Background
Salia was born on June 1, 1929 in Segbwema, Kailahun District, Sierra Leone.
Salia was born on June 1, 1929 in Segbwema, Kailahun District, Sierra Leone.
He was educated at Bunumba Central School and Fourah Bay College before going to King’s College, Durham. He graduated as a Bachelor of Commerce in 1954, did further training as a chartered accountant and then returned home to practise accountancy in private business.
When Siaka Stevens, the All Peoples’ Congress leader, was restored to power on April 26, 1968, he formed a coalition government and offered portfolios to some SLPP members who were not suspected of corruption. Sir Albert Margai decided to remain in Britain for his own safety but Jusu Sheriff decided to give the national government a trial and took up his old Health portfolio.
But he soon spoke out for fresh elections and clashed with Stevens in Parliament. On a visit to his constituency at Kenema he was arrested and then released without charges being brought and on July 1 he resigned his Ministry, becoming the official leader of the parliamentary opposition.
In the May 1973 elections he was declared to have been returned unopposed but later his nomination was nullified.
He stood for Parliament as a Sierra Leone People’s Party candidate and won a seat in the 1962 general elections and,
spotted as a young man of talent by Sir Milton Margai, was made Minister of Natural Resources. In August 1963 he was moved by Sir Albert Margai into Trade and Industry and later to the Health portfolio.
He stood again in the elections of March 1967 for the mining area of Kenema South and won, but was not able to take up his seat because the soldiers took over and established military rule. Inside the party he challenged Sir Albert Margai’s leadership but eventually a compromise was worked out. He was made parliamentary leader, while Sir Albert was overall party leader.
He became parliamentary leader of the party, but never forced a challenge on the overall leadership in a party convention. Always a constitutional opposition leader, trusted to the extent of being offered office in one Stevens government, he was increasingly harassed by politically motivated legislation as he led the SLPP’s struggle for survival as the official opposition party.