Sierra Leone (SLE)West Africa, AfricaApril 30, 1992
Event Summary
On April 29, 1992 a group of young army officers led by 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser overthrew President Joseph Momoh of Sierra Leone, who fled into exile in Guinea, ending 24 years of All People's Congress rule. Front-line soldiers fighting the Revolutionary United Front insurgency were poorly supplied, unpaid, and embittered by the government's neglect of the war. On April 29, 1992 a convoy of mutinous junior officers drove to Freetown and seized the State House.
Momoh escaped and was flown by helicopter into exile in Guinea, where he was granted asylum. Strasser and his fellow officers formed the National Provisional Ruling Council, suspended the constitution, dissolved parliament, banned political parties, and imposed a state of emergency. Strasser was sworn in as head of state on May 6.
Momoh was not physically harmed.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Joseph Momoh, overthrown on April 29, 1992 by Captain Strasser's junior officers; he fled into exile in Guinea.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Joseph Momoh (president overthrown)
Valentine Strasser (young captain who led the coup)
Sources
The 1992 Sierra Leonean coup was a coup against the government of Sierra Leone by a group of young military officers led by 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser on 29 April 1992, and Strasser took control of the government, deposing President Joseph Saidu Momoh.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, 1992 Sierra Leonean coup d'etatopen source ↗
Strasser and other junior officers organised a coup, took a convoy to Freetown and seized the State House where Momoh's office was located, and when Momoh was found he was sent into exile by helicopter to Guinea, after which the National Provisional Ruling Council was formed as the new government, banning all political parties.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, 1992 Sierra Leonean coup d'etatopen source ↗
On 29 April 1992 members of the armed forces led by Captain Valentine Strasser seized power, Momoh fled to Guinea on 30 April, and Strasser announced the formation of the NPRC which suspended the constitutions, dissolved the House of Representatives, suspended all political activity, and imposed a state of emergency and curfew, before Strasser was sworn in as head of state on 6 May.
SOURCE REVIEWEDUK Country Information / Sierra Leone assessmentopen source ↗
Momoh was overthrown in a coup led by Valentine Strasser, who cited his government's unpaid salaries and poor logistical supply to frontline soldiers fighting against the RUF as motives, and Momoh fled into exile in Guinea where he was granted political asylum by President Lansana Conte and died in 2003.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, Joseph Saidu Momohopen source ↗
Editorial Note
Fate coding: the deposed president Joseph Momoh escaped the seizure of the State House and was flown into exile in Guinea, where he was granted asylum, matching the dataset's exiled fate; he was not physically harmed. Coding note: the dataset labels this a military coup, accurately, a mutiny by junior army officers led by the 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser, notable for the youth of its leaders. Trigger recorded: the coup-makers cited the government's neglect of the front-line war effort against the Revolutionary United Front, unpaid salaries, and poor supply as their grievances, which Strasser reiterated in later testimony to the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Historical weight recorded: the coup ended 24 years of one-party All People's Congress rule and installed the National Provisional Ruling Council amid the ongoing Sierra Leone Civil War. Aftermath recorded neutrally: the NPRC later executed alleged coup plotters and faced its own overthrow of Strasser in 1996, later context. Neutrality maintained on a contested subject.
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Joseph Momoh, overthrown on April 29, 1992 by Captain Strasser's junior officers; he fled into exile in Guinea..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; exiled. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“World News Briefs; Loyal Troops Put Down Revolt in Sierra Leone,” October 4, 1995
“Military leader Ousted by Army in Sierra Leon,” January 17, 1996
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →