As the world continue to admire the speed at which young Sierra Leoneans are taking leadership positions in the country, it is about time the locals join the world in celebrating the success stories of young stars in the country. See page 3 of this edition for more on these young stars.
Dr. David Moinina Sengeh
Dr. David Moinina Sengeh at age 37 years, he is serving as Sierra Leone’s youngest Chief Ministers ever appointed. He was born in 1986 and appointed by President Julius Maada Bio in 2023.
The Chief Minister’s roles and responsibilities include but are not limited to serving as central hub to facilitate the co-ordination and implementation of government policies across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
As directed by the President, the Chief Minister chairs the three cross-cutting sectoral ministries for inter-governmental co-ordination including: Education and Social Development Sector Ministries; Finance and Economic Development Sector Ministries, and the Peace, Security and Justice Sector Ministries.
The Office of the Chief Minister also performs advisory, supervisory and coordinating functions on all cabinet ministers to ensure they deliver in a timely manner. Also, to ensure that they meet their deliverables scheduled in their performance contracts.
In January 2024, at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, Dr Sengeh condemned Hamas’ 7th October 2023 attack on Israel, and stressed that those responsible must be held accountable and called for the release of all hostages.
He also expressed concern over Israeli political actors’ rhetoric regarding the forcible displacement of Palestinians and rejected any attempt to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank either temporarily or permanently.
Dr David Sengeh was the leading representative of government in the tripartite committee that was established and supported by development partners aimed at providing electoral reforms in Sierra Leone.
He was also appointed by President Bio to head the ruling SLPP political-party constitutional review committee geared towards ensuring intra-party reforms.
He previously served as the minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) and chief innovation officer for the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation from 2018 to 2023 respectively.
Before he was appointed as Chief Minister, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh was providing strategic and policy leadership for the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) and the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI).
In February 2023, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh received the Best Minister Award in the World, as part of the ongoing 10th edition of the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The award recognises the exceptional efforts of Government Ministers by demonstrating excellence in the public sector, implementing successful reforms and inspiring Government leaders and service providers to promote innovation within their domain to better serve the needs of their citizens.
Dr. David Moinina Sengeh was among ten other ministers, who were nominated after a global due diligence conducted by researchers, which also included the public opinion through social media, a jury of international experts and key figure representatives of international organizations and the private sector to select the winner.
Shortly after receiving the Award, Dr. Sengeh said that he was excited that the recognition would help to motivate school-going children in Sierra Leone and all other stakeholders in the education sector to do more.
He noted that the commitment of President Dr. Julius Maada Bio allowed him to carry out his mandate with ease, adding that Sierra Leone’s investment in education had been coupled with priority on making sure that the poor, disabled, vulnerable and even those in remote areas were all catered for.
“When everyone is included and when we use technology to provide solutions for our students, everyone benefits and the system gets better. So, as we innovate and solve problems within the education system, we must think about those who are most excluded because when we build systems that work for them, everyone benefits,” he said.
Before his maiden appointment into governance by H.E President Julius Maada Bio in May 2018,Honourable Dr. David Sengeh was a Research Manager at IBM Research Africa (in Kenya and South Africa), leading a healthcare team that designed and implemented AI-enabled systems for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of disease.
He completed his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he developed award-winning inventions and technology for human augmentation designing comfortable prosthetic interfaces.
Chief Minister Dr. David Sengeh received his bachelor’s degree at Harvard University in Engineering Sciences in 2010, where his research focused on aerosolized vaccines for tuberculosis.
Dr. Sengeh is on Forbes under 30 in Technology (2013), a Senior TED Fellow, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, on the Wired Smart List 2013, winner of the Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize, an Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa Fellow and most recently, a WEF Young Global Leader.
He has held Fellowship positions at Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and other institutions over the years. He is credited for seeding the development of the innovation ecosystem in Sierra Leone through Global Minimum and the Innovate Salone program, which he co-founded in 2007, and which has supported the innovation and entrepreneurial journeys of thousands of Sierra Leoneans.
He holds several patents and has published academic articles across fields of education, healthcare and augmentation, and artificial intelligence.
Chief Minister Dr. David Sengeh has spoken to audiences globally on topics related to digital governance, education, youth innovation, prosthetics design, fourth industrial revolution and more. He is an afrobeats rapper, fashion designer and regularly plays football.
Honourable Solomon Segepoh Thomas
Honourable Solomon Segepoh Thomas is currently Sierra Leone’s youngest Speaker of the House of Parliament.
He was born on 14th May 1976 in Bo Southern Region of Sierra Leone. He is a Lawyer and a holder of Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Bachelor of Art at the University of Sierra Leone, LLB (Hons.) and BL at the Sierra Leone Law School.
He believes in the principles and ideology of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and for this reason became interested in politics. He contested for the Member of Parliament role in constituency 089 Bonthe district Southern Region of Sierra Leone in 2012 and remarkably won the seat. Serving in that capacity for five years, he was able to constructively deliberate on issues that he believed are of national interest and can help bring positive change on the lives of his people. His people were pleased with his performance in the house of Parliament which led them to call upon him again to represent them in the house of Parliament. He was faced with so many challenges from members of other political parties but at the end was able to stand the test of time and Victorious became a member of Sierra Leone Parliament in the March 2018 elections.
As a sound and eloquent lawyer, he has been able to analyse issues thoroughly that led the Members of Parliament elect him as the Speaker of the House of Parliament. Honourable Solomon Segepoh Thomas was the Chairman for the Public Account Committee in Parliament and a Member of the Appointment Committee.
He always advocate on issues affecting his people such as good health Care, Employment opportunities especially for youths, Education, Agriculture and Infrastructural development. He is involved in the legislative and oversight functions to ensure that effective and efficient mobilisation of resources are done to change the standard of living of people living in his constituency.
Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh
Prior to his election as Deputy Speaker Parliament at age 42 years, Hon. Tawa was Chairman Committee on Agriculture and Food Security, Member Legislative Committee, Member Committee on Finance, Member Committee on Gender and Children’s Affairs, Member Committee on Appointment and the Public Service, Member Business Committee and Deputy Delegation Lead Inter Parliamentary Union
Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Politic and History and Diploma in Cultural Studies from Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone. He served as Member of Parliament in the fifth Parliament of the Second Republic between 2018-2023.He is currently serving in his second term having being elected as Member of Parliament in the West Urban District. He is currently the Deputy Regional Chairman Sierra Leone People’s Party Western Region.
In the Sixth Parliament, he is the Deputy Chief Whip II responsible for delegated duties from the Chief Whip in the maintenance of party Discipline and coordination of members in Parliament. Manage the party’s legislative policy and programs, linking government and the opposition and promoting dialogue within the membership of the party in Parliament.
He had previously served as Head Human Capital Management Admin and Protocol at Skye Bank (SL) Limited between 2008 and 2012. He worked at Ecobank (SL) Limited where he served as Head Regional Corporates and later Head, Multinational Corporates and Deputy Head of Corporates Bank between 2012 and 2017.
Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh had served in several Committees in the fifth Parliament. To wit; Chairman Transparency and Accountability, Chairman Committee on Environment and Climate, Deputy Chairman Committee on Works and Public Asset, Deputy Chairman Committee on Finance and Deputy Chairman Committee on Lands Housing and Country Planning. He was member of the Committee on Gender and Children’s Affairs and Committee on Social Welfare.
