Kambia, Koinadugu, Port Loko and Tonkolili and the headquarters of the provincial administration are at Makeni.

In each of the three Provincial Headquarters towns a Resident Minister represents the Central Government. The Resident Ministers also have a seat each in the Cabinet where they represent the interests of the Provinces. The day to day administration of the Provinces is in the hands of Provincial Secretaries and the Districts are administered by District Officers. There are 147 Chiefdoms in Sierra Leone and in each of these the Chiefdom Councillors elect a Paramount Chief. District Officers are Chairmen of the Committees of Management appointed to perform the duties of the former District Councils.

Sierra Leone has three ports-Freetown, Bonthe and Pepel. The most important of these is Freetown, which is one of the largest natural harbours in the world with extensive deep water near the shore. Sierra Leone Ports Authority handled 585,602 tons of cargo and produce 432,080 tons of oil and fuel during 1973. (In 1971 the respective figures were 481,132 tons and 530,616 tons.) In the same year a total of 8,133 passengers passed through the port of Freetown, which was visited by 1,379 ships. A major extension of the deep water Queen Elizabeth II Quay, which could berth only two ships, was completed towards the end of 1969 at a total cost of £7 million. Berthing facilities for an additional four ships are now available alongside. Freetown is the only port for imports and it also exports agricultural produce. Bonthe exports piassava, coffee, bauxite, and rutile whilst Pepel is the iron ore exporting port.

Lungi international airport is on the northern bank of the Sierra Leone River opposite Freetown. Passengers are taken by ferry and bus to the airport (travelling time approximately 1 to 2 hours). The extension of the runway to 10,500 feet was completed in May 1967 and the development to International Standard 'A' was completed early in 1968. The work was financed partly by a loan of £1 million from the British Government. There are small airfields at Hastings, Bo, Kenema, Yengema, Tongo, Bonthe and Gbangbatok. Internal air services are operated by Sierra Leone Airways, using Trislander aircraft.

The railway mileage was 368 which included 57 miles of track privately owned by the Sierra Leone Development Company and used for transporting iron ore from the mines at Marampa to the port of Pepel. Except for this 57 miles the gauge is 2 ft. 6 ins. The Government has accepted the recommendation of a firm of consultants commissioned by the World Bank and the Sierra Leone Railway has been phased out. With financial assistance from Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany and the World Bank, a parallel development of the road network is being carried out. Britain has made available a loan of up to £1.8 million for the Taiama/Bo section and work has been completed under the supervision of a Crown Agents team. The Federal Republic of Germany has provided a loan of £1.5 million for the Lunsar/Makeni section and construction is under way. It is expected that the World Bank will assist financially with the Bo/Kenema section and international tenders have been called. There are 5,000 miles of road of which 2,100 miles are surfaced. A contract was signed in 1974 with the West German Government for the reconstruction of the Freetown/Waterloo Road.

Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service in Freetown serves the whole country. A new 250Kw transmitter was recently installed giving excellent reception throughout the country. Sierra Leone Television services can be received within Freetown area only but a transmitter giving a wider range will be opened in late 1975.

The Sierra Leone economy depends very largely on the export of minerals, in particular diamonds and iron ore. Diamonds are mined by the National Diamond Mining Company (Sierra Leone) Ltd. (Diminco), in which the Government has a 51 per cent shareholding. The balance of shares are held by Consolidated African Selection Trust Limited. Diminco has concessions in the Yengema and Kono districts. Outside these concessions individual Sierra Leone diggers are licensed under the alluvial diamond mining scheme. Purchases of diamonds by the Government Diamond Office during 1973 were valued at £10,710,802 as compared with £12.6 million in 1971. Exports of diamonds in 1973 totalled £32.2 million compared with £25.0 million in 1971. Iron ore is mined by the Sierra Leone Development Company (whose shares are held mainly by William Baird & Company of Glasgow) at Marampa; exports of iron ore and concentrates in 1973 were valued at £5.6 million compared with £5.7 million in 1971. The production of bauxite by Sierra Leone Ore and Metal Company Limited commenced in 1963 and exports of bauxite in 1973 were valued at £1.75 million compared to £1.25 million in 1971.

A comparatively new development is the mining of rutile and the deposits are reported to be the largest in the world. Production started in 1967 by Sherbro Minerals Limited, a USA/British venture, and exports reached a value of £1.2 million in 1971. However due to continuing financial losses, operations were suspended and Receivers were appointed. A new U.S. owned Company, Sierra Rutile Ltd was formed in February 1972 which instituted a comprehensive programme of prospecting before commencing production. A further agreement for the development of the rutile deposits was made with the Bayer Preussag Mining Company in January 1973. In December 1969 the Government announced its intention to acquire a majority shareholding in all mining companies operating in Sierra Leone but, so far, negotiations have been held and concluded only in the diamond sector.

