Sierra Leone Ministers

Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership
The Republic of Sierra Leone
(Female suffrage 1958) 1809 British Colony of Freetown, independent 1960/61 and a republic 1971

Also see Sierra Leone Heads and Sierra Leone Parliament

1990-96 the Ministers were called Secretaries of State

1961-71 Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Sierra Leone and of Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth (27.04-19.04)
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1952

1962 Minister of State Paramount Chief Madam Ella Koblo Gulama
1962-67 Minister without Portfolio
Paramount Chief of Kaiyamba 1953-67 and 1992-2006. The first female MP 1957-67. Lived (1921-2006).

1982-86 Parliamentary Special Assistant to the Minister of Tourism and Culture (Vice-Minister) A.H. Kallon

1983-85 Minister of State (Food Affairs) Agnes D.A.B. Labour

1985 Minister of State (Food Affairs)  Agnes Ben Davis
Ca. 1981-85 Permanent Secretary of Ministry of the Interior

1989-91 Minister of State of Finance Emma Claye-Simbo
1992-93 Minister of State of Finance  

1989 Minister of State of Rural Development, Social Services and Youth
1991-93 Deputy Minister of Transport, Communication and Tourism Mathilda Contele

1991-92 Secretary of State of Social Affairs and Health Agnes Taylor-Lewis
2002-07 Minister of Health and Sanitation

1991-92 Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries Emma Simb

1994-96 Secretary of State of Education Christiana Thorpe
Former nun, School Headmistress, she is the foster mother of several children. Chief Electoral Commissioner from 2005. (b. 1958-).

1996 Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Culture Margaret A. Idriss

1996-97 Minister of Gender and Children's Affairs Amy Smythe

1996-97 Minister of Tourism and Culture Shirley Yema Gbujoma
1997-98 Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation (1998 minister-in-exile)
1998-2007 Minister of Social Welfare, Children’s Affairs and Gender
Around 1970 she was ambassador to Senegal.

1996-97 Deputy Minister in the Office of the Vice-President Terese Koroma
1999-2007 Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry

1996-98 Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Haja Afsatu Kabbah
2007- Minister of Energy and Power
MP for the All People's Congress (APC) 2002-07, she was candidate for the post of her party's vice-presidential candidate and later Vice-Chairperson of the transition team

1997-98 Minister of Social Welfare, Children and Gender Major Kula Samba
Member of the Military Junta which took power in a military coup d’etat in 1997.

1998-99 Minister of Lands, Housing and Country Planning Assatu Kabbah

1998-2001 Deputy Minister of Works, Housing and Technical Maintenance Sia Ngongou

1999-2002 Minister of Development and Economic Planning Dr. Kadi Sesay
2002-07 Minister of Trade and Industry
She is former APC Minister and Leader of the People's Democratic Party

1999-2001 Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communication Susan Lahai

2002-07 Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs Angela Memuna Koroma

2003-07 Deputy Minister of Works, Housing and Technical Maintenance Sia Ngongou

2007-10 Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Zainab Hawa Bangura
2010- Minister of Health and Sanitation
Co-founder and Chairperson of the
Movement for Progress in 2002 and Presidential Candidate the same year and hief Civil Affairs Officer of the United Nations Mission in Liberia from 2005.


2007- Minister of Social Welfare Gender and Childrens Affairs Musu Kandeh
MP for the All People's Congress (APC) 2002-07. With the nomination of 3 women, the new cabinet will have 15% female members.


Last update 12.12.10