,
Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio
Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician and former army officer who has served as the 5th president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military ...
. Following his overthrow, he lived in England where he unsuccessfully sought asylum. He later unsuccessfully attempted to enter
the Gambia
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
in 2000 before eventually returning to Sierra Leone.
Early life
Valentine Esegragbo Melvin Strasser was born on 26 April 1967 in
Freetown
Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...
, the capital of Sierra Leone, to parents from the
Creole ethnic group. At the time of Strasser's birth, Sir
Albert Margai was the Prime Minister of Sierra Leone when the country was a
parliamentary government. Strasser grew up in the neighbourhood of
Allen Town, in the extreme East End of Freetown.
Strasser completed his secondary education at the Sierra Leone Grammar School in Freetown and graduated in 1985 at age eighteen. While in secondary school, Strasser was a gifted student in
math and
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
.
Military career
On graduation from secondary school in 1985, he
enlisted in the
Republic of Sierra Leone Military Forces (RSLMF) at the age of eighteen during the government of President
Siaka Stevens, and was deployed for military training as a
cadet officer at the Benguema Military Training Academy in
Benguema, a town located just outside Freetown. After his training, he was commissioned into the Sierra Leone army at the young age of nineteen. He was posted to a
military barracks in
Daru,
Kailahun District in Eastern Sierra Leone.
The
Revolutionary United Front (RUF) led by
Foday Sankoh began their first attack on 25 March 1991 in Buedu villages in Kailahun District. Strasser and other soldiers who were already in a military barracks in Kailahun, were sent to command and rout the rebellion against the RUF.
Before President Momoh was removed by his successor, Valentine Strasser fought against the Liberian invasion in Sierra Leone, particularly in the East and South of Sierra Leone. Strasser in his fight had to go up against domestic rebels, also known as sobels. President Momoh's presidency was not long-lasting because he denied the demands of the people of Sierra Leone who at the time of his regime wanted a more cooperative political system and thought Momoh provided nothing different than his predecessor.”
1992 coup and tenure as head of state
During Strasser's time at the war front in Kailahun District against the RUF, the Government of Sierra Leone led by president
Joseph Saidu Momoh hardly supplied enough boots to the soldiers and the necessary military equipment to help fortify Strasser and his fellow soldiers in the war against the RUF. The soldiers never received their salaries on time and their welfare was hardly at the top of the government's list of priorities.
After many appeals, warnings or threats, the young soldiers decided to march down in their combat from
Kailahun to the
State House in Freetown on 29 April 1992, to protest about their setbacks in pursuing the war, demanding their outstanding salaries. The group of soldiers was led by Strasser himself and his two best friends and fellow soldiers
Seargent Solomon Musa and
Captain Sahr Sandy. The appearance of the soldiers in the capital city forced president Momoh to flee the country and he went into
exile
Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
in
Conakry
Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973.
The current population of C ...
, Guinea. This power vacuum motivated Strasser and his men to seize power, forming the NPRC, with Strasser as its leader and the
Head of State
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
of the country. Strasser became the youngest
Head of State
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
in the world at just twenty five years old.
1996 coup
In January 1996, after nearly four years in power, Strasser was ousted in another
military coup, but this time it was his own NPRC members who were not satisfied with his handling of the peace process. The coup was led by his deputy,
Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio
Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician and former army officer who has served as the 5th president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. He is a retired brigadier in the Sierra Leone Army and was the military ...
, along with Colonel
Tom Nyuma and Captain
Komba Mondeh. Bio quickly rose as the leader of the coup, with the support of Nyuma and Mondeh and took over as Head of State of Sierra Leone.
Post-leadership
Following his overthrow, Strasser was given a fellowship by the UN to study law at the
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...
in
Coventry
Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
, England, but stopped his studies after 18 months. In 2000, Strasser's application for asylum in England was rejected; he then left for
the Gambia
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
, only to be denied entry. He eventually returned to Sierra Leone, where he lived in poverty on a small pension in
Grafton, east of Freetown,
and worked at the
ICT Institute providing computer skills for youths.
In January 2019, he fell gravely ill and was flown to
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
for treatment. His left leg was partially amputated due to
peripheral artery disease. After undergoing rehabilitation, he returned to Sierra Leone in July 2021, and received an apartment from President Bio. Amadu Makalo Koita, a member of the opposition
All People's Congress, later alleged that the government was keeping Strasser under
house arrest
House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strasser, Valentine
1967 births
Living people
Politicians from Freetown
Sierra Leonean politicians
Leaders who took power by coup
Leaders ousted by a coup
Alumni of the University of Warwick
Sierra Leone Creole people
Sierra Leonean Christians
People of the Sierra Leone Civil War
Sierra Leonean military personnel
Sierra Leonean amputees
20th-century Sierra Leonean politicians