In 1973 total imports (£63.6 million) exceeded exports (£51.8 million) by £11-8 million. Diamonds and iron ore together provided about 73 per cent of the country's export earnings. Agricultural exports, including palm kernels, coffee, cocoa, ginger, kola nuts and piassava, amounted to £10.5 million in 1973. The main imports are machinery and plant, vehicles, electrical equipment, food stuffs and mineral fuels. There are no exchange control regulations in force. The smallness of the market limits the potential for manufacturing in Sierra Leone. The estimated annual per capita income is about £55. Rice, fish and cassava are the staple foods of the population and, at present, a proportion of the total rice consumption has to be imported. The Government is now stepping up agricultural development with the assistance of the British, West German and Chinese Governments and IDA of the World Bank.

In the Government's 1974/75 Budget the development and recurrent estimates were presented together. Current revenue and expenditure are estimated at Le 86.7 million of which development expenditure is estimated at Le 33 million. Among the national projects not mentioned elsewhere is the King Tom Power Station in Freetown for which the World Bank lent the Government $3.9 million in 1968. The Guma Valley Water Scheme including the Guma Valley Dam (officially opened in 1967) which has a capacity of 4,800 million gallons was supported by a Commonwealth Development Corporation loan of £2 million in 1963. The African Development Bank have agreed to provide a

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further loan of £625,000 to extend the reservoir capacity and to duplicate the pipeline to Freetown. In 1963 another British loan was made in respect of the erection of a 2-4 megawatt hydro-electric station which came into operation in 1967.

A national Oil Refinery was completed in February 1969. It was built by a Japanese company and financed from an Israeli source. It is operated by the Government together with a consortium of five overseas oil companies and managed mainly by British expatriate staff seconded from BP Ltd. The refinery has a capacity of 10,000 barrels per day which can more than cope with Sierra Leone's requirements. The Memorandum and Articles of Association were signed in April 1970 and the agreement was ratified in March 1973.

At the end of December 1969, the International Development Association announced a loan of 3 million US dollars to assist the Sierra Leone Government in financing the extension of certain educational institutions. The Canadian International Development Agency is to provide equipment for these institutions to the value of 650,000 US dollars. The duration of the project will be three years and a Project Unit is in operation.

Sierra Leone's National Day, Republic Day, is celebrated on 19th April.

HISTORY

Before Independence, Sierra Leone consisted of the Colony, which was broadly identical with the peninsula on which Freetown stands, and the Protectorate on the mainland.

The history of modern Sierra Leone dates from 1787 when Granville Sharp and other British abolitionists, acting on a scheme proposed by Dr Henry Smeatham, purchased from a local chief named Naimbana a strip of land on the peninsula and settled on it 400 freed slaves. In 1791 a Royal Charter was granted to a Sierra Leone company, of which both Sharp and William Wilberforce were directors, and, despite difficulties with local tribesmen and with the French, more settlers were introduced, many being freed slaves from Jamaica and Nova Scotia. In 1800 the peninsula was granted to the chartered company by letters patent; and the court of directors was empowered to appoint a Governor and Council, the former having powers to make laws. In 1807, when Britain outlawed slave trading, a naval station was established at Freetown, and slaves freed in operations by the ships stationed there were brought back to the settlement. Finally in 1808 Freetown became a colony, and the jurisdiction of the company was assumed by the Crown. From 1816 to 1843 The Gambia was governed from Sierra Leone; and the Gold Coast was a dependency from 1843 to 1850.

In 1862 a large tract of coastal area including Sherbro Island was added to the colony, and as the century progressed treaties were made with neighbouring Chiefs to protect the trade of the colony with the hinterland, and British influence was thus extended. To define the geographical extent of this influence, an agreement on boundaries was made with Liberia in 1885 and with France in 1895; and in 1896 a protectorate was declared over the territories so defined. Although British law and taxation procedure were introduced, the people of the protectorate still continued to be administered indirectly through their own rulers.

CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT UNTIL INDEPENDENCE IN 1961 Until 1863 the Government of Sierra Leone consisted of a Governor and an Advisory Council comprising ex officio members and one or two appointed members.

In 1863 an Executive Council and Legislative Council were created. In 1866 Sierra Leone was joined with The Gambia, the Gold Coast and Lagos to form the West Africa Settlements with a Governor in Chief in Freetown. In 1874 Lagos and the Gold Coast jointly became a separate colony and The Gambia was separated as a colony from Sierra Leone in 1888.

