HRCSL TEAM MEMBER

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY (ES)

JOSEPH BENMANKING KAMARA holds two post graduate degrees in Political Science and Anthropology from the University of Memphis (UofM), Tennessee, United States of America (USA) and a B.A. (Hons) in Political Science from the University of Sierra Leone, Fourah Bay College (FBC). Before assuming the position of Executive Secretary, he served in the capacities of Deputy Executive Secretary and Director, Directorate of Monitoring and Research with the Human Rights Commission Sierra Leone.

Prior to joining the Commission, He worked as the Monitoring and Evaluation Expert with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on their jointly funded decentralisation and local governance, Kenema District Economic Recovery Programme (KDERP) in Kenema, where he worked with the Kenema District and City Councils. With the expiration of the KDERP project, he served in the capacity of Local Economic Development (LED) Expert with the above named UN agencies on their jointly supported Local Governance and Economic Development (LG&ED) joint programme providing support to the Tonkolili and Moyamba District Councils.

He has also held the position of Lecturer with the University of Sierra Leone Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) where he taught courses including Research and Statistical Methods, and Project Development and Management among others.

He began his early professional career with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), where he held the positions of Project Supervisor and Project Officer in the Child Protection Department. He later joined the Civil Service of Sierra Leone as Administrative Officer (CADET) and was deployed as Foreign Service Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, after rotation in the Ministries of Information and Communication, Local Government and Rural Development, Finance and Economic Development, National Registration Secretariat and National Electoral Commission.