The Deputy Minister of Transport and Aviation, Sadiq Silla, was born in the southern regional headquarter town of Bo. He is a Sierra Leonean from Pujehun, Kpanga Section, Kpanga Chiefdom with an extension to Fonikoh Massaquoi, Dakona Section, Gallinas Chiefdom. He has a right to the two chiefdoms.
Sadiq Silla started his pragmatism at a very early age (five) among his age mates. The Deputy Minister has also grown through the wings of traditional women at ages one to three. This was because his mother was a traditional Sowei leader, which ultimately endears him to his unending support and respect for women and traditions generally.
The Deputy Minister of Transport also went through Islamic doctrine as a child, slightly below the age of 10. He is legally married and blessed with children. Uniquely, he likes reading, and watching/listening to news.
Educational Background:
Sadiq Silla started his primary education at the Roman Catholic Model, in a community known as Yengema in Kono district from 1976-1978. He also attended the Ahmadiyya Muslim Primary School in Bo from 1978-1981, where he sat to his Selective Entrance Examinations.
From 1981-1983, Hon Deputy Minister attended the Roman Catholic Model School in Bo. However, after excellent academic performance at this level, he gained admission into the Ahmadiyya Muslim School from 1983-1991, where he sat to his GCE “O” Level.
Sadiq Silla did not just stop there; he gained admission into Fourah Bay College (FBC)-the University of Sierra Leone (USL), to purse a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Economics. He was at the university from 1991-1995.
His quest for education also continued in his administrative work. In 1999-2000, Minister Silla pursued a course in Personnel and Industrial Relations Management, and between 2000 and 2001, he pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration and Management at the Institute of Public Administration and Management.
Other Educational Attributes
During his academic journey at the FBC, he became the Pujehun District Students’ Association (PuDSA) National President from 1992-1993. In his capacity as the National President of the Association, Sadiq Silla was able to coordinate and demonstrate good leadership skills to enhance unity among students from all other Colleges and Universities across the country. In fact, the Association still remembers him to this day.
The Deputy Minister of Transport also conducted some academic research in External Indebtedness and Debt Servicing Problems – a Macro Economic Analysis of the Sierra Leone Experience in 1995, and another one in 2002 in Micro Business Financing in Sierra Leone – a case study of the Government of Sierra Leone Micro Business Financing Scheme Project.
Working Experience
From 1996-2002, he served as the Project Officer-Branch Energy Limited, in assisting the Project Manager in the management of all Joint Ventures in the Njei and Bafi Rivers. Again, as the Financial Secretary and Data Bank Coordinator- to assist the Financial Manager and served as the Documentation Officer.
Because of his proactive performance, he later graduated to the level of Account and Administrative Officer- to assist the Financial Manager and take care of all matters relating to Personnel and Industrial Relations Management. Being an extraordinary man, he also worked in the Republic of Guinea as a Company Representative- responsible for Personnel Welfare and the recovery of the Company’s properties.
From 2002-2008 he was the Chief Administration Officer-and deals with all matters related to Corporate Governance and the General Administration of the Company. In 2017, he was elected as the Board Chairman, Sierra Leone Chamber for Agribusiness Development (SLeCAD).
Politics
Though Minister Silla graduated as a Development Economist, he has been able to transform his life career into administration and politics. It was by no magic that his political career came to the limelight when he inherited leadership from his parents.
As a visionary leader, his ambition and dream were to invest in development and transform the lives of his people, of which he entered into active politics to change the landscape of his district and the country at large.
He was elected twice as the District Local Council Chairman of the great Pujehun district, first in 2008, and later in 2012 under the ticket of the Sierra Leone People’s Party-SLPP. During his leadership, as the District Council Chairman, he was able to remarkably restore hope and development in Pujehun district.
His leadership to national fight was demonstrated during the Ebola Virus Disease that destroyed the lives of thousands of Sierra Leoneans, the 2015 Population and Housing Census, which added one more constituency to the five the district had before, and the just concluded local councils, parliamentary and presidential elections.
Many have described him as a hero after transforming Pujehun district into a hotspot for viable development, despite the many challenges he faced. He is a motivational political figure and characteristically believed in bipartisan approach.
Tribalism in politics is never part of his DNA. This Deputy Minister is hard to get vexed, but as a tireless development expert, he believes in empowering his subordinates as a means of seeing them viable and productive in society.
Other life engagement
As one of his key focused areas is to embark on food security in the country, Sadiq Silla is and had been a successful farmer in the southern district of Pujehun.