By Ibrahim Joenal Sesay
FREETOWN, Feb. 21 (232news.com) – It has been a difficult year for most Sierra Leoneans but there are people who according to SALONE TIMES editorial team did extremely well in governance, medicine, innovation advocacy and entertainment. Below is a list of 10 Sierra Leoneans who made it to this year’s 10 Most Influential people in the country:
1. COACH JOHN KIESTER- He is the national coach of Sierra Leone National Team, Leone Stars. He is the coach who qualified Sierra Leone to its third ever Africa Nations cup. Leone Stars qualified for Africa’s elite football competition after 25yrs of failing to do so. Before his job as team Manager of the national team, Coach John Kiester won the Sierra Leone Premier League with Eastend Lions.
2. KEI KAMARA- Despite his usual controversial outburst on social media, Kei’s goal from penalty spot kick against Benin is the kick that qualified Sierra Leone to the Africa Cup of Nation in a home match played in neighboring Guinea. Kei Kamara who used to played football in the MLS League in the United States is now playing in Finland.
3. DAVID MOININA SENGEH- Sengeh is the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education. His policy of radical inclusion has received huge support both locally and international. For that, he has been invited on global stages to talk about the radical inclusion policy. He has also recently reviewed Sierra Leone educational curriculum to ensure that it meets current development trends.
4.TIMOTHY KABBAH- He is Sierra Leone Minister of Mines and Mineral Resource. Timothy Kabbah was appointed Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources when the country was in court with a multinational company but with the cool head of Timothy Kabbah, the matter was later settled out of court and Sierra Leone is now benefitting an initial $20M with over 2,000 Sierra Leoneans having jobs in the Tonkolili Iron Ore Mines. This has also brought life to the Tonkolili district and its environs.
5. Justice Miatta Samba- She was judge in the court of appeal before her appointment as Judge in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Her nomination to the ICC united Sierra Leoneans from the political divide, endorsing her representation of the country for the first time in ICC . Before her appointment to the Court of Appeal, Justice Samba served as a Judge of High Court, Senior Prosecutor at the Anti-Corruption Commission and Professor of Law in the University of Sierra Leone. Samba holds an LLB degree from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, LL.M from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria in South Africa and the Centre for Petroleum Law and Policy, University of Dundee in Scotland.
6. Manal Ghazzzawi- She is a Doctor of Pharmacy, a public health specialist and a consultant clinical pharmacist. She is a health entrepreneur, CEO of Citiglobe Pharmacies Ltd, and a laureate for women in Africa Entrepreneurs 2020 and has won many awards as the most outstanding pharmacist in Sierra Leone. Dr. Ghazzawi is a foundation fellow of the newly established Postgraduate College of Health Specialists in Sierra Leone. She is a preceptor involved in the training of graduate pharmacy professionals. She is also an executive member of the National Drug Expert Committee of the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone (SL). In 2015, during the Ebola outbreak, she was the study pharmacist for the Phase II Chinese Ebola Vaccine Clinical Trial.
7. JEREMIAH THORONKA- He is a student from Sierra Leone and he is believed to have invented a device that uses kinetic energy from traffic and pedestrians to generate clean power for which he was named the winner of the Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2021. Jeremiah is the first winner of this new $100,000 sister award to the Global Teacher Prize which is given to one exceptional student who has made a real impact on learning, the lives of their peers and on society beyond.
8. Hon Abdul Kargbo- He is one of the advocates of the People in Sierra Leone Parliament. He is the chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Youth Affairs. He is representing Constituency 070 in Port Loko district where has done so many wonderful things for his people.
9. Basita Michael- Despite social media abuse, Basita Michael has been very positive in her advocacy on human right, transparency and good governance in Sierra Leone. She recently resigned from the Judicial and Legal Service Commission on principle and over the fact that the commission was sidestep in process leading to the suspension of the Auditor General, Lara Taylor Pearce. Basita Michael was the President of the Sierra Leone Bar Association. She is the founder of Institute of Legal Research and Advocate for Justice (IRLAJ), Professor of Law in the University of Sierra Leone and the Head of Chambers Michael and Michael. She is also the Managing Director of Sierra Eye Magazine that organized the first ever Presidential Town Hall Meeting in Sierra Leone.
10. BENJAMIN MENELIK GEORGE- Drizilik as he commonly known is a Sierra Leonean recording and performing artist. He is very popular amongst young people in Sierra Leone more so those who are in love with hiphop and rap music. His music was recently played in the Nigeria Big Brother House. He was also recently spotted with Nigerian Music Engineer Masterkraft and popular Afro beat Musician Flavour for which many believed they are working out on something great. Even before the release of his new album EXODUS, social media is already buzzing with endorsement for the Sierra Leonean Music Star.