In 1924, by Order in Council dated 16th January, a new and considerably enlarged Legislative Council was set up providing for elected members, and also providing for direct representation of Protectorate interests for the first time. An Order in Council in 1951 provided for a Legislative Council of thirty-two members, consisting of seven ex officio members, seven members elected from the Colony districts, twelve members elected from the Protectorate District Councils, two members elected from the Protectorate Assembly and two members nominated by the Governor, together with the Governor as President and a Vice-President. Provision was made by Royal Instruction for an Executive Council of four ex officio members and not less than four unofficial members appointed from among the elected members of the Legislative Council.

In 1953 a Ministerial system was introduced and in the next year the title of Chief Minister was accorded to the leader of the majority party in the Legislative Council.

Under a new constitution in 1956 the Legislative Council became the House of Representatives and was enlarged to consist of a Speaker, four ex officio members, fifty-one elected members and two nominated members (the last had no voting powers). In the General Election of 1957 virtually all adult males and all adult female taxpayers or property owners were eligible to vote. The Constitution was further altered in 1958 by the exclusion of ex officio members from the Executive Council and House of Representatives. The new Executive Council included eleven Ministers appointed from among the elected members of the House of Representatives. Dr (later Sir Milton) Margai, who had been Chief Minister under the previous constitutional arrangements, was appointed Prime Minister.

At the Constitutional Conference held in London from 20th April to 4th May 1960 the constitutional changes necessary before Sierra Leone became independent were agreed. Sierra Leone attained complete independence as a fully selfgoverning Member of the Commonwealth with Her Majesty The Queen as Sovereign on 27th April 1961.

CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT FROM INDEPENDENCE TO
MARCH 1967

The Constitution of Sierra Leone, contained in the Sierra Leone (Constitution) Order in Council 1961, included provision for a Governor-General appointed by Her Majesty The Queen and for a House of Representatives consisting of not less than sixty members with a Speaker elected by the members from among their own number or from persons who were qualified to become members. For an interim period until a new House of Representatives was elected the House as established by the previous Constitution remained the legislative body.

To qualify for election to the House of Representatives a person had to be a citizen of Sierra Leone, had to have attained the age of twenty-five and had to speak English well enough to be able to take an active part in the proceedings of the House. Provision was made for the establishment of an Electoral Commission of a chairman and up to four members.

Provision was made for questions coming before the House of Representatives to be determined by a majority vote of the members present and voting, except in the case of certain constitutional amendments which required a twothirds majority of all members in two successive sessions of the House, one before and the other following a dissolution. Finance Bills could only be introduced by a Minister of the Government. The House had a normal life of five years, unless sooner dissolved, and had to meet at least once a year.

Executive responsibility rested with a Cabinet of Ministers drawn from among the members of the House of Representatives. The Cabinet was presided over by a Prime Minister appointed by the Governor-General as the person likely to command the support of a majority of the members of the House. Other Ministers were appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister.

THE NATIONAL REFORMATION COUNCIL

Following a general election on 17th March 1967 the two main political parties (Sierra Leone People's Party and All People's Congress) obtained an almost equal number of seats. On 21st March, after general uncertainty about the exact result, the Governor-General appointed Mr Siaka Stevens, Leader of the A.P.C., as Prime Minister and invited him to form a government. Mr Stevens went the same day to State House, where he was detained shortly after being sworn in. That evening Brigadier Lansana, the Army Commander, broadcast a statement to the effect that, since the elections of Paramount Chiefs were only then taking place and no Party had won a majority of all 78 Chiefly and ordinary seats, the All People's Congress was attempting to seize power by force. Brigadier Lansana announced that he had, therefore, decided to protect the Constitution and to place the country under martial law.

On 23rd March, Major Charles Blake announced in a broadcast statement that he and a number of other army officers, with the Commissioner and an Assistant Commissioner of Police, had established a National Reformation Council, that the Army and Police were in complete control and that the Constitution was suspended. He explained that he and his colleagues had come to the conclusion that Brigadier Lansana was not trying to bring about a national government but to impose Sir Albert Margai as Prime Minister. To prevent this they had divested Brigadier Lansana of control and arrested him, and had also taken into custody Sir Albert Margai and Mr Siaka Stevens. The GovernorGeneral was under house arrest and all political parties were dissolved.

On 25th March 1967 a proclamation was issued which formally established the National Reformation Council, constituted as follows:-Chairman; Deputy Chairman; and not more than six other members. Under the Proclamation all the provisions of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1961 (which came into operation on 27th April 1961) which are inconsistent or in conflict with the proclamation or any law under it were deemed to have been suspended with effect from 23rd March 1967.

Under the proclamation the House of Representatives was dissolved, all political parties were dissolved and membership of political parties was prohib