Education
Dr.Marah holds a PhD in Politics and Finance (Political Economist) University of Hull, United Kingdom; a Masters Degree in Public Policy State University of New York, USA, with emphasis on public finance and economic management; and a Bachelor’s Degree (Arts)-Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.
Experience
Dr.Marah brings a total of 22 years experience in public sector finance, economic management, strategic leadership and change management.
- As chief of Staff 2010-2012
As the first ever State House Chief of Staff ,Dr.Kaifala Marah made governance easy for President Ernest Bai Koroma through policy enhancement and coordination of intra government activities .
- Provided collaborative links between Ministries, Departments and Agencies to implement the country’s national development strategies Agenda for Change and Agenda for Prosperity.
- To ensure continuity and efficiency in delivering future national plans ,he strengthened the Technical arm of the Presidency and established the Strategic Policy Unit (SPU)
- Established the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Unit to support government’s capital investments projects and resuscitated the civil Service Training College that closed for over 40 years.
- With Coordination being one of the major challenges in the implementation of national development agendas, under his tenure, a Coordination Handbook was developed for local councils.
- 2. As Minister of Finance and Economic Development 2012-2016
Dr.Marah served as Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Sierra Leone from December 2012-April 2016. He is known for introducing discipline in budget execution and economic management reforms.
Amongst his legacies as Minister were:
- He pushed for an increment on minimum wage from what was termed as ‘’pittance’’ to a level of motivation and beacon of hope to the low ranks in the Civil Service.
- He introduced a Single Treasury Account System to consolidate all funding coming into the country in order to ensure transparency and accountability.
He was chair of the G 7+ ( an association led by finance ministers of 20 fragile and post conflict states ) and Co-chair of the International Dialogue on Peace Building and State Building.He also served on the World Bank Advisory Council on Gender ,2013-2015.
- 3. As Governor of Bank of Sierra Leone 2016-March 2017
As Bank Governor, he worked emphatically to establish a Collateral Registry to enable SMEs to use movable assets and equipment as collateral in accessing finance from the banks. The Collateral Registry provides the basis for free-flowing credit markets, reducing the potential losses lenders face from non-payment. While land and buildings are widely accepted as collateral for loans, with the collateral registry, the use of movable collateral ( such as inventory ,accounts receivables ,crops and equipment) is acceptable to develop our Small and Medium Enterprises ( SMEs)
He also brought to life our Stock Exchange. Stock Exchange help businesses raise capital and gave investors opportunities to support new and established enterprises/businesses.
- Public ExpenditureAdviser, Commonwealth Secretariat UK 2002
He attained prominence in financial governance and economic management at the Commonwealth Secretariat as advisor on public expenditure management for Commonwealth developing countries in all regions.
Among many blue-sky initiatives he developed Guidelines for Public Financial Management ,and a Country Self-Assessment Toolkit on Public Financial Management (CPFM-SAT)-all adopted by finance ministers of the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth Heads of Government. Dr.Marah also created Commonwealth communities of practice on budgeting and public procurement. For example he initiated the Commonwealth Public Procurement Network (CPPN) and Thematic Fellowship, which have become model delivery mechanisms within the Commonwealth.His specific advice saw the transformation of internal controls and audit in Botswana and Ghana in Africa and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific ;reforms of revenue management in Mauritius budgeting in St Lucia in the Caribbean, and procurement in Nigeria and the Gambia in Africa ,Sri Lanka in Asia and Papua New Guinea in the Pacific .
- Budget Analyst
Dr .Marah was budget Analyst (Legislature Aide) at the New York State Senate in the USA .He advised the Senate Democratic Conference on the Governor’s Executive Budget, as well as the Public Authorities Control Board .
He was a Graduate Fellow at the Centre for International Development where he worked on issues ranging from budget improvement in Mexico Latin America ,to Kenya’s Parliamentary reform in Africa .
He started his career as Deputy Town clerk at the then Koidu/New Sembehun Town Council, Kono District; and he was National President of the Kono Students Union (KONSU)
Awards
Dr.Marah is recipient of the prestigious ‘’Excellence in International Student Leadership ‘’ award 2003 at the Rockefeller College in New York. He was named by the South African based African Leadership Network in 2012 as ‘’New Generation Leader Africa” and received the National Role Model for Youth Award in Freetown in 2012.
He is a strategic planner, mentor and coach for hundreds of senior policy and professionals across all regions of the Commonwealth. He delivers public lectures on broad range of policy issues at home and abroad. He was a youth leader, and President of the National Kono Students Union .He is married with four Children.