Board of Directors
The NMA is headed by a Board of Directors, which is the governing body of the Agency and is responsible for overseeing key operational activities, including: approving operational budgets for the NMA, establishing strategic direction, ensuring organisational effectiveness, setting standards and assessing performance, approving operational policies and implementing and overseeing effective human resource management.
The NMA Board comprises a Chairman, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources; the Financial Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, and four independent members nominated by the Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources and appointed by the President. The Director General of the NMA serves as the Board Secretary.
Alhaji Mustapha Bamorie Turay - CHAIRMAN
Alhaji Mustapha Bamorie Turay is by far Sierra Leone’s leading rough diamond evaluation expert, with over 46 years’ experience in the diamond industry. His career spans both the public and private sectors in the industry, and he is currently the West Africa Director and Senior Valuer for Diamond Counsellor International (DCi). From 1995 to 1998 he was the General Manager of the then Government Gold and Diamond Office (GGDO), and from 2003 to the present he has been DCI’s Director and Senior Representative Consultant and Independent Diamond Valuer (IDV) for Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
Alhaji Turay has worked as a Diamond Valuer in Angola, 2001; Guinea 1997-2002; and Liberia 2004-2006. He was also on the team of Diamond Valuers at De Beers office in London that monitored and controlled the sale of Angolan diamonds to De Beers in 2000/2001. He was a co-leader of the Liberian delegation to Canada in 2005, where they successfully advocated for Liberia to join the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).
Alhaji Turay is an active member of several Professional Societies, including the International Gemological Institute (IGI), the European Gem Laboratory (EGL), the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the Irish Management Institute (IGI), and he has participated in several courses, workshops, seminars and conferences on diamond matters within and outside Sierra Leone.
Ira Nyake Amara - MEMBER
Mr. Ira Nyake Amara is a retired Public Servant, with a wealth of experience in Finance and Administration, Banking, Auditing, Human Resources Management and Management Information System. He has made significant contribution to national development in the fields of Education and Banking respectively. He started his Career as a Teacher and taught in both Government and Municipal schools in Sierra Leone and later Lectured at the Government Technical Institute, Congo Cross in Freetown. He then proceeded to the Banking industry, where he continued to serve diligently. During a distinguished career in the Banking Industry, Mr. Amara held several positions at the central bank and other financial institutions locally and at international level. He has held positions as Deputy Director of Banking, Internal Auditor and Director of Human Resources at the Bank of Sierra Leone, after which be proceded to Head the Administration and General Service Department at the Union Trust Bank Limited. He was also Head of Administration and Finance at the West African Institute for Finance and Economic Management (WAIFEM) in Lagos, Nigeria.
Mr. Amara has also served in several top positions including as the Chairman, Board of Directors for Kambui Holding, NASSIT and as Board Member for Sierra Leone Housing Corporation (SALHOC). Mr. Amara holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Business Studies; and has attended several Training Courses, Workshops, Seminars and Conferences within and outside Sierra Leone.
Matthew Dingie - MEMBER
Mr. Matthew Dingie is the Principal Deputy Financial Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, and an Adviser to the Minister of Finance on fiscal policy issues, budget formulation and execution, and in charge of fiscal operations. He is a career Civil Servant with an outstanding record of service to the Government and people of Sierra Leone. Mr. Dingie started his career in the private sector as an Accountant Trainee at PKF Chartered Accountants, in the August 2000, and later that same year moved to KPMG Chartered Accountants, where he served as a member of audit teams assigned to carry out audits and other financial advisory services to various private and public sector Institutions. He joined the Civil Service in February, 2002 as a Budget Analyst, Budget Bureau in the Ministry of Finance where he worked as a consultant under the World Bank PSMS II project, later funded by the Department for International Development (DFID/UK). He was very instrumental in preparing the annual budgetary estimates for the Government of Sierra Leone and also in preparing the quarterly Fiscal/Budget Monitoring Tables and Reports.
