ROGERS-WRIGHT, CYRIL BUNTING
- 2 Min Read
Cyril Bunting Rogers-Wright (1905-1971) was a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone, and from the 1950s played a leading part in national politics, holding several cabinet posts.
In 1956 he began the newspaper Shekpendeh, of which he was the founder and proprietor. He was also the founder and leader of the United Progressive Party, one of the most important opposition parties in the late 1950s. In the 1957 general elections, he was elected member of the House of Representatives for Port Loko East constituency and became leader of the opposition from 1957 to 1960.
In the United Front Coalition government which was formed to negotiate independence from Britain, Rogers-Wright was appointed Minister of Housing and Country Planning. In the 1962 general elections, he was elected to Wilberforce, constituency, and was appointed Minister of External Affairs from 1964-65.
From 1965 to 1967, he was Minister of Health, but resigned and joined the opposition All People’s Congress (A.P.C.) party shortly before the 1967 general elections. He won the election as an A.P.C. member for Wilberforce but was detained for a time after the military take-over. In the treason trials that followed the return to civilian rule in 1968, Rogers-Wright was the leading prosecution counsel for the proceedings, which lasted till 1970.
In 1971, he took ill and died in Ireland. His remains were brought to Freetown and buried there.
CYRIL P. FORAY
