Femi Claudius Cole
{{short description|Sierra Leonean politician|bot=PearBOT 5}}
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| image = Femi Claudius Cole 2018.jpg
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| caption = Cole in 2018
| order = Leader of the Unity Party
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| birth_name = Olufemi Claudius-Cole
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| party = Unity Party
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| mother = Rosalind Cole
| father = Dr. A.B. Claudius Cole
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Femi Claudius Cole (born 1962) is a Sierra Leonean politician. In 2016 she founded the Unity Party, making her the first Sierra Leonean woman to form a political party. In 2018, she was the first woman to run for the office of President of Sierra Leone. She is the only woman party leader in Sierra Leone.
Early life
Olufemi Claudius-Cole was born in 1962 to Rosalind and Dr. A.B. Claudius Cole, a doctor.{{cite news|title=Sierra Leone News: 'I will put premium on health and education' – Femi Cole|url=http://awoko.org/2017/03/14/sierra-leone-news-i-will-put-premium-on-health-and-education-femi-cole/|accessdate=13 November 2017|work=Awoko Newspaper}} Her parents founded the West End Clinic in Freetown.{{Cite web |url=http://www.unitypartysl.com/unity-party-leader/ |title=Unity Party Leader |website=unitypartysl.com |date=25 August 2017 |access-date=2018-06-15 |archive-date=2019-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407144611/http://www.unitypartysl.com/unity-party-leader/ |url-status=dead }}
Career
Cole was a nurse over twenty years. She worked as a nurse in Sierra Leone and abroad.{{cite news|title=Sierra Leone News: Put tribalism to bed -Unity movement urges |url=http://awoko.org/2017/02/21/sierra-leone-news-put-tribalism-to-bed-unity-movement-urges/|accessdate=13 November 2017|work=Awoko Newspaper}} She was chief matron of the West End Clinic in Freetown.{{cite news|last1=Koroma|first1=Dusuba|title=Lone Female Presidential Candidate Urges Issues-based Voting|url=http://slconcordtimes.com/lone-female-presidential-candidate-urges-issues-based-voting/|accessdate=13 November 2017|work=Sierra Leone Concord Times|date=8 November 2017|archive-date=24 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224110822/http://slconcordtimes.com/lone-female-presidential-candidate-urges-issues-based-voting/|url-status=dead}}
The gaps in available healthcare services between wealthy and poor Sierra Leoneans, the high maternal death rate and the high rate of deaths from preventable or treatable illnesses motivated her interest in politics. Cole considered joining a political party in 2013, but could not find one that she agreed with.
Unity Party Sierra Leone
Claudius Cole founded the Unity Party in November 2016.{{Cite web |url=http://slconcordtimes.com/female-presidential-candidate-rocks-western-rural-district/ |title=Sierra Leone: Female Presidential Candidate Rocks Western Rural District |last=Koroma |first=Dusuba |date=2017-11-14 |website=slconcordtimes.com |language=English |access-date=2018-06-15 |archive-date=2019-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429093730/http://slconcordtimes.com/female-presidential-candidate-rocks-western-rural-district/ |url-status=dead }} She began her presidential campaign before the party was officially registered in October 2017.{{cite news|title=Sierra Leone News: Unity Party at last|url=http://awoko.org/2017/10/27/sierra-leone-news-unity-party-at-last/|accessdate=13 November 2017|work=awoko.org}}
The aim of the Unity Party is to bring Sierra Leoneans of all ethnic groups together in a common effort to improve the country.{{Cite web |url=https://www.gofundme.com/unity-movementsierra-leone |title=Unity Party Sierra Leone |date=2017-11-09 |website=gofundme.com |access-date=2018-06-15}} The party's main focus is education, health, job creation and increased international trade.
The party has offices in Bo, Kenema, and Makeni.
Cole stood as a candidate in the 2018 Sierra Leonean general election.{{cite news|title=…And they can make her the next President!|url=http://ayvnews.com/AYVNews/index.php/opinion/item/4426-and-they-can-make-her-the-next-president|accessdate=13 November 2017|publisher=AYV Television|language=en-gb|archive-date=14 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114094632/http://ayvnews.com/AYVNews/index.php/opinion/item/4426-and-they-can-make-her-the-next-president|url-status=dead}} She was the only female presidential candidate in the election and the first woman in history to run for the office of President of Sierra Leone.
In partnership with the West End Clinic, she established the Unity Movement Sierra Leone a voter outreach initiative through mobile medical outreach programs to treat malaria, hypertension, diabetes, and other illnesses. The initiative included town meetings in marginalized communities.
Cole received the endorsements of Isata Jabbie Kabbah, the former First Lady of Sierra Leone and Dr.Nemata Majeks Walker, founder of the 50/50 Sierra Leone Group.{{Cite web |url=http://sierraexpressmedia.com/?p=83354 |title=I J Kabbah Hails Female Presidential Candidate |website=sierraexpressmedia.com |access-date=2018-06-17}}
The Unity Party won 0.2% of the vote in the 2018 General Election.{{Cite web |url=https://electiondata.io/sites/default/files/2018-03/march-7th-2018-final-presidential-result.pdf |title=2018 Election Results |website=electiondata.io |access-date=2018-06-15 |archive-date=2018-06-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615135653/https://electiondata.io/sites/default/files/2018-03/march-7th-2018-final-presidential-result.pdf |url-status=dead }}
References
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{{Subject bar |portal1= Africa |portal2= Biography |portal3= |portal4= Politics |portal5= Sierra Leone}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Femi Claudius}}
Category:21st-century Sierra Leonean politicians
Category:Sierra Leone People's Party politicians
Category:21st-century Sierra Leonean women politicians
Category:Sierra Leone Creole people
Category:People of Sierra Leone Creole descent