Orman Bangura鈥檚 life journey has been a remarkable one. The death of his father when he was a toddler devastated the family鈥檚 finances. At the time, his widowed mother thought her son鈥檚 best shot at a good life was becoming a tailor or a baker. At just 11 years old, Mr. Bangura enlisted as an apprentice in a tailoring shop.
Fast-forward to 2019, and the 33-year-old Bangura is Sierra Leone鈥檚 minister of youth affairs, the youngest minister in the cabinet.
He credits his mother for ensuring his focus on education. 鈥淪he made all the sacrifices for me,鈥� he says. After his secondary school education, Mr. Bangura received a government grant to attend Fourah Bay College, the University of Sierra Leone, where he graduated in 2011 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in accounting.
His professional career includes finance and accounting positions with different institutions in his country. These were the Standard Chartered Bank, the London Mining Company and the Total Global Steel Company. Before his ministerial appointment, he was the chief accountant at the Sierra Leone branch of eHealth Africa, an organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C., that supports health systems in poor communities.
By appointing Mr. Bangura as minister, Sierra Leone鈥檚 current president, Julius Maada Bio, in part fulfils his promise to appoint young people to top positions in government. Other key appointees in Mr. Bio鈥檚 administration include Francis Ben Kaifala, 34, head of the Anti-Corruption Commission; David Moinina Sengeh, 32, a technological whiz kid from MIT and Harvard, the country鈥檚 chief innovation officer; and Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, 32, Presidential Spokesperson and Press Secretary.
Mr. Bio himself was a military head of state in March 1996 at just 31 years of age before handing power over to a civilian government that same year.
Mr. Bangura鈥檚 popularity in Sierra Leone comes in part from his youth and his unconventional personal style, but also from the policies he is developing.
He sometimes goes to cabinet meetings in khaki trousers, sneakers and rolled up long-sleeved shirts. As well, he regularly visits popular caf茅s known locally as 鈥渁taya bases鈥� to engage young people in lively, sometimes heated discussions about political, economic and social issues. The minister also finds time to go to simple restaurants in the impoverished neighborhoods of the capital, Freetown, where he mixes freely with the people. On weekends he is usually seen running or playing football on the beaches with local youths.
While his personal style has captivated a society not accustomed to having easy access to top government functionaries, the policies Mr. Bangura is formulating and implementing have further endeared him to the public.
One of his first tasks as minister was to resuscitate the moribund National Youth Service Scheme (NYSS), which was first set up in 1961 but failed miserably at that time. In 2016 the scheme was reestablished by an act of Parliament. Mr. Bangura is hopeful that this time, young graduates will be able to undertake a year of compulsory national service. He has recruited 200 youths as part of a startup strategy.
鈥淭he NYSS will encourage volunteerism, foster patriotism and national cohesion,鈥� he says.
The young minister is also implementing the Youth in Entrepreneurship Project, which, according to him, 鈥渨ill place cash and training in the hands of young Sierra Leoneans with innovative and groundbreaking ideas for the development of the country.鈥�
He is helping set up youth projects in the agricultural and fisheries sectors, and a youth village where young people will learn vocational skills to increase their social mobility.
Mr. Bangura also proposes what he calls the Youth Empowerment Fund, from which young people will be able to draw financing for business ideas. He says the fund will allow 鈥渢he country to reap demographic dividends,鈥� adding that youth employment 鈥渋s a security and development challenge that should be addressed effectively and immediately.鈥�
David Sombie, technical adviser for the proposed Youth Empowerment Fund, says, 鈥淭he minister brings to the ministry a wealth of financial accounting background. Quite recently, he was able to detect and forestall an incidence of financial malfeasance, saving the country hundreds of thousands of dollars.鈥�
Chernor Bah, an international girls鈥� champion and cofounder of Purposeful Production, a movement-building hub for adolescent girls in developing countries, works closely with Mr. Bangura. Mr. Bah is helping to review the country鈥檚 national youth policy. He says, 鈥淏eing a minister has not changed Mr. Bangura. He remains just as he has always been, maintaining his circle of friends and caring for the underprivileged members of society.鈥�
Mr. Bangura has set his sights on building a legacy of youth empowerment. 鈥淲e must be determined to do the needful for young people and for national development,鈥� he says. 听 听
