Alhaji Ibrahim Kanja Sesay (born in 1955 in Bo,

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 ...

) is a politician in Sierra Leone. He served with the previous government of Sierra Leone headed by President

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 ...

(1996-2007) in various roles.

Previous work

In 1990, Kanja Sesay founded and served as the executive director of the Association for Rural Development (ARD). ARD is currently a leading microcredit finance institution in Sierra Leone and Kanja Sesay, following his departure from formal government service, serves as the chairman of its board of directors

He has previously served as the chairman of the executive committee of the Sierra Leone Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (SLANGO) and a member of the board of directors of Sierra Leone Export and Investment Corporation (SLEDIC

After graduating from university, he taught for several years at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School and Prince of Wales Secondary School in Freetown before launching a career in the field of development as a projects officer at

Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 ...

Education

Kanja Sesay holds a B.A. (Hons.) Degree from

Fourah Bay College Fourah Bay College is a public university in the neighbourhood of Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Founded on 18 February 1827, it is the first western-style university built in Sub-Saharan Africa and, furthermore, the first university-le ...

, University of Sierra Leone (1980) and an M.A. in Development Studies from the

International Institute of Social Studies The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam is an independent and international graduate school of policy-oriented critical social science. ISS was established in 1952 by Dutch universities and the Neth ...

in The Hague, The Netherlands (1987). He also holds a certificate in Executive Management and Strategic Leadership from Templeton College, University of Oxford (2002); and a Certificate in Counter-Disaster Planning and Management jointly from the Mananga Agricultural Management Centre in Swaziland and the Disaster Preparedness Centre,

Royal Military College of Science The Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) was a British postgraduate school, research institution and training provider with origins dating back to 1772. It became part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in 2009, and ceased to exist ...

in Cranfield, England (1988). As a student, he served as the financial secretary of the Bo District Students Union at Bo School and secretary general of the

Students Union.

Personal life

Kanja Sesay is married with three children. His wife, Fatu Kanja Sesay (née Daramy), is the former Commissioner for Democracy with the National Commission for Democracy and Human Rights. He is a member of the Mandingo ethnic group.

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20050205050730/http://www.nacsa-sl.org/kanja_profile.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Sesay, Kanja Ibrahim 1955 births Living people People from Bo, Sierra Leone Sierra Leonean activists Fourah Bay College alumni Sierra Leonean Mandingo people