How this 19-year-old African boy became the world's youngest President by mistake.
On April 26, 1967, Valentine Esegragbo Melvine Strasser was born. He was a former military
officer who served as President of Sierra Leone from 1992 to 1996. After previously serving as a
junior military commander, he became the world's youngest Head of State in 1992, three days after
his 25th birthday. He was the leader of a gang of six young Sierra Leonean soldiers who overthrew
President Joseph Saidu Momoh in the 1992 Sierra Leonean coup. They established a military junta,
the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). After nearly four years in office,
Strasser was deposed in a second military coup led by his deputy, Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio,
in January 1996. Strasser is one of only two Sierra Leonean heads of state who were born after
the country's independence (the other is Julius Maada Bio). He is also Sierra Leone's second Krio
to be elected President. Strasser was born to Creole parents in the Allen Town neighborhood
of Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. He enlisted in the Republic of Sierra Leone Military Forces
(RSLMF) at the age of eighteen after graduating from secondary school.
Thank you for joining us on another day of Africa Reloaded. Today we will delve
into the life of Valentine Esegragbo Melvine Strasser, the world's youngest
Sierra Leonean President. Take a seat and relax as we make this unexpected discovery.
Valentine Esegragbo’s Early Life. Valentine Esegragbo is a musician
from Nigeria. Melvin Strasser was born on April 26, 1967, in Freetown, Sierra Leone,
to Creole parents. At the time of Strasser's birth, Sir Albert Margai was the Prime Minister
of Sierra Leone, which was governed by a parliamentary government. Strasser grew
up in Freetown's extreme East End's Allen Town neighborhood. Strasser completed his secondary
education at the Sierra Leone Grammar School in Freetown in 1985, at the age of eighteen.
During his secondary school years, Strasser excelled in math and chemistry.
His Military Career. After graduating from secondary school in 1985,
he enlisted in the Republic of Sierra Leone Military Forces (RSLMF) at the age of eighteen
and was assigned to the Benguema Military Training Academy in Benguema, a town just
outside of Freetown, for military training as a cadet officer. After completing his training,
he was commissioned into the Sierra Leone army at the age of nineteen. He was assigned to a military
barracks in Daru, Kailahun District, Eastern Sierra Leone. The Revolutionary United Front
(RUF), led by Foday Sankoh, launched their first attack in Kailahun District's Buedu villages on
March 25, 1991. Strasser and other troops were brought there from a military base in Kailahun.
Valentine Strasser fought in Sierra Leone against the Liberian invasion,
primarily in the east and south, before President Momoh was deposed by his successor.
In his fight, Strasser had to deal with domestic rebels, also known as sobels. President Momoh's
reign was brief because he refused to listen to Sierra Leoneans at the time, who desired a
more cooperative political system and believed Momoh delivered no more than his predecessor."
The 1992 Coup And Head of State of Sierra Leone. During Strasser's time fighting the RUF in
Kailahun District, the Sierra Leone government, led by President Joseph Saidu Momoh, lacked
adequate boots and military equipment to help Strasser and his fellow soldiers in the conflict.
The soldiers were never paid on time, and their well-being was far down the government's priority
list. Despite several appeals, warnings, and threats, the young soldiers decided to march
down from Kailahun to the State House in Freetown on April 29, 1992, in protest of their setbacks in
pursuing the war and demanding their outstanding salaries. Strasser led the squad of soldiers along
with his two best friends and fellow soldiers, Seargent Solomon Musa and Captain Sahr Sandy.
As military appeared in the capital city, President Momoh was forced to flee the country
and went into exile in Conakry, Guinea. Strasser and his troops seized control, establishing the
National People's Revolutionary Committee (NPRC), with Strasser as its commander and the country's
Head of State. Strasser became the world's youngest Head of State at the age of twenty-five.
The 1996 Coup D’état. Strasser was deposed in a military coup
in January 1996, after nearly four years in power, but this time by members of his own NPRC who were
unhappy with his handling of the peace process. Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio, his deputy,
Colonel Tom Nyuma, and Captain Komba Mondeh were in charge of the coup. With the help of Nyuma
and Mondeh, Bio rose quickly to become the coup's leader and was elected President of Sierra Leone.
Post-head Of State. After his overthrow,
Strasser was offered a UN fellowship to study law at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England,
but he dropped out after 18 months. Strasser's asylum application was denied in England in 2000,
so he fled to Gambia, only to be denied entry. He eventually returned to Sierra Leone,
where he lived in poverty on a meager pension in Grafton, east of Freetown, and taught computer
skills to teenagers at the ICT Institute. In January 2019, he became critically ill
and was flown to Ghana for treatment. His left leg was partially amputated due to peripheral
artery disease. After undergoing rehabilitation and receiving an apartment from President Bio,
he returned to Sierra Leone in July 2021. Later, Amadu Makalo Koita of the opposition
All People's Congress claimed that the government had placed Strasser under house arrest.
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