Banja Tejan-Sie

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Sir Banja Tejan-Sie (7 August 1917- 8 August 2000) was a politician and lawyer in Sierra Leone and one of the "founding fathers" of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). Tejan-Sie was born in Moyamba District (in the current Southern Province) to a famous Muslim cleric and scholar of the same name. Tejan-Sie was educated at the Bo School and the Prince of Wales School before continuing his education at the London School of Economics and Lincoln's Inn, where he was called to the bar in 1951.

[edit] Political career

In 1951, Tejan-Sie lost an election for a seat in the Parliament. Despite this, Tejan-Sie was appointed as one of two National Vice Presidents of SLPP in 1953. However, in 1957, after losing his second election, Tejan-Sie began a career in the judiciary. In 1962, Tejan-Sie was elected to the position made empty in the legislature of Speaker of the House by Henry Josiah Lightfoot Boston, who became Governor-General. In 1967, a military coup overthrew the government and set up the National Reformation Council. Tejan-Sie was appointed to the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which he held until 1968. In that same year, when civilian control was restored, Tejan-Sie was appointed to the position of Governor-General. In 1971, when Sierra Leone was declared a republic, Tejan-Sie went into exile in England, where lived for the duration of his life, although he did visit Sierra Leone again in 1987 at the behest of then President Joseph Saidu Momoh.