Dr. Christiana Thorpe (born in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is the current chief of the Sierra Leone National Electoral Commission, an independent agency created by the Sierra Leone government and is in charge of organising and supervising national, regional and local elections in Sierra Leone. When Captain Valentine Strasser seized power in 1992, Dr. Thrope was the only woman in his cabinet of 19 ministers. Now she's the first woman ever to be the Chief Electoral Commissioner in the country's history. She is a member of the Krio ethnic group.