View source for Government of Sierra Leone

{{Politics of Sierra Leone}}
The '''government of Sierra Leone''' is the governing authority of the [[Republic of Sierra Leone]], as established by the Sierra Leone Constitution. The Sierra Leone government is divided into three branches: the [[Executive branch|executive]], [[Legislative branch|legislative]] and the [[judiciary]]. The [[seat of government]] of Sierra Leone is in the capital [[Freetown]].

The government of Sierra Leone takes place in a framework of a [[presidential system|presidential]] [[representative democracy|representative democratic]] [[republic]], whereby the [[President of Sierra Leone]] is both [[head of state]] and [[head of government]], and of a [[multi-party system]]. [[Executive power]] is exercised by the president. [[Legislative power]] is vested in the [[Parliament of Sierra Leone]].

The [[judiciary]] of Sierra Leone is independent of the executive and the legislature. [[Civil rights]] and [[freedom of religion]] are respected. A critical press continues to operate, although the government has intervened for alleged inaccurate reporting, using the 1965 Public Order Act which criminalizes libel.

==Executive==
{{See also|President of Sierra Leone}}
{{office-table}}
|[[President of Sierra Leone|President]]
|[[Julius Maada Bio]]
|[[Sierra Leone People's Party|SLPP]]
|4 April 2018
|-
|Vice-President
|[[Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh]]
|[[Sierra Leone People's Party|SLPP]]
|4 April 2018
|}
The current president is [[Julius Maada Bio]] (since 4 April 2018). The president is both the [[head of state]] and [[head of government]]. Ministers of State are appointed by the president with the approval of the House of Representatives; the cabinet is responsible to the president. The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term; elections were last held on 4 April 2018 (Julius Maada Bio, SLPP, 51.8%; Samura Kamara, APC, 47.2%). The president's tenure of office is limited to two five-year terms.

===Departments ===
{{Common list of departments of the Sierra Leone Government|m|p}}
<!-- To edit this list, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Common_list_of_departments_of_the_Sierra_Leone_Government -->

==Legislative==
The [[Parliament of Sierra Leone|House of Representatives]] has 124 members, 112 members elected for a four-year term through [[proportional representation]] in 14 multi-seat [[constituency|constituencies]] with a constituency threshold of 12.5% and 12 Paramount chiefs.

==Judiciary==
{{main|Judiciary of Sierra Leone}}
There is a High Court, an Appeals Court, and a [[Supreme Court of Sierra Leone|Supreme Court]]. The judicial system continues to function for civil cases though some regard it as handicapped by shortages of resources and qualified personnel. Judges are appointed by the president on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission with the approval of Parliament.

There also are magistrate and local courts and from these appeals lie to the superior courts of judicature.

The 1991 [[constitution]] created an ombudsman responsible for looking into complaints of abuses and capricious acts on the part of public officials. In 2000 the government promulgated the Anti-Corruption Act to combat corruption.

== Administrative divisions ==
{{Further|Administrative divisions of Sierra Leone}}

Sierra Leone is divided into provinces, districts, and chiefdoms. Sierra Leone has 3 rural provinces, plus a capital city administrative province. There are then 14 districts - 12 rural, 2 for the capital Freetown.

Sierra Leone is further divided into 149 chiefdoms.<ref name="tristan">[https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jrobinson/files/history.pdf  Tristan Reed and James A. Robinson, ''The Chiefdoms of Sierra Leone''], ''Scholar'', Harvard University, 15 July 2013, Document available online, accessed 30 April 2014</ref> The chiefdoms are hereditary, tribal units of local governance.<ref name="tristan"/> The [[World Bank]] sponsored the creation of elected local councils in 2004.<ref name="tristan"/>

==Political parties and elections==
{{main|Politics of Sierra Leone}}
* [[List of political parties in Sierra Leone]]
* [[Elections in Sierra Leone]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050902130820/http://www.statehouse.sl/ Office of the Sierra Leone President]
*[https://www.sierra-leone.org/government.html Sierra Leone Government]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080501184018/http://www.sc-sl.org/ Special Court for Sierra Leone]
*[https://www.sierraleonetrc.org Truth and Reconciliation Commission]

===Elections===
*[https://africanelections.tripod.com/sl.html African Elections Database]
*https://books.google.com/books?id=jj4J-AXGDaQC&dq=state+avenue+state+house+in+freetown+closed+to+public&pg=PA983

{{Sierra Leone topics}}
{{Africa in topic|Politics of}}

[[Category:Government of Sierra Leone| ]]
[[Category:Politics of Sierra Leone| ]]