Bio, Julius Maada, 1964–, Sierra Leonean political leader. He served in the Sierra Leone armed forces in Liberia (1990–91) as part of a UN peacekeeping force, and then fought in the Sierra Leone civil war, ultimately rising to the rank of brigadier general. In 1992 he took part in the coup headed by Capt. Valentine Strasser; in 1996 he ousted Strasser and soon reestablished civilian rule. He then resigned from the military and lived in the United States. He returned to Sierra Leone in 2005 and joined the Sierra Leone People's party; he ran unsuccessfully for president in 2012. In 2018, however, he won the office after a runoff. As president, he initiated a significant anticorruption investigation that ensnared a number of high-ranking former officials.
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