Mohamed Sillah

In 2007 Sillah withdrew his bid for national leadership in the Presidential and Parliamentary elections, citing inadequate funding and ineffective campaign management. He supported the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) presidential candidate, Vice President Solomon Berewa, who lost the election.

In 2004, Sillah opposed the deportation of Sierra Leoneans from the United States after the US withdrew their protective privilege known as Temporary protected status (TPS). He made an appeal to the US government on their behalf.

In 2004, as NADP leader Sillah protested the imprisonment of Sierra Leonean journalist, Paul Kamara, editor of For Di People Newspaper. Sillah viewed Kamara's imprisonment and the subsequent banning of his newspaper as a breach of the SLPP government’s commitment to freedom of the press and the constitutional exercise of free speech.

Sillah ran as the NADP candidate in the 1996 Presidential elections. He received 0.5% of the votes (3,723 total votes). He contested the election results on BBC's Focus on Africa.

The leadership ability Sillah demonstrated attracted the attention of American diplomats in Monrovia, Liberia. He entered politics in 1995 and became the Party Leader and National Chairman of the National Alliance Democratic Party (NADP). He also began his campaign for the Sierra Leone presidency the same year.

In 1990, Sillah traveled to Liberia to cover the First Liberian Civil War for African World News. He reported about rebels drinking human blood from freshly slaughtered civilians.

Mohamed Yahya Sillah started his career in journalism in 1978 as Senior Reporter with the Liberian News Agency (LINA), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Monrovia, Liberia. He became Managing Editor of Third World News at the Atlanta Voice Newspaper, Atlanta, Georgia, USA in 1981. In 1983, he founded the African World News magazine in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mohamed Yahya Sillah (born December 12, 1949) is a Sierra Leonean politician, journalist and human rights activist. He was active in the transition efforts from military to civilian rule in Sierra Leone. As the National Chairman of the National Alliance Democratic Party (NADP), he was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1996 Presidential elections.

Sillah was born on December 12, 1949 in Massam Kpaka, Pujehun District, British Sierra Leone to Acting Paramount Chief Alhaji Yahya Sillah of Dama Chiefdom, Kenema District and Haja Mamie Zoe Mansaray.