Victor Bockarie Foh, CRSL (born 12 June 1946) is a

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 , Sierr ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who served as

Vice President of Sierra Leone The Vice-President of Sierra Leone is the second most senior government official in the executive branch of the Republic of Sierra Leone government after the president. The Vice-President's only constitutional power is to be the immediate success ...

from 19 March 2015 to 4 April 2018. Foh replaced

Samuel Sam-Sumana Alhaji Samuel Sidique Sam-Sumana (born April 7, 1962) is a Sierra Leonean politician who was the Vice President of Sierra Leone from September 17, 2007 to March 17, 2015. Sam-Sumana stood as the vice-presidential candidate of the All People's C ...

as vice president, after Sam-Sumana was sacked by President

Ernest Bai Koroma Ernest Bai Koroma (born 2 October 1953) is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018. Born and raised in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, Koroma spent more than 24 ...

. An experienced career politician, Victor Foh has been a loyal member of the

All People's Congress The All People's Congress (APC) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other being its main political rival the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). The APC has been the main opposition party in Sierra Leone since 4 Ap ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

since 1970. He is a member of the APC Advisory Council, which is made up of the most senior members of the APC party. From 1970 to 1982, Victor Foh served as District Officer in

Bonthe Bonthe is a coastal town located on Sherbro Island in Bonthe District in the southern Province of Sierra Leone. The town lies on the eastern shore of Sherbro Island, on the Sherbro River estuary. Bonthe is about 60 miles south-west of Bo and 1 ...

Koinadugu Koinadugu District is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. It is the largest District in Sierra Leone in geographical area, and one of the least most densely populated. Its capital and largest city is Kabala, which is also one of ...

, Bo, Kambia,

Kenema Kenema is the third largest city in Sierra Leone (after Freetown and Bo), and the largest city in the country's Eastern Province. It is the capital of Kenema District and a major economic center of the Eastern Province. At the 2015 national cens ...

and

Kono District Kono District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Koidu, Koidu Town. Motema is the second most populous city in the district. The other major towns in the district include Yengema, Tombodu, J ...

under the presidency of

Siaka Stevens Siaka Probyn Stevens (24 August 1905 – 29 May 1988) was the leader of Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1985, serving as Prime Minister of Sierra Leone, Prime Minister from 1967 to 1971 and as President from 1971 to 1985. Stevens' leadership was ofte ...

. Victor Foh has held prominent government positions under all three Sierra Leone"s president from the APC party of

Joseph Saidu Momoh Major General Joseph Saidu Momoh, OOR, OBE (January 26, 1937 – August 3, 2003) served as President of Sierra Leone from November 1985 to 29 April 1992. Early life and education Joseph Saidu Momoh was born on January 26, 1937, in Binkolo, B ...

, and Ernest Bai Koroma. In 1980, Victor Foh was awarded the National Honour of Member of the Order of the Rokel (M.R)

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

by President Siaka Stevens. Foh was one of the founding members of the 1995 All People's Congress (APC) Constitution, and he served as the first Assistant National Secretary General of the APC under the 1995 party constitution. Victor Foh was the APC's vice presidential candidate, alongside APC presidential candidate

Edward Turay Edward Mohamed Turay is a Sierra Leonean politician and diplomat. He was leader of the opposition All People's Congress (APC) from 1996 to 2002. He has been Sierra Leone's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since 2010. Background Education a ...

, in the 1996 presidential election, in which the APC received only 5.4% of the votes. In 1996 Foh was elected to a seat in Parliament. From 2002 to 2012, Foh served as Secretary General of the APC. In 2012, Foh became Sierra Leone's Ambassador to China, a position he held until he was appointed as Vice President in March 2015. Foh is a 1969 graduate of

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-l ...

with a

B.A Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

. Foh is an ethnic Mende and a native of

Bo District Bo District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. It is one of the sixteen Districts of Sierra Leone. Bo District is the fourth most populous District in Sierra Leone. Its capital city, capital and largest city is the city of ...

in Southern Sierra Leone.

Early life and education

Victor Bockarie Foh was born on June 12, 1946 the son of the Paramount Chief in Jimmi, Bagbo Chiefdom,

in the Southern Province of

. Foh was born to parents of the Mende ethnic group. Foh was born to Christians, Christian parents in Bo District, and a Christian himself. Foh attended the Jimmi Bagbo primary school in Jimmi, Bo District. He attended the Bo Government secondary school (commonly known as

Bo School The Bo Government Secondary School commonly known as Bo School is a secondary school located on a property in the center of Bo, the second largest city in Sierra Leone. The school was founded in 1906 at the behest of the British colonial govern ...

) in Bo. Foh graduated from

in 1969 with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

. From 1969 to 1970, Foh taught economics and government study at the Ahmadiyya Islamic Secondary School in Freetown.

Political career

An experienced career politician, Victor Foh has been a loyal member of the

since 1970. From 1970 to 1982, Victor Foh served as District Officer in

, Bo, Kambia,

and

. Victor Foh has held government positions under all three APC presidents of Sierra Leone:

and

. Foh was one of the principal writers of the 5 December 1995 All People's Congress Constitution; and he served as the first Assistant National Secretary General of the APC. Victor Foh was the APC vice presidential candidate, along with APC presidential candidate

, in the 1996 presidential election, in which the APC received only 5.4% of the votes. In 1996 Foh was elected to a seat in Parliament. From 2002 to 2012, Foh served as Secretary-General of the APC, and from 2012 to 2015, he was Sierra Leone's Ambassador to China. In 2014, Foh was recognized for his distinguished and dedicated service to the state in the field of

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

who made him a Commander of the Order of the Republic (CRSL). On March 19, 2015, Victor Foh was sworn in as

by President

, who appointed him to the position. Foh's sworn in ceremony was held at State House in the capital

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

and was attended by many senior government officials. Victor Foh replaced

as vice president, after he was dismissed by Koroma.

Personal life

Victor Foh is an ethnic Mende and a native of

in Southern Sierra Leone. Foh is a fluent speaker of the

Mende language Mende (''Mɛnde yia'') is a major language of Sierra Leone, with some speakers in neighboring Liberia and Guinea. It is spoken by the Mende people and by other ethnic groups as a regional lingua franca in southern Sierra Leone. In southern Sier ...

. Victor Foh is a Christians, Christian. Foh was previously married to Jeneba Jabbie Foh, daughter of the late West African mining magnate Al Haji Mohamed Baimba Jabbie. Victor Foh is currently married to Jonta Mumie Foh and has five adult children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foh, Victor Bockarie Living people 1946 births Vice-presidents of Sierra Leone People from Bo District Sierra Leonean Christians Mende people All People's Congress politicians 20th-century Sierra Leonean politicians 21st-century Sierra Leonean politicians