By Saio Marrah
Parliament has approved Isatu Aminata Bundu, as High Commissioner to Kenya, to replace Peter Joseph Francis who died last year.
Bundu, who’s 38 years old, becomes one of the youngest Sierra Leonean Ambassadors of all time, probably the youngest since Shirley Gbudema was appointed Ambassador to Ethiopian in 1972 at the age of 36 years.
Madam Bundu is the daughter of the current Speaker of Parliament Dr. Abass Bundu. Speaking in a press room at the House, the Speaker, said her daughter had not been appointed as High Commissioner to Kenya because of his relationship to her but rather on her own merit.
“I want you to understand one thing that she has earned this position on her own merit and in no way attached to my apron strings. Obviously, she has to be fathered by somebody and it happens to be me. But I don’t think it is on that basis that His Excellency appointed her to this high office”, Dr Bundu said.
“But all said and done give her a chance to prove her mettle to live up to the expectation of the president and the entire parliament that has just proved her appointment and the entire Sierra Leone,” he added.
He said he had decided to recuse himself from the confirmation hearing of her daughter because of the potential for a conflict of interest.
The new Ambassador Bundu thanked President Julius Maada Bio for the confidence reposed in her and that it was “a great honour and privilege to serve Sierra Leone in this capacity as a High Commissioner to Kenya and I look forward to learning in the new role as I settle in but also engaging the government of Kenya and also Sierra Leone.”
Isatu Aminata Bundu, holds a master’s degree in International Relation from the Brunel University and a host of postgraduate certificates in project and strategic consultancies from Standard Institute for Information Technology in the UK.
Also approved yesterday were Justice Miatta Maria Samba as Supreme Court Judge and Conrad Sackey as the Chairman of the Teaching Service Commission.
Justice Miatta Maria Samba is a legal practitioner of 21 years of professional and legal experience in domestic and international law. She holds double master’s degrees. She is a judge of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The new Chairman of the Teaching Service Commission, Conrad Sackey holds Master of Arts Degree in Vocational Educational and Training from the university of London, a diploma in Career Guidance in the UK in 1992 and a B.Sc. (Econ’s) with Honours from Fourah Bah College, University of Sierra Leone.
Speaking in the well of parliament, the Leader of Coalition for Change (C4C), Saa Emerson Lamina said the health of any nation lay in the health of the Supreme Court.
He said that the judiciary had been beset with challenges and the lack of public confidence but that Sierra Leoneans were very proud of her as she was currently serving as a judge at the International Criminal Court in Hague.
The NGC leader, Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella advised the new TSC Chairman that he should use his diplomatic calibre to solve the issues at the said commission. He also urged Justice Miatta to defend the country’s democracy. “Let her help the Supreme Court to behave how they are supposed to behave,” he said.
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