Usman Boie Kamara

Alhaji Usman Boie Kamara
Usman Boie Kamara at a WTO conference in Bali, December 2013
Sierra Leone Minister of Trade and Industry
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 January 2013
Preceded by Richard Konteh
Personal details
Born Freetown, Sierra Leone
Nationality Sierra Leonean
Political party Formerly member of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP)

2012–present All People's Congress (APC)

Children Three children
Residence Freetown, Sierra Leone
Alma mater Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

London, United Kingdom

Profession Mining engineer, businessman
Religion Islam

Alhaji Usman Boie Kamara is a Sierra Leonean politician, businessman and mining engineer. He is currently Sierra Leone Minister of Trade and Industry. He is a former director of the Sierra Leone National Diamond Mining Company (NDMC).[1][2][3]

Born and raised in Freetown, Sierra Leone to ethnic Mandingo parents, Usman Boie has a masters degree in mining engineering and Mineral Production management from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London.

His father Alhaji Mohamed Boie Kamara was a prominent member of the Sierra Leone People's Party and served as the party's treasurer during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alhaji Mohamed Boie Kamara was also a close ally of former Sierra Leone's Prime Minister Sir Albert Margai.

Usman Boie Kamara unsuccessfully ran for the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) presidential candidate in the 2012 Sierra Leone presidential election, he finished in second place behind former military ruler Julius Maada Bio who won the SLPP nomination at the party's convention held on 31 July 2011 at the miatta hall in Freetown.[4][5]

After he lost the SLPP nomination to Julius Maada, Usman Boie Kamara defected from the SLPP in June 2012, and joined the ruling APC. He was officially welcome and given APC membership card by Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma himself.[6]

Usman Boie is a devout Muslim and a fluent speaker of his native Mandingo language. He is married and has three children.

Early life and Family background

Alhaji Usman Boie Kamara was born and raised in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone to prominent Mandingo parents. Usman Boie grew up in the neighbourhood of Magazine Cut in the East End of Freetown.[7][8] Usman Usman Boie was raised in a Mandingo family and he is a fluent speaker of the Mandingo language.

Usman Boie's father Alhaji Mohamed Boie Kamara was a wealthy businessman and a popular member of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), where he served as the treasurer of the party during the 1960s and 1970s.[9][10] Alhaji Mohamed Boie Kamara worked closely with other respected SLPP members including Sir Albert Margai, Kande Bureh, Mohamed Sanusi Mustapha, and Alhaji A.B Tejan Jalloh to ensure the SLPP's victory in national and local elections across the country. As a young boy, Usman Boie travel with his father to attend SLPP meetings, convention and activities across Sierra Leone. When Sierra Loene's Prime Minister Sir Albert Margai visited the Madingo Mosque in Freetown in 1965 for Friday prayer, it was Usman Boie's father Alhaji Mohamed Boie Kamara who introduced him to the Muslim crowd.

Education and career

Usman Boie Kamara is a graduate of the Prince of Wales Secondary school in Freetown. He later won a scholarship to study at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London, England. After he successfully completed his masters degree in mining engineering and Mineral Production Management from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Usman Boie was employed by the government of Sierra Leone as a mining engineer in Kenema in 1972 under the Sierra Leone Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources.[11] Boie Kamara quickly rose to Assistant Director of Mines, Deputy Director of Mines and finally, Director of Mines in 2008.

Usman Boie was later appointed the general manager of the Sierra Leone National Diamond Mining Company (NDMC) where he spent three years at the position . Usman Boie greatest achievement at the position was the development of the Kimberley Process Certification scheme (KPCS); a scheme designed to distinguish and certify Sierra Leone's rough diamonds from blood diamonds. Usman also acted as a mining consultant to the United Kingdom, Botswana, Zambia and Lesotho.

Political career

Usman Boie Kamara unsuccessfully ran for the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) presidential candidate for the 2012 Sierra Leone presidential election, he finished in second place behind former military ruler Julius Maada Bio who won the SLPP nomination at the party's convention held on 31 July 2011 at the miatta hall in Freetown.[12] Usman Boie and Maada Bio were the front runners for the SLPP presidential candidature.

After losing the election to Julius Maada Bio on 31 July 2011, there were great division within SLPP supporters and within the SLPP party itself . Some SLPP official including the SLPP chairman of the Western Area branch Lansana Fadika; the party's young generation leader Blamoh Robert and regional Secretary Alpha Mohamed Alghali resigned from the party in protest of Bio's nomination.[13] Some of Usman Boie's supporter called for him to leave the SLPP and form his own party to challenge president Ernest Bai Koroma for the presidency.

However, on 4 September 2011 Usman Boie delivered a speech in front of 15,000 of his supporters and senior members of the SLPP at the Attouga Stadium in Freetown.[14] In his speech, he called for unity within the SLPP and gave his full support to Maada Bio ahead of the 2012 Sierra Leone presidential election. Usman Boie stated that nothing will stop the SLPP from winning the 2012 elections and party members should be focused on how to win the 2012 elections.[15][16] Osman Boie focused his speech on the criticism of the current president Ernest Bai Koroma's government.

In June 2012, Usman Boie Kamara surprisingly defected from the SLPP and joined the ruling APC. He was officially welcome and given APC membership card by Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma himself.[17]

In January 2013, Usman Boie Kamara was chosen by Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma to serve as Minister of Trade and Industry in his new second term cabinet. He was approved by the Sierra Leone House of Parliament on 15 January 2013[18] and was sworn in as Sierra Leone Minister of Trade and Industry on 16 January 2013 at State House in the capital Freetown.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ubk2012.com/about
  2. ↑ http://www.ubk2012.com/why_ubk
  3. ↑ http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/printer_200518258.shtml
  4. ↑ http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/27181
  5. ↑ http://www.thenewpeople.com/front-page/item/1214-usman-boie-kamara-is-still-slpp
  6. ↑ http://www.thepatrioticvanguard.com/spip.php?article6559
  7. ↑ http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/36294
  8. ↑ http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/30478
  9. ↑ http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/printer_200518258.shtml
  10. ↑ http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/19813
  11. ↑ http://www.ubk2012.com/2010/12/usman-boie-kamara-%E2%80%93-sierra-leone%E2%80%99s-vision-to-a-brighter-future
  12. ↑ http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/27181
  13. ↑ http://www.cocorioko.net/?p=16735
  14. ↑ http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/17745
  15. ↑ http://www.thenewpeople.com/front-page/item/1214-usman-boie-kamara-is-still-slpp
  16. ↑ http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/29027
  17. ↑ http://www.thepatrioticvanguard.com/spip.php?article6559
  18. ↑ http://en.starafrica.com/news/sleone-mps-give-nod-to-12-govt-appointees.html

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