Alhaji Kanja Ibrahim Sesay (born 1955) is the former commissioner of the Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

 National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA). He was sacked as commissioner of the NaCSA by president Ernest Bai Koroma

Ernest Bai Koroma

Ernest Bai Koroma is the fourth and current President of Sierra Leone. He was sworn in as President on 17 September 2007 at the State House in the capital Freetown, shortly after being declared the winner of a tense run-off in the 2007 Sierra Leone presidential election with 54.6% of the vote over...

 in October 2007. While as a student at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone

University of Sierra Leone

The University of Sierra Leone is the name of the former unitary public university system in Sierra Leone, which, as of May 2005, was reconstitued into the individual colleges of Fourah Bay College and Njala University. It is now affiliated to many colleges in Sierra Leone.-See also:* Fourah Bay...

, he acted as Financial Secretary

Financial secretary

Financial secretary is an administrative and executive government position within the governance of a State, corporation, private or public organization, small group or other body with financial assets....

 of Bo District

Bo District

Bo District is the second most populous district in Sierra Leone and is located in the Southern Province of the country. Its capital and largest city is the city of Bo, which is the second largest city in Sierra Leone. The other major towns in the district include Baoma, Bumpeh, Serabu, Sumbuya,...

 Students Union and Secretary General of the Fourah Bay College

Fourah Bay College

Fourah Bay College is the oldest university college in West Africa. It is located atop Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone...

 Students Union. He is a member of the Mandingo

Mandingo people of Sierra Leone

The Mandinka people of Sierra Leone is a major ethnic group in Sierra Leone and they are the descendants of Mandinka settlers from Guinea who migrated to Sierra Leone between 1840 to about 1900...

 ethnic group. Kanja Sesay was one of several ethnic Mandingo to hold key government and civil service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

 positions under president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah

Ahmad Tejan Kabbah

Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah served as President of Sierra Leone from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007.He worked for the United Nations Development Programme and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992...

 administration.

Education and career

Alhaji Kanja Ibrahim Sesay was born in 1955 Bo

Bo, Sierra Leone

Bo is the second largest city in Sierra Leone and the largest city in the Southern Province. It lies about 164 miles south-east of Freetown and had a population 149,957 in the 2004 census, with a current estimate is 231,494 . The city serve as the capital and administrative center of Bo District...

, the second largest city in Sierra Leone, to Mandingo

Mandingo people of Sierra Leone

The Mandinka people of Sierra Leone is a major ethnic group in Sierra Leone and they are the descendants of Mandinka settlers from Guinea who migrated to Sierra Leone between 1840 to about 1900...

 parents. Kanja Sesay attended Bo Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School and the Bo Government Secondary School

Bo School

The Bo Government Secondary School commonly known as Bo School is a secondary school located in Bo, the second largest city in Sierra Leone. The school was founded in 1906 at the behest of Governor Leslie Probyn to educate the sons of Paramount Chiefs in the British manner...

 (commonly known as Bo School)for his secondary education.

He holds a bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 from the Fourah Bay College

Fourah Bay College

Fourah Bay College is the oldest university college in West Africa. It is located atop Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone...

 in Freetown

Freetown

Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...

 and a Master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies in Hague, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 in 1987.

After graduating from University he taught for a several years at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School and Prince of Wales Secondary School

Prince of Wales Secondary School

Prince of Wales Secondary School is a public secondary school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.-History:Prince of Wales opened for classes in September 1920 at its original site, which is now Shaughnessy Elementary School. It has been at its current location since 1960. Its current...

s in Freetown before launching a career in the field of development in 1982 as Projects Officer at the Catholic Relief services. In April 1994, he became Chairman, Executive Committee of the Sierra Leone Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (SLANGO), a position he held until June 1996.