John Arouna Karimu is a Mende hailed from Daru Village,

Kailahun District Kailahun District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital city, capital and largest city is the town of Kailahun. The second most populous city in the district is Segbwema. Other major towns in Kailahun District includ ...

, in the Eastern Region of Sierra Leone. He was a Lecturer at Fourah Bay College, where he met his wife Gertrude Gbessay Karimu née Sellu who was a student there as well. He later worked for the Bo/Pujehun Project. He then became the Director of CUSO in Gambia. He later became the Finance Minister in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

during the military rule of

Valentine Strasser Valentine Esegragbo Melvine Strasser (born 26 April 1967) is an ex-military leader who served as Heads of Government of Sierra Leone, head of state of Sierra Leone from 1992 to 1996. Previously a junior military officer he became the world's yo ...

(1993-1996). He was the presidential candidate of the

National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to: * National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003) * National Unity Party (Albania) * National United Party (Armenia), defunct * Natio ...

in the 1996 national elections. In that election, Karimu received 5.3% of the national vote and lost easily to

Ahmed Tejan Kabbah Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (February 16, 1932 – March 13, 2014) was a Sierra Leonean politician who served twice as the 3rd President of Sierra Leone, from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by profession, Ka ...

. In December 1996, Karimu accepted a position in the cabinet of Kabbah as the Secretary of Housing and Environment. However, Karimu was eventually deposed, along with the rest of the government, when Major

Johnny Paul Koroma Major Johnny Paul Koroma (born 9 May 1960; declared dead 1 June 2003) was the head of state of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998. Youth and education Koroma was born to Limba people (Sierra Leone), Limba parents in Tombodu, in the ...

overthrew the government on 25 May 1997. During this period, he worked as a Director with

The World Bank The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...

in Papua New Guinea. He later became the Commissioner of the National Revenue Authority(NRA)-The highest paid civil Servant in Sierra Leone.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Trade ministers Finance ministers of Sierra Leone Government ministers of Sierra Leone Mende people Academic staff of Fourah Bay College People from Kailahun District {{SierraLeone-politician-stub