The State House is the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the

president of Sierra Leone The president of the Republic of Sierra Leone is the head of state and the head of government of Sierra Leone, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. As the head of the executive branch of the Sierra Leone government, the pre ...

. It is home to the offices of the president, senior presidential staff and associated aides. The State House is located at State Avenue,

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

, in central

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 ...

History

The State House is located on State Avenue,

, in central

. It stands on the site of Fort Thornton, built from ca. 1792 to 1805 and named after Henry Thornton. Inside of it was Government House, the seat of the British governor. Although it was being continually repaired and

Jane Drew Dame Jane Drew (24 March 1911 – 27 July 1996) was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the Architectural Association School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Moder ...

made alterations to it after the war, it was soon after considered "to be nearing the end of its useful life". In 1949 plans for a new Government House were presented to the public. They had been prepared by the senior architect of the Public Works Department, Robin Halliday Macartney, who was entirely responsible for the design and the construction. After several delays the building was finished in 1954 and the governor, Sir Robert Hall, moved in in February. At the express wish of the governor, "the fortification walls should be retained on account of their aesthetic and historical value." Therefore, the walls were declared National Monuments in 1949. As the old walls were of uncertain strength, "it was deemed prudent to place no great load on them". The old bastion walls can be seen from the gate. The lions on the gateposts have also been taken over from the old Government House. Thus the building harmoniously combines the old and the new. It consists of "two wings pivoted on a central tower" which houses a spiral staircase with a mosaic of the world at the bottom. The two wings are asymmetrical in design, with an open facade at the front, creating a sense of lightness and buoyancy. When completed, the new Government House was one of the highest buildings in Freetown, a modern counterpart to the nearby

Law Courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts genera ...

of 1910. From 1976 on, the State House, as it was now called, received an extension which changed the original impression.''The Sierra Leone Gazette'', vol. 107, 1976, p. 879. During the colonial period it was used as the residence of the

governor of Sierra Leone This is a list of colonial administrators in Sierra Leone from the establishment of the Cline Town, Sierra Leone, Province of Freedom Colony by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor which lasted between 1787 and 1789 and the list of colon ...

. It was the official residence of the

prime minister of Sierra Leone This is a list of heads of government of Sierra Leone, from the establishment of the office of Chief Minister in 1954 until the present day. The office of Prime Minister was abolished after the constitutional referendum in 1978, and reinstate ...

from 1961 to 1971, after which it became the residence of the president.

Security

As the residence of the president of Sierra Leone, the State House is constantly protected by the Presidential Guard. The guard is a special unit of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. The

Sierra Leone Police The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) is the national police force of the Republic of Sierra Leone. It is primarily responsible for law enforcement and crime investigation throughout Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Police is under the jurisdiction of ...

, who are responsible for road traffic control around the State House, clear traffic and assist with security when the presidential

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

moves within any part of the country. The State House is closed to the general

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

, and only authorized persons and vehicles are permitted access.

Staff

The president's senior staff members have offices inside the State House. These include the office of the president's chief minister,

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

, and the presidential

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dutie ...

. The offices of the aide de camp to the president, the Ministry of Political Affairs, the national security adviser to the president, the senior political advisors to the president, and the senior economic advisers to the president are all located with the State House.

References

External links

Official website
of the Republic of Sierra Leone State House {{Presidential Palaces in Africa , state=collapsed Buildings and structures in Freetown Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth Official residences Government buildings completed in 1895 Houses completed in 1895 Tower Hill (Sierra Leone)