Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio is SLPP’s Presidential Candidate for the forthcoming 2012 Presidential elections slated for the last quarter of 2012. He is the only core member of the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC), that ruled Sierra Leone from 1992 to 1996, and remains an important figure in Sierra Leone’s political landscape. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission report of 2005/06 later acclaimed Bio for his commitment to the peace process. After he handed over power to former President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in the aftermath of the 1996 Presidential elections, Bio went to the United States of America where he read International Affairs, with an additional Masters degree in International Development. He re-entered politics, joining and contesting (without success) for the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) leadership position in 2005. Now 46, Maada Bio will be facing the current President, Ernest Bai Koroma, in the 2012 polls. Maada Bio is married with four children.