Mr. Dingie was appointed as Director of Budget in the Ministry of Finance in September 2007, a position he served effectively for over 10 years. Because of his outstanding performance, he was promoted to the position of Principal Deputy Financial Secretary in April, 2018. During his 10 years tenor as Director of Budget at Ministry of Finance, Mr. Matthew Dingie, led the preparation, approval and execution of 13 annual budgets and 3 supplementary budgets for the Government of Sierra Leone. He also led a major reform for the Government of Sierra Leone to migrate from line item budgeting to Activity Based Budgeting System in 2014. He also proffered advise to the Financial Secretary (Alternate Governor of the African Development Bank Group and the World Bank) and Minister of Finance on all fiscal policy issues, in close collaboration with the Accountant General, Central Bank, National Revenue Authority, etc. and in liaison with Development Partners involved in monitoring IMF programmes. Mr. Dingie is instrumental in negotiating with multilateral and bilateral financial institutions, and reporting on project operations and financing agreements. He is also a lead player in the implementation of Public Financial Management Reform Programmes to strengthen fiduciary management at both central and local government levels. Mr. Matthew Dingie holds a Masters of Art degree in Economics from the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA and a First Class Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) in Accounting and Finance degree from Fourah Bay College, USL. He became a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), UK and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sierra Leone (ICASL) in June 2005. In June 2010, He was admitted as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (FCCA), UK. He has undertaken several courses in Public Financial Management, Natural Resource Taxation and Fiscal Transparency (NTR), Effective Cash Management and Public Finance and Expenditure Control. He has also been awarded several Certificates in capacity building training courses and has actively participated in several workshops, seminars and conferences, both within and outside of Sierra Leone
Musa Mewa, Esq. - MEMBER
Musa Mewa is a Barrister and Solicitor, and Managing Partner Brewah & Co., Solicitors. He has vast experience in Civil and Criminal litigation.
He has recently been appointed Consultant Senior State Counsel at the Justice William Annan Atuguba Commission to represent The State. He has conducted cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal in both Criminal and Civil matters. Musa Mewa, Esq. is one of few practitioners among his contemporaries to have appeared and made successful applications before the Supreme Court as Lead Counsel.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Politics (2006), a Postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communication (2007), Bachelor of Laws with Honours (2011), Barrister and Solicitor at Law (2012) and has just completed his Master of Arts at Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone writing on the Topic: “Media Reporting of War Crimes Trials and Civil Society Responses in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone: A case Study of the AFRC Trials.”
As Deputy Director (2015-2016) and later Acting Executive Director (2016-2018) Timap For Justice (TFJ), he exhibited competent administrative skills outside his normal practice as a legal practitioner by not only conducting cases for the Human Rights Organization, but also administered the organization with consummate rectitude. He has penetrating skills in handling corporate matters and proffering legal advice to corporate clients.
He lectures Law of Contract at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Njala University Bo Campus.
Ing. Hadji Dabo (P.Eng.; M.Eng.; B.Eng.; SME) - SECRETARY
Ing. Hadji Dabo is a professional mining engineer who has over 35 years’ experience in the mining and minerals industry. He is currently a Director at Vericon Health Resources, LLC, Sugar Land, Texas, USA; a Managing Director at Gateway 2439 Engineering Consultancy Limited and a Director at SDS Engineering Associates Limited. Ing. Dabo holds a Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada; a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) First Division degree in Mechanical Engineering from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng) in the United States, is a member of the Society of Mining and Exploration Engineers of the American Institution of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Engineers, U.S.A., and is a registered Engineer in Sierra Leone. Ing. Dabo had his secondary school education at the prestigious Government Secondary School in Bo (Bo School) where he graduated with a First Division School Certificate and proceeded to Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone in 1973.
After graduating from Fourah Bay College in 1977, Ing. Dabo worked in the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MANR) as a Mechanical Engineer in the Ministry’s Mechanical Cultivation Unit. During this same period, he served as a part-time Assistant Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Fourah Bay College. Ing. Dabo later left the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and joined Sierra Rutile Limited in 1979 as a Plant Supervisor, but soon after that, he won a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship to undertake graduate studies, first in Agricultural Engineering, and then Mining Engineering at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Following the completion of his studies in Canada, Ing. Dabo promptly returned to Sierra Leone in 1982 and again joined the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources for a brief period before moving on again to Sierra Rutile Limited. At Sierra Rutile Limited, Ing. Dabo served in various supervisory and management roles including those of Engineer-in-Charge of plants, Mine Planning Engineer, Chief Mine Planning Engineer, Mine Site Manager – during the war years for both Sierra Mineral Holding Limited (SMHL) and Sierra Rutile Limited (SRL), Community Development and Relations Manager – for both SMHL (Bauxite) and Sierra Rutile Limited, Production Coordinator, and Technical Services Manager. Ing. Dabo also undertook several technical, training and development courses including Geostatistics at Leeds University, U.K.; CAD/CAM & 3-D Mine Modelling at the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London, U.K.; Datamine Mine Modelling in Perth, Australia; Inventory and Procurement Information Review in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.; and RGC Mineral Sands Operations tour in Perth, Eneabba, and Geraldton in Western Australia. Ing. Dabo retired from Sierra Rutile Limited in December 2014 and continues to provide mining consultancy services to the industry. Ing. Hadji Dabo is married with 4 children and his hobbies include playing Tennis and Badminton; and has interest in current affairs; engagement in community services and alumni associations activities.
If you like the information on this page, please feel free to share.
Share:
