John Amadu Bangura

Brigadier

John Amadu Bangura

CBE
Birth nameJohn Amadu Bangura
Born(1930-03-08)8 March 1930
Kalangba, Karene Chiefdom, Bombali District, British Sierra Leone
Died1971 (aged 40–41)
Pademba Road Prison, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Buried
Kissy Road, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Allegiance Sierra Leone
Years of service1950–1970
Rank
Commands
  • First Battalion, Royal Sierra Leone Regiment
  • First Sierra Leone Contingent, Congo Operations of the United Nations Organization
AwardsCommander, Order of the British Empire (Military Division) (C.B.E.)
Spouse(s)Jamila Bangura
Children8
RelationsSolomon G. Seisay (cousin)
Tinga Seisay (cousin)

Brigadier John Amadu Bangura, CBE (8 March 1930 – 1971) was a Sierra Leonean who served as Chief of the Defence Staff of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces from 1968 to 1971. Prior to this in 1967, he served as the Sierra Leonean Ambassador of to the United States.[1]

He overthrew the National Reformation Council military junta, led by Andrew Juxon-Smith, in the Sergeants' Coup in 1968. He led Sierra Leone briefly before handing power to Siaka Stevens, who had won the 1967 Sierra Leonean general election and with whom he had been residing in exile with the support of Guinean president Ahmed Sékou Touré who was in support of returning Stevens to power.[2][3]

Following Stevens' increasingly authoritarian rule, Bangura attempted a coup against him in 1971, but this time the coup was unsuccessful and he was executed shortly after being captured by the military.[3][4] Stevens and the APC would go on to rule Sierra Leone as a one-party state until 1991 when multi-party politics was reintroduced.[5]

  1. ^ Henry Tucker, Sigismund (2 April 2015). From the Land of Diamonds to the Isle of Spice. Sierra Leonean Writers Series. ISBN 9789988181345. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  2. ^ Camara, Mohamed Saliou; O'Toole, Thomas; Baker, Janice E. (7 November 2013). Historical Dictionary of Guinea. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810879690. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Article 190 The Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1991