Ahmad Tejan Kabbah

Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (born February 16, 1932) is the President of Sierra Leone (1996-1997, 1998 - present). He worked for the United Nations Development Programme, and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992. He was elected president in 1996. Most of his time in office was marked by a bloody civil war with the Revolutionary United Front, led by Foday Sankoh, which involved him being temporarily ousted by the military Armed Forces Revolutionary Council from May 1997 to March 1998 He was soon returned to power after a military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Another phase of the civil war led to United Nations and British involvement in the country in 2000. The civil war was officially declared over in early 2002, and Kabbah went on to win yet another term in office in the presidential election later that year.

Career

The President has spent his entire career in the public sector, as a national and international civil servant. He served in the Western Area and in all the Provinces of Sierra Leone. He was a District Commissioner in Bombali and Kambia (Northern Province), in Kono (Eastern Province) and in Moyamba and Bo (Southern Province). He later became Permanent Secretary in various Ministries, including Trade and Industry, Social Welfare, and Education.

Related Topics:
Commissioner - Social Welfare - Education

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United Nations

He was an international civil servant for almost two decades. After serving as deputy Chief of the West Africa Division of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in New York, he was reassigned in 1973 to head the Programme?s operation in the southern African Kingdom of Lesotho, as Resident Representative. He also headed UNDP operations in Tanzania and Uganda, and just before Zimbabwe's independence, he was temporarily assigned to that country to help lay the groundwork for cooperation with the United Nations system.

Related Topics:
UN Development Programme - UNDP - Southern African - Lesotho - United Nations system

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After a successful tour of duty in Eastern and Southern Africa, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah returned to New York to head UNDP?s Eastern and Southern Africa Division. Among other things, he was directly responsible for coordinating UN system assistance to liberation movements recognized by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), such as the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, and the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) of Namibia.

Related Topics:
Organization of African Unity - South Africa

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Before his retirement in 1992, President Kabbah held a number of senior administrative positions at UNDP Headquarters in New York, including those of Deputy Director and Director of Personnel, and Director, Division of Administration and Management.

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