Tinga Seisay

Sierra Leonean pro-democracy activist and diplomat.

Born to a prominent political family, Seisay was educated at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and Long Island University in the United States. He served as Deputy Commissioner of Police in Sierra Leone and was later appointed Consul General to the United States. He became a strident opponent of the Sierra Leonean government when the nation shifted from democracy to one-party state during the Siaka Stevens regime. Seisay lived in exile for a number of years, protesting the Stevens dictatorship and advocating non-violent resistance. He had an ally in former Prime Minister Sir Albert Margai until Margai's death in 1980. Seisay lectured at several universities and published a number of articles and op-eds criticizing the Steven's regime, most notably in the New York Times and Christian Science Monitor.