The Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the African Union has successfully won a significant election for the nation at the AU.
Madam Jamesina L. King , Chairman the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone and candidate for the Republic , is now a member of the African Union Commission on Human and People’s Right after winning elections conducted by the Executive Council of the AU at the ongoing Summit in South Africa. The victory, which places Sierra Leone once again at the international map of accomplishments is the the result of the hard work of the Sierra Leone Permanent Mission to the African Union in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international Cooperation, pursuant to the directives of the Government of Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma that the nation’s candidature be effectively promoted and canvassed .
Madam Jamesina King
As a result of the efficient canvassing and consultations held with delegates by the Foreign Minister, Hon. Samura Kamara and the Sierra Leone’s Permanent Representative to the AU and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Ethiopia, H.E. Mr. Osman Keh Kamara and staff Jamesina L. King, was among three Candidates elected out of a total number of 11 candidates who contested for the coveted continental position.
DR. Samura Kamara
Though the candidate herself was not at the elections and campaigns were conducted in her absence , Dr. Samura Kamara and Ambassador Keh-Kamara represented Sierra Leone at the elections.
Ambassador Keh Kamara
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights was established by the African Charter and was inaugurated on November 2, 1987 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with its Secretariat subsequently located in Banjul, the Gambia. The Commission performs tasks assigned to it by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government and is charged with three major functions : the protection of human and peoples’ rights ; the promotion of human and peoples’ rights and the interpretation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Commission has 11 members in all, elected by the AU Assembly from experts nominated by the State Parties to the Charter and their mandates , which are renewable, last for six years.
Jamesina King holds a post graduate degree from Georgetown University Law Centre, Washington D.C. and a certificate in “Implementing Human Rights Conventions” from University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre, U.K. She is a Leadership Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA) Fellow and past president of Legal Access through Women Yearning for Equality Rights and Social Justice (LAWYERS) – an organization of female lawyers in Sierra Leone dedicated to enhancing women’s access to justice. She was the first Chair of HRCSL, and served in that capacity for two years. She was appointed as Commissioner in 2006 and re-appointed in 2011.
Leeroy Wilfred Kabs-Kanu
Minister Plenipotentiary / Head of Public Affairs and Information
Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations
New York
