General elections were held in

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 , Sierr ...

on 17 March 1967. They were won by the opposition

All People's Congress The All People's Congress (APC) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other being its main political rival the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). The APC has been the main opposition party in Sierra Leone since 4 Ap ...

, marking the first time that a ruling party had lost an election in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding white-ruled

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

).End of the Exception
Time, 31 March 1967 However, the APC was overthrown in a military coup hours after taking power. The party was later restored to office after a counter-coup the following year and established a long-standing dictatorship.

Background

Although 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 d ...

had won the previous elections in 1962, it had become increasingly unpopular, in part due to

Albert Margai Sir Albert Michael Margai (10 October 1910 – 18 December 1980) was the second prime minister of Sierra Leone and the half-brother of Milton Margai, Sir Milton Margai, the country's first Prime Minister. He was also the father of Sierra Leone ...

's unsuccessful attempts to convert the country into a

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

, accusations of corruption, and an attempt to prevent opposition parties running against him and three other SLPP candidates. There was also an ethnic dimension to the elections; the SLPP tended to be supported by the Mende, Sherbro and

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-Fula ...

, whilst the APC was more popular amongst the Temne, Susu, Loko, Mandinka and Creoles. Antagonism towards the SLPP had grown due to the Margai's promotion of several Mendes to prominent positions with the country's civil service and the fact that the group were beginning to dominate the country's army.Donald L. Horowitz (1985
''Ethnic Groups in Conflict''
/ref>

Results

Aftermath

Governor-General

Henry Josiah Lightfoot Boston Sir Henry Josiah Lightfoot Boston, GCMG (19 August 1898 – 14 December 1969) was a Sierra Leonean diplomat and politician. He was the first Sierra Leonean Governor-General of Sierra Leone. He was a member of the Creole ethnic group (descendan ...

swore in APC leader

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 ...

as the country's new

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 i ...

on 21 March. Hours later, Stevens was overthrown in a coup led by

David Lansana Brigadier David Lansana (22 March 1922 – 19 July 1975) was the first indigenous armed force commander of the Sierra Leone Military during the colonial era. After Sierra Leone gained independence, he served as Military Attaché to the United St ...

. The army put both Stevens and Boston under house arrest on the grounds that any change of government should have awaited the election of the tribal representatives to the House of Representatives. Lansana was then removed from power on 23 March by a group led

Andrew Juxon-Smith Brigadier Andrew Terence Juxon-Smith (30 November 1931 – 1996) was a Creole politician and military officer in Sierra Leone. He was briefly (27 March 1967 to 18 April 1968) Chairman of the National Reformation Council and acting Governor-Gene ...

which named themselves the National Reformation Council. They suspended the constitution and placed Margai under arrest. On 18 April 1968 a " sergeants' revolt" was carried out by the

Anti-Corruption Revolutionary Movement Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive meas ...

led by

John Amadu Bangura Brigadier John Amadu Bangura, CBE (8 March 1930 – 29 March 1970) was a Sierra Leonean who served as Chief of the Defence Staff of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces from 1968 to 1970. Prior to this in 1967, he served as the Sierra Leonean Amb ...

. NRC members were imprisoned, and other army and police officers deposed. Stevens was allowed to assume the office of Prime Minister under the restored constitution.

References

{{Sierra Leonean elections Elections in Sierra Leone

1967 in Sierra Leone Annulled elections Election and referendum articles with incomplete results