Sir Milton Augustus Strieby Margai (7 December 1895 – 28 April 1964) was a
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
an medical doctor and politician who served as the country's
head of government
The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...
from 1954 until his death in 1964.
He was titled
chief minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
from 1954 to 1960, and then
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
from 1961 onwards.
Margai studied medicine in England, and upon returning to homeland became a prominent public health campaigner. He entered politics as the founder and inaugural leader of the
Sierra Leone People's Party
The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with its main political rival the All People's Congress (APC). It has been the ruling party in Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. The SLPP do ...
. Margai oversaw Sierra Leone's transition to independence, which occurred in 1961. He died in office aged 68, and was succeeded as prime minister by his brother
Albert
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Alber ...
.
Margai enjoyed the support of Sierra Leoneans across classes, who respected his moderate style, friendly demeanor, and political savvy.
Early life
Margai was born on 7 December 1895 in the village of
Gbangbatoke Gbangbatoke is a small town in Moyamba District in the Southern Province, Sierra Leone, Southern province of Sierra Leone. The town is best known for being the birthplace of two of Sierra Leone's most prominent politicians, Sir Milton Margai and Sir ...
,
Moyamba District
Moyamba District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone, with a population of 318,064 in the 2015 census. Its capital and largest city is Moyamba. The other major towns include Njala, Rotifunk and Shenge. The district is the la ...
, in the
Southern Province of
British Sierra Leone
The Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone (informally British Sierra Leone) was the British colonial administration in Sierra Leone from 1808 to 1961, part of the British Empire from the abolitionism era until the decolonisation era. The Crow ...
to
Mende parents.
He was the oldest of eighteen children.
At the time of his birth, Sierra Leone was a British protectorate.
His father was M.E.S. Margai, an affluent trader from
Bonthe District
Bonthe District is a district that comprises several islands and mainland of the Atlantic Ocean in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Bonthe is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Its capital is the town of Bonthe Island and its la ...
.
His grandfather was a Mende warrior chief.
Margai received his primary education at the Evangelical United Brethren School in
Bonthe
Bonthe is a coastal town located on Sherbro Island in Bonthe District in the southern Province of Sierra Leone. The town lies on the eastern shore of Sherbro Island, on the Sherbro River estuary. Bonthe is about 60 miles south-west of Bo and 187 ...
,
Bonthe District
Bonthe District is a district that comprises several islands and mainland of the Atlantic Ocean in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Bonthe is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Its capital is the town of Bonthe Island and its la ...
.
He graduated from the
Albert Academy
The Albert Academy (AA) is a secondary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
The school's motto is ''Esse Quam Vederi'' (Rather to be than to Seem). It is situated at Berry Street in Freetown. Among its alumni are Sierra Leone's first Prime Minister ...
in
Freetown
Freetown is the 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, educational and p ...
.
In 1921, Margai earned his bachelor's degree in history from
Fourah Bay College
Fourah Bay College is a public university in the neighbourhood of Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Founded on 18 February 1827, it is the first western-style university built in Sub-Saharan Africa and, furthermore, the first university-le ...
.
Margai went to medical school in England and graduated as a medical doctor from the
Durham University College of Medicine (which went on to become
Newcastle University Medical School
Newcastle University School of Medicine is the medical school at Newcastle University in England. It was established in 1834 in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and served as the College of Medicine in connection with Durham University from 1851 ...
) in 1926. Margai also attended the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
He became the first doctor from the protectorate. He was the first protectorate man to become a medical doctor.
Margai also played the piano, violin and organ.
Medical career
Margai returned to Sierra Leone in 1928 after earning his medical degree and enjoyed an exceptional career in the Colonial Medical Service.
He served in 11 of 12 districts in the protectorate.
He waged informational campaigns on social welfare and hygiene.
Women's health reform
Margai trained health care workers to instruct female community leaders in the Mende women's religion, the Sande.
The Sande religion served as a facilitation system of practical knowledge about midwifery passed down by generations of women in the region.
