BY KABS KANU :
His Excellency Ambassador Adikalie Foday Sumah, the new Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, will be arriving in New York today to take up his new appointment.
A rousing welcome awaits the ambassador when he arrives at the JFK International Airport.
Members of the diplomatic staff at the Permanent Mission Of Sierra Leone to the UN , comprising the Deputy Permanent Representative for Political Affairs , Ambassador Amadu Koroma ; the Deputy PR for Legal Affairs, Ambassador Felix Koroma and the Minister Plenipotentiary and Head of Chancery , Mr. Alhusine Sesay are expected to be at the airport to receive the new P.R.
Additionally, the Minister Plenipotentiary and Coordinator of the Committee of 10 ( C-10 ), who is also a member of the diplomatic staff, will be leading a representative team of the All People’s Congress ( APC ) New Jersey Chapter from Somerset, NJ, to welcome Ambassador Adikalie Foday Sumah . Other members of the New Jersey delegation will include the Vice-President of the Chapter, Mr. Coulson Mansaray , and two other top members Haja Khadi and Madam Khadija Nabie.
A team representing the New York Chapter of the APC is also expected to be present.
The warm and fraternal welcome being accorded the new Permanent Representative will demonstrate the commitment of stakeholders representing the nation in the U.S. to work cooperatively with the ambassador as he hoists the country’s national flag and diplomatic interests at the UN. It is also a reciprocal gesture in line with the ambassador’s stated objective to foster an amicable and fruitful working relationship with all members of the diplomatic staff and ruling party while executing his assignment in the U.S.
Before he even arrived in the U.S, Ambassador Sumah had established contact with leading officials of the diplomatic staff and representatives of the government and other Sierra Leoneans in a goodwill gesture to demonstrate his determination to work together with all of them to promote the vital interests of the nation and the ruling government in the U.S. and beyond.
Ambassador Sumah was appointed PR on March 13, 2016 by His Excellency President Ernest Bai Koroma. He replaced the former PR, Ambassador Vandy Chidi Minah, who was recalled in a major cabinet reshuffle. Mr. Sumah will also serve as Chair of C-10 in the UN Security Council negotiations .
As we previously reported, many Sierra Leoneans described Ambassador Sumah as a man of high caliber and pedigree and they expressed great confidence that he will provide competent representation for Sierra Leone at the UN. Before his appointment, he was Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the neighbouring Republic of Guinea .
An experienced lawyer, Ambassador Sumah is an alumnus of the University of East London School of Law and Social Sciences in the UK. Among top jobs he has held before his appointment as Ambassador to Guinea include service as Adminstrative Officer of Her Majesty Queen Elizerbeth II’s Civil Service, United Kingdom, where he served with distinction from April 2003 – September 2007 (4 years 6 months) on the Immigration Appeals Tribunal.
He assisted the Immigration Judges with Case Management including file reviews, Splitting Court List to Immigration Judges for hearing, opening and closing of files and assisting with Court Room activities etc.
We will bring you a full report of his arrival and pictures.
