Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (1895 – 10 May 1965) was
a Sierra Leonean and British West African workers’ leader,
journalist, activist and politician. Born into a poor Creole
family in Sierra Leone, he emerged as a natural leader in
school. After attending United Methodist Collegiate School for
two years, he dropped out and took a job as an officer in the
customs department in 1913. He was dismissed for helping
organize a labor strike, but later reinstated to his position a
year later. After resigning from his job, he enlisted as a clerk
with the Carrier Corps during World War I. After being
demobilized in 1920, Wallace-Johnson moved from job to job,
before settling as a clerk in the Freetown municipal government.
He claimed to have exposed a corruption scandal, which resulted
in the incarceration of top officials, including the mayor.
After being fired from this job in 1926, he left Sierra Leone
and became a sailor. He joined a national seamen union and it is
believed that he also joined the Commun