In 1948, Margai wrote an article for ''African Affairs'' entitled "Welfare Work in a Secret Society," in which he discusses his successes in establishing a series of training camps which taught hygiene and domestic skills to young female Sande initiates. In the article, Margai states "It is simply natural that such a society, when correctly approached, will not be very much averse to the idea of infusing in its teachings a correct and more up-to-date information on the subjects it has been trying to teach, provided it does not interfere or expose the secrets of the society."
Working in concert with local women's groups, Margai helped introduce health and hygiene training into puberty initiation ceremonies.
He also trained midwives and was the author of an instruction manual on midwifery in the Mende language.
The women whom Margai trained became known as "Mamma Nurses," and were respected for their prowess in midwifery due to Margai's training.
Political career
Early work
Margai's entry into politics occurred in the 1930s when he became a nonchief member of the Protectorate assembly representing the Bonthe region.
By 1950, he was in charge of the Sierra Leone Organization Society.
In 1951, Margai founded the nationalist
Sierra Leone People's Party
The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with its main political rival the All People's Congress (APC). It has been the ruling party in Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. The SLPP do ...
(SLPP) with
Siaka Stevens
Siaka Probyn Stevens (24 August 1905 – 29 May 1988) was the leader of Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1985, serving as Prime Minister of Sierra Leone, Prime Minister from 1967 to 1971 and as President from 1971 to 1985. Stevens' leadership was ofte ...
, which won the
1951 election to the Legislative Council. After heading the departments of Health, Agriculture, and Forestry, Margai was elected chief minister in 1954. Although the SLPP won
elections again in 1957, the following year Margai's leadership of the party was challenged by his younger brother,
Albert
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Alber ...
, but even though he narrowly won the internal party election, he declined the leadership of the party, and left to form the opposition People's National Party, rejoining his brother in a coalition government in 1960.
Path to independence
Though Margai was pro-British and conservative in his political views, he felt that Sierra Leone would fare better as a self-determined state.
[Advocate Nations of Africa: Sierra Leone](_blank)
In 1951, Margai oversaw the drafting of a new constitution which triggered the process of
decolonisation
Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
.
In 1953, Sierra Leone was granted local ministerial powers and Margai was made Chief Minister.
The new constitution ensured Sierra Leone a parliamentary system within the Commonwealth of Nations and was formally adopted in 1958.
Margai led the Sierra Leonean delegation at the constitutional conferences that were held with British Colonial Secretary
Iain Macleod
Iain Norman Macleod (11 November 1913 – 20 July 1970) was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.
A playboy and professional bridge player in his twenties, after war service Macleod worked for the Conservative Researc ...
in London in 1960.
On 27 April 1961, Milton Margai led Sierra Leone to independence from the United Kingdom.
The nation held its
first general elections on 27 May 1962 and Margai was elected Sierra Leone's first Prime Minister by a landslide.
His party, the
Sierra Leone People's Party
The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with its main political rival the All People's Congress (APC). It has been the ruling party in Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. The SLPP do ...
(SLPP) won majority of seat in parliament.
Margai then sought to heal divides between Sierra Leone's ethnic groups, as several northern ethnic groups felt underrepresented in the SLPP. To ameliorate their concerns, Margai appointed several elites from northern ethnic groups to key ministerial positions. However, this did little to lessen poverty in the north, and forced the SLPP to engage in clientelism in order to ease tensions with northern ethnic leaders.
Premiership
While Margai was only Prime Minister for three years, he served as a crucial first figurehead for Sierra Leone at the time of democratisation.
In large part, Margai sought to unite the country and build a sense of national identity while becoming a member of the British Commonwealth.
Margai was critical of colonialism as such, but also sought to give "credit where it was due," saying that if more colonial administrators "had been like Beresford-Stooke,
Hodson,
Wilkinson Wilkinson may refer to:
People
* Wilkinson (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
Places in the United States
* Wilkinson, Illinois
* Wilkinson, Indiana, a town in Hancock County
* Wilkinson, Minnesota
* Wilkinson, Mis ...
and
Ransford Slater Sir Alexander Ransford Slater (28 November 1874 – 1940) was a British colonial administrator, who served as governor of Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and Jamaica.
Biography
The son of Rev. C. S. Slater, Plymouth, Slater was educated at King E ...
, colonialism would have had a better reputation. However, most simply were not." He also singled out the referendums held by
Leslie Probyn
Sir Leslie Probyn (23 February 1862 – 17 December 1938) was an administrator for the British Empire.
Career
Probyn was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1884.
He began his career as a British colonial administrator in the Caribbean. F ...
as a point of praise.
Margai sought good relations with the British government after independence. He said he felt "genuine respect" from Prime Minister
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...
and that "the respect was mutual."
Margai gained the respect of the country's large illiterate population for his reputation as a skilled explainer. He also garnered support from local chiefs, who wielded significant social power at the time, because they respected the work he had done to achieve independence for the country.
However, Margai faced criticism for suppressing the political activities of the All People's Congress (APC), Sierra Leone's opposition political party.
Margai focused heavily on modernisation, particularly in the areas of education, health, and agriculture.
Margai allowed local councils and governments to spearhead many improvement projects, but they were ultimately accountable to the central government, and Margai sometimes withheld funding from councils controlled by the opposition party.
When Margai became Prime Minister, he left control of the Sierra Leonean national army in the hands of the British.
Slowly, Margai gave more control of the army over to Sierra Leoneans, and by 1964, the army was fairly ethnically heterogenous, with 26% of officers being Mende, 12% Temne, and 64% other groups.
Once Margai died, however, his brother Sir Albert Margai took power and sought to make the army homogeneously Mende.
Margai struggled to handle issues of illegal immigration of the Fula people from Guinea.
In 1962, his government rounded up several "strangers" under the assumption that they were illegal immigrants from Guinea, but released them upon learning they were local chiefs.
Legacy
Today, Sierra Leoneans regard Sir Milton Margai as a man of honesty and high principle, and look back to his time in office as a period of prosperity and social harmony. In 1964, Sierra Leone released ½, 1, 5, 10 and 20 cent coins, all of which featured portraits of Margai.
Sir Milton Margai School for the Blind
In 1961, Margai appealed for funding to build a school for the blind in
Freetown
Freetown is the 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, educational and p ...
.
In 1962, he set the foundation stone for the building at Wilkinson Road.
The school motto is: "We cannot see but we will conquer".
In 2006, the school was the subject of a three-part documentary on
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
. The Milton Margai School for the Blind Choir has toured the UK twice in 2003 and 2006.
Milton Margai College of Education and Technology
In 1963, the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology was established.
[Milton Margai Old Students Association](_blank)
The first incarnation of the school was the Milton Margai Teacher's College
but as the school grew and the curriculum expanded the name was changed to the Milton Margai College of Education.
In 2000, the school merged with the Freetown Technical Institute.
See also
*
Sierra Leone People's Party
The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with its main political rival the All People's Congress (APC). It has been the ruling party in Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. The SLPP do ...
*
Sir Albert Margai
*
Charles Margai
Charles Francis Kondo Margai (born 19 August 1945) is a Sierra Leonean politician and lawyer, constitutional lawyer who served as Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Sierra Leone in 2018.
Margai is a former candidate for the office of Pr ...
*
List of Durham University people
This is a list of people associated with Durham University, divided for user convenience into multiple subcategories. This includes alumni, those who have taught there, conducted research there or played a part in its founding.
Durham is a coll ...
References
External links
Sir Milton Margai School for the Blind
{{DEFAULTSORT:Margai, Milton
1895 births
1964 deaths
Fourah Bay College alumni
Knights Bachelor
Sherbro people
Evangelical United Brethren Church
Sierra Leonean knights
Sierra Leonean Methodists
Members of the Legislative Council of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone People's Party politicians
Alumni of Durham University College of Medicine
Prime Ministers of Sierra Leone
Mende people
Margai family (Sierra Leone)
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
20th-century Sierra Leonean physicians
People from Moyamba District
Agriculture ministers of Sierra Leone
Forestry ministers of Sierra Leone
Health ministers of Sierra Leone