Captain Strasser led a coup that overthrew Major General Joseph Momoh, dictator of Sierra Leone back in 1992. He proved just as corrupt as the general and was overthrown in turn in 1996.

"In 1996, Captain Strasser was himself overthrown. A few months later, multi-party elections were held and won by Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. He pledged to end the war, and in late 1996, Kabbah's government signed a peace agreement with the RUF. But the Abidjan Agreement – which included a cease-fire, disarmament and demobilisation – was violated a few months later.

A little over a year after his election, President Kabbah himself was also overthrown, in a coup led by Army Major Johnny Paul Koroma. Kabbah fled to neighbouring Guinea and began to lobby the international community to condemn the coup. West African nations imposed an almost total embargo, and the United Nations Security Council adopted mandatory sanctions. In 1997, Nigerian troops moved into Sierra Leone to reinforce the soldiers of ECOMOG, the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group. In 1998, President Kabbah and the rebels signed an agreement, which the rebels soon underminded. Fighting broke out, and by late 1998, the rebels controlled over half the country, including the areas rich in resources."