COLONIAL PERIOD

1787 The British government bans slavery on British soil and establishes the port and settlement of the Province of Freedom, later Freetown, to which it can ‘repatriate freed slaves from its settler colonies. The British maintain the area around Freetown as a colony. 1896 The British government proclaims the interior of Sierra Leone to be a protectorate and administers it indirectly through cooperative chiefs.

1951 Formation of Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

1957 SLPP wins national elections. Milton Margai becomes president.

INDEPENDENCE AND LEAD-UP TO WAR

1961 Independence.

1962 SLPP wins national elections.

1964 President Milton Margai dies. His brother, Albert Margai, succeeds him.

1967 All People's Congress (APC) wins national elections. APC government is formed in 1968 with Siaka Stevens as the new president.

1970 Former APC supporters, led by John Karefa Smart, break off to form the United Democratic Party (UDP). Senior officers, notably Army Force Commander John Bangura, who are thought to be sympathetic to the UDP, are forced to retire.

1971 Bangura and a group of army officers, including Foday Sankoh, are implicated in a failed coup. Bangura and three other officers are executed. Sierra Leone becomes a republic and a de facto one party state.

Mid-1970s Libyan government becomes increasingly involved in Sierra Leone. It funds Green Book study groups at Fourah Bay College which espouses a populist, revolutionary and anti-imperialist ideology. 1978 National elections increasingly violent. Sierra Leone becomes legal one-party state.

1982 National elections extremely violent. Entire villages are destroyed. Villagers in Ndorgboryosoi, Pujehun, challenge government's imposed candidate and the government sends security forces. This remains a source of local anger.

1985 Student demonstration at Fourah Bay College. Student Union president Alie Kabba and four others are arrested and expelled. After their release they move to Ghana where Kabba becomes Ghadafi's Sierra Leonean contact person. President Stevens retires and is succeeded by Brigadier Joseph Saidu Momoh. 1987 High inflation and plunging diamond revenues. IMF forces Momoh to agree to strict austerity measures, including a drastic reduction in rice subsidies.