His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio’s newly appointed youthful ministers, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh – Chief Minister, Ms. Salima Mormorna Bah – Minister of Communication, Technology and Innovation, Chernor A. Bah – Minister of Information and Civic Education, Ing. Timothy Musa Kabbah – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ramatulai Wurie – Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Mohamed Orman Bangura – Minister of Youth Affairs, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi – Deputy Minister of Information and Civic Education, and Francis Ben Kaifala – Anti-Corruption Commissioner have all committed to champion the “right direction” government.
The Parliament of Sierra Leone has debated and approved with unanimity some of the Ministers including, Ms. Salima Mormorna Bah, Chernor A. Bah, Ing. Timothy Musa Kabbah, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi and Anti-Corruption Commissioner
Francis Ben Kaifala.
According to the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, the presidential nominees were interviewed on issues pertaining to educational backgrounds, experience, track records in public service, asset declarations, tax obligations, and vision for a nationally productive tenure.
Seconding the motion, the Deputy Leader of Government Business 1, Hon. Bashiru Silikie commended President Bio for appointing well-qualified Sierra Leoneans to serve in high offices of State, and expressed hope that the nominees would contribute to national development. The Deputy Leader admonished appointees to serve in the interest of the nation and reiterated that the policies and agenda of the President’s most be achieved.
The Hon. Deputy Leader outlined the roles and responsibilities of MPs and that of the presidential nominees. He commended the President Bio for appointing young people into positions of trust and advised them to make the President proud in the course of executing their official duties.
Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, Hon. Mathew Sahr Nyuma said all the appointees were interviewed based on strict procedures and commended MPs on the Appointments Committee for doing the work of Parliament. “I believe all of you are qualified and I believe you can perform”. He admonished the nominees to hold on to the pinnacle of education to develop the State.
Acting Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas congratulated all of them and wished them well in their new assignments.
Ms. Salima Mormorna Bah is now Minister of Communication, Technology and Innovation. She will now lead Sierra Leone’s digital journey developing initiatives that promote the use of technology to develop the country.
She holds an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Wales (Holborn College) and is practising as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Sierra Leone and also an active member of the Sierra Leone Bar Association.
Prior to his appointment as Chief Minister, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh was Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and Chief Innovation Officer for the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation.
In May 2018 Sengeh joined the Office of the President of Sierra Leone, working as chief innovation officer. In 2019 he was named Minister of Education of Sierra Leone. He ensured that each child in the Pujehun District had access to a laptop. He spoke at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was described as a trailblazer. He is a prolific musician.
Chernor A. Bah was appointed by the president as Minister of Information and Civic Education.
Mr. Bah, who is also a distinguished Sierra Leonean feminist activist, previously served as the President of the Children’s Forum Network (CFN) and a prominent advocate for child rights has been described by many people as the ‘Right Man for the Right Job’.
Chernor Bah is a feminist activist who has dedicated his life to building the power and amplifying the voices of girls and young people across the globe and in his beloved Sierra Leone.
At the age of 15, Chernor founded and led the Children’s Forum Network, a mass movement of children who organised and mobilised to demand their voices be included in peace and reconciliation efforts after Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war.
Decades later, a new generation of Children’s Forum Network members still gather across the country every week, a testament to the power of youth voices and an enduring reminder of what mass civic mobilisation can achieve.
Ing. Timothy Musa Kabbah is now Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2020, prior to his appointment as Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, he was Director-General of the Petroleum Directorate. He is an oil and gas engineer. Before joining the Petroleum Directorate, he was the project management consultant for Total E & P C LTD.
He also worked as a Drilling Engineer and a Reservoir Engineer at the LUKOIL Overseas Offshore Project.
As Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, he was responsible for the implementation of the Mines and Minerals Act 2009 working in close partnership with the National Minerals Agency.
Ing. Kabbah was also recently elected Vice President of the Association of African Diamond Producing Countries (ADPA) at the 8th Extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
Francis Ben Kaifala was reappointed as Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). He is the President of the Network of Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA) and an elected Board Member of the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC).
He lectures part-time Commercial Law at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.
The young Commissioner came into office in June, 2018 with a solid academic and professional background as a lawyer, and promised a robust fight against corruption. True to his promise, immediate steps were taken aimed at fulfilling the above promise and the results have been remarkable and exceptional.
Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifala has introduced far-reaching reforms in ensuring accountability in public life. The new reforms he promulgated and spearheaded are believed to be among the strongest anti-corruption legislative reforms in Africa.
Yusuf Keketoma Sandi served as Press Secretary for His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio prior to his appointment as Deputy Minister of Information and Civic Education.
Dr. Ramatulai Wurie was appointed as the Minister of Higher and Technical Education. She was serving as the Senior Lecturer and Multi-disciplinary researcher at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone.
Mohamed Orman Bangura is the re-appointed Youth Affairs Minister. He said: ““All I can say is thank you Allah! Thank you, Allah, for everything! Thank you, President Julius Maada Bio, for the trust and confidence reposed in me for the second time to serve as your minister of youth affairs. I remain forever grateful to you and the SLPP for blessing me with the special opportunity to serve the young people of this country. I promise to continue to give my utmost best to this sacred duty.”
Dr. Julius Maada Bio won a landslide victory in the June 24, 2023 general elections to be re-elected Sierra Leone’s president for a second term of five years.
The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (EC-SL) on Tuesday 27th June, announced at 4:20pm local time that President Dr. Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) won 1,566,932 (56.17%) of a total of 2,789,808 valid ballots, beating out the ruling All People’s Congress candidate, Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara, who garnered 1,148,262 (41.16%).
His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio is again the Supreme Head of State and Grand Commander of the Order of the Republic, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Fountain Head of Unity, Honour, Freedom and Justice.
He first became President of Sierra Leone when he won the 2018 election and was inaugurated on May 12, 2018 as the 5th President of Sierra Leone.
Born on May 12, 1964 in Tihun, Sogbini chiefdom, Bonthe district, President Bio is one of 35 children born to Paramount Chief, Charlie Wonie Bio II, Sogbini chiefdom.
H.E. President Bio completed his primary, secondary and undergraduate education in Sierra Leone. Always driven by a passion to serve his country, H.E. President Bio started his illustrious public service journey as a school teacher before joining the Sierra Leone Army where he rose through the ranks as Brigadier.
He previously served as Chief Secretary of State, Chief of Defense Staff, Minister of Information, Minister of Marine Resources, Deputy Head of State, and ultimately as Head of State of Sierra Leone from January to March 1996.
As Head of State, President Bio presided over the conduct of the first democratic elections in Sierra Leone in nearly three decades. In Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Wonie Bio is popularly referred to as the “Father of Democracy” because of his outstanding contribution towards the restoration of democracy and attainment of peace in Sierra Leone.
President Bio is a well-known Philanthropist and Humanitarian through the work of the Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation. The Foundation donated food and other items to victims and families affected by the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and during the environmental disasters of 2015.
Most recently, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom, pursuing a doctorate programme in Peace Studies.
H.E. President Bio credits his mother, Mamie Amie, as the person from whom he acquired all his driving principles in life – calmness, hard worker, and a staunch believer in